Many people are terrified of spiders and find them extremely creepy. This is unfortunate because not only are most spiders completely harmless, they benefit our environment by controlling the insect population. Before we begin, it's important to note that the list below represents just a fraction of the spiders found in Kenya. Due to the sheer number of these arachnids, it would be impossible to cover them all.
Here are some notable spider species found in Kenya:
1. Hairy Golden Orb-Weaving Spider (Nephila pilipes)
Their coloring is predominantly yellow with black patterns. Females are 20-40 mm (0.8-1.5 in). Hairy Golden Orb-weaving Spiders makes elaborate flat webs of concentric circles and spokes from the center. Their webs can reach up to 1 meter (3 feet) in diameter. Male Hairy Golden Orb-weaving Spiders have an unusual tactic to survive mating, which is typically dangerous for spiders. During mating, the male sacrifices one of its front legs as a snack for the female. This behavior increases the chances of successful mating while decreasing the chances of the male being eaten by the female.
Hairy Golden Orb-Weaving Spider
2. Common Garden Orb Web Spider (Araneus diadematus)
Also called Black and Yellow Garden Spider or Garden Orb Spider. It creates massive webs resembling wheels, which they use for several days before moving and creating a new one. The webs are typically constructed one meter off the ground and spread across plants. Common Garden Orb Web Spiders have an efficient (but sort of gross) way of eating their meals. To overpower large prey, like grasshoppers, bees, flies, butterflies, and dragonflies, they wrap their victim in silk to incapacitate it. Then, they paralyze their victims by injecting them with poison. Before eating, the spider injects enzymes that liquefy the prey’s insides. The spider then consumes the liquid left over, sort of like a bug smoothie!
Read also: Spiders in Egypt
Common Garden Orb Web Spider
3. Brown Widow (Latrodectus geometricus)
The coloring is mottled tan and brown with black accent markings. On the sides of the abdomen, there are three diagonal stripes. The Brown Widow employs a neurotoxic venom, causing pain, muscle rigidity, vomiting, and sweating. Females create webs in isolated, safe locations near houses and branch-heavy woods. One of the easiest ways to identify these spiders in Kenya is to look for their egg sacs.
Brown Widow Spider
4. Banded-Legged Golden Orb-Web Spider (Nephila senegalensis)
Males have the same color pattern but are usually paler and ten times smaller than females. These spiders weave beautiful, sturdy, golden-colored webs. They can regulate the amount of pigment and stickiness in their webs to adapt to their environment. Interestingly, the females keep food supplies on their webs. Up to 15 insects are carefully arranged and wrapped in silk to prevent deterioration of the prey. Male Banded-legged Golden Orb-web Spiders often linger near the edge of the female’s web. When he is ready to mate, he will tap on the edge of the web to ensure that the female is in a good mood and bring her food as courtship. Then, while the female is eating, he will approach quietly, inject his semen into her abdomen and flee as soon as possible to avoid being eaten.
5. African Hermit Spider (Neostasina sapperi)
Females grow up to 25 mm (1 in). The legs of both sexes are a combination of brown, red, and black. African Hermit Spiders get their common name from building funnel-shaped retreats on the side of their webs. Their asymmetrical webs are usually found on trees and bushes in tropical and subtropical climates. African Hermit Spiders live close to people and can be spotted in manufactured structures on walls and roofs. If you find an African Hermit Spider in Kenya, it’s most likely a female. That’s because the males are so small they’re hardly ever spotted. In fact, they have the greatest sexual dimorphism of any spider in Kenya. Females are up to 14 times bigger than males and up to 70 times heavier.
Read also: A Guide to South African Spiders
6. Gray Wall Jumping Spider (Menemerus bivittatus)
This species has a flattened torso and short, thick, greyish-white hair. The male has a brownish-white stripe on each side of the abdomen and a black dorsal stripe. The female has a larger abdomen and is typically lighter brown. The Gray Wall Jumping Spider is native to Kenya but has since spread throughout the world. It frequently appears on the exterior of buildings or tree trunks in gardens. Instead of weaving a web around their prey, the Gray Wall Jumping spider stalks the prey before springing on it to attack. Their wide eyes and visual acuity allow them to easily focus on objects and distinguish between different colors. And, using their exceptional jumping ability, they can seize their prey in the blink of an eye. Interestingly, male Gray Wall Jumping Spiders can produce sounds as part of courtship behavior. The hairs on their femurs and the teeth on the chelicerae (small claws on the front of the mouth) make clicking noises that attract females.
Gray Wall Jumping Spider
7. Tropical Tent-Web Spider (Cyrtophora citricola)
Females are 10 to 15 mm (0.3-0.5 in) long. Color variations in females are typical - some are brown, while others have black and white markings on their abdomen. The Tropical Tent-web Spider makes an unusual web that resembles mesh curtains. Prey is deflected onto the orb-web by a network of threads that support the orb-web and form a tent. This species spends most of its time on its complex web. These spiders can be hard to find in Kenya because they are nocturnal, which keeps them hidden from predators throughout the day. Tropical Tent-web spiders catch prey in three distinct phases. In the initial stage, the spider bites or wraps its prey in silk to incapacitate it. Then, they remove it from the web itself and carry the prey to the hub of the web. Finally, once they reach the safety of the center of the web, they consume their meal.
Tropical Tent-Web Spider
8. Banded Garden Spider (Argiope trifasciata)
Also known as the Banded Orb Weaving Spider. This species has an oval abdomen and bright body markings. The back of the abdomen is pale yellow with silvery hairs and lateral bands of black stripes. Males are usually paler, sometimes even white. Adult females are around 13 to 14.5 mm (0.51-0.57 in) long. Males are considerably smaller, reaching only ⅓ of the females’ length. The Banded Garden Spider builds an enormous web, typically around 60 cm (23.6 in) in diameter. The web itself is sticky and strong, able to hold very large insects like wasps and grasshoppers. One interesting feature of their webs is the so-called “stabilimentum,” a vertical zigzag pattern made from dense silk. Researchers think this feature is a way to attract insects that the Banded Garden spider eats. The female can usually be found resting at the center of the web, facing downwards. They face their webs east-to-west to take advantage of the rising and setting sun and hang in the center with their dark underside facing south. All this allows them to gain as much warmth as possible, enabling them to stay active later in the year. These spiders rarely bite humans in Kenya and are not aggressive. If disturbed, they may drop from the center of their web.
Read also: Spiders of Morocco: A Guide
9. Adanson's House Jumper (Hasarius adansoni)
Males have more colorful bodies, with black abdomen color and two white crescents on their bodies. Both sexes have long legs covered with spines and hairs. The Adanson’s House Jumper lives in warm climates all over Kenya. Although they can reuse their nests, they usually build new ones each night. Their webs are relatively small, about twice the size of the spider. The Adanson’s House Jumper is quite sociable and can be seen grouped in bigger numbers. One of the most interesting traits of this species is its ability to jump incredible distances. They hunt by leaping several centimeters onto their prey, grabbing them, and injecting venom by bite.
Adanson's House Jumper
10. Shorthorn Kitespider (Gasteracantha rhomboidea)
Also known as the Thorn spider, the Jewel spider, the Star spider, or the Kite spider. Females are 8-10 mm (0.31-0.39 in) long. They’re bright cream, white or yellow, red, and black. Their abdomen is usually black at the sides and white at the center, with red spots. Unlike other spiders in Kenya, this species is most commonly seen during winter. They reproduce in the spring, and the females die after producing the egg sac, leaving the young to grow and disperse on their own. The Shorthorn Kitespider is mostly found in evergreen forests, woodlands, or shrubby gardens. They use trees to build their webs at least one meter above the ground.
11. Scimitar-Horn Kitespider (Gasteracantha falcicornis)
Females have abdomens that are bright red with deep black spots. Males are considerably smaller and don’t have spines or bright colors. The Scimitar-horn Kitespider thrives in tropical and subtropical climates. As with other orb-weaving spiders, the Scimitar-horn Kitespider builds flat webs with sticky silk. It chooses locations between trees and high grass and feeds on insects caught on the web. This species releases enzymes into the insects’ bodies to digest its prey and then drinks their liquified insides.
12. Longleg Dandy Spider (Tylorida seriata)
Females are pale yellow with black markings and some scattered white and orange or brown hairs on the upper side. Males are orange or brown with darker brown mottling and grey hairs over the surface and broad white bands on the base of the legs. The legs of both sexes are slender. Because of their small eyes, Longleg Dandy spiders have poor night vision, which makes them vulnerable to predators such as birds, mantises, and frogs. The Longleg Dandy usually catches prey by jumping on it, but females sometimes create webs to catch food. The “capture webs” are funnel-shaped and wide at the top. They even attach their webs to existing webs of other spiders to lure them in! When they catch big prey, the Longleg Dandy spiders release a powerful venom that paralyzes their prey.
13. Redleg Orbweaver (Nephila inaurata)
The Redleg Orbweaver is also known as the Red-legged Golden Orb-weaver Spider and Red-legged Nephila Spider. Females are larger, but their coloring is similar to males. The coloring of the abdomen can be brown, black, grey, orange, or bright yellow, with black markings. As the name suggests, the legs are black with red markings. Redleg Orbweavers make large, asymmetric webs reaching up to 1.5m (5 ft) in diameter! Once their web is built, they become a permanent resident, never leaving it again. Instead of building a new web like some other orb-weavers, they rebuild and fix the parts that need reinforcement. Redleg Orbweavers eat the part of the web that needs to be repaired and then replace it with new silk. This colonizing species is known for forming huge groups and joining webs to cover as much area as possible, increasing prey quantity. Mosquitoes, moths, flies, beetles, and wasps make up most of the Redleg Orbweaver’s diet.
Redleg Orbweaver
14. Longhorn Kitespider (Gasteracantha longicornis)
Also known as Spiny-backed Orb Weaver, Spiny Spider, or Spiny Orb-weaver. This species’ coloring is variable; bright red, yellow, orange, or white are all common. Most individuals have black markings. Females have six noticeable spines on their hard shell-like abdomens. The middle pair of horns is drastically bigger than the other two. The Longhorn Kitespider is primarily found in Kenya in forests, woodlands, or shady gardens with shrubs. The Longhorn Kitespider catch prey on their webs and injects enzymes that dissolve the insect’s insides before consuming it. Although they are considered venomous because of this digestive fluid, they aren’t known to be dangerous to humans.
15. Baboon Spiders (Harpactirinae)
Note: Baboon spiders are a subfamily of tarantulas broadly present on the African continent. Around nine genera and over one hundred species are present in Kenya. Their coloring varies from light brown to dark brown or black. Some species can also have grey, beige, orange, or light yellow colors. Southern Baboon Spiders are members of the Tarantula family. These ground-dwelling spiders use their fangs and chelicerae (pincer-like mouth appendages) to dig burrows that they line with silk. Their natural habitats are savanna forests, arid scrublands, and grasslands. They are vicious hunters, preying on insects, small rodents, reptiles, and just about anything else they can take down. Baboon Spiders lift their front legs to appear bigger and more intimidating when disturbed or threatened. If the threat continues, they will bite and release venom. The fangs of a Baboon Spider can be more than a centimeter long! As you can imagine, a bite from one can be very painful, and their venom can cause localized swelling.
Baboon Spider
16. Bark Spider (Caerostris darwini)
Females are black or brown, with long white hairs on the upper body. Some individuals are spotted with red, yellow, or orange. Males have a lighter color, usually without any spots. The silk that Bark Spiders produce is the toughest biological material humans have ever studied, twice as strong as any other spider silk known to science. And not only do Bark Spiders have the strongest silk, but they also build the largest webs. This impressive species holds the record with a surface area of up to 2.8 square meters (30 sq ft). Perhaps the most fascinating thing about Bark Spiders is the unique location of their webs. They construct them directly above a river or stream, so insects flying above the water are snared in its web. This genus has both brawn and brains!
Bark Spider
The majority of spiders in Kenya don't cause much harm. They are unpleasant to look at and their webs can cause a mess.
EVERY Spider in Your Backyard Explained (ft. @travismcenery2919 )
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