Spiders in Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan has exactly one spider worth taking seriously: the western black widow, confined to the hot, dry sandhills and badlands of the south. The other eleven species profiled here, from jumping spiders on fence posts to the long-bodied cellar spider in the basement, are harmless hunters of insects and part of what keeps prairie pest numbers down.
On this page
- What spiders live in Saskatchewan?
- Which Saskatchewan spiders are dangerous?
- Where you meet them
- Spider season in Saskatchewan
- Easy mix-ups on the prairie
- Common Spiders in Saskatchewan
- Big Spiders in Saskatchewan
- Dangerous Spider in Saskatchewan
- Most Venomous Spiders in Saskatchewan
- Less Venomous Spiders in Saskatchewan
- Living with Saskatchewan's spiders
- Frequently asked questions
What spiders live in Saskatchewan?
Saskatchewan divides cleanly in two, and its spiders divide with it. The south is dry mixed-grass prairie, sandhills and coulee country with hot summers and thin cover; the north is boreal forest, muskeg and tens of thousands of lakes. Between them sits the aspen parkland where most people live. Each of those belts carries a different set of species, and the dew-covered webs that blanket a stubble field on an August morning are made by tiny sheet-web weavers that almost nobody ever looks at closely.
Twelve of the conspicuous species are profiled below. Daylight hunters do particularly well on the prairie: jumping spiders patrol fence posts, granary walls and rock piles, crab spiders sit motionless in flowers waiting for bees, and after dark wolf spiders run the bare ground between grass clumps.
Which Saskatchewan spiders are dangerous?
One species, in one part of the province. The western black widow lives in the hot, dry south — the Great Sand Hills, the Big Muddy badlands, the Frenchman and Souris valleys and similar sun-baked coulee country. The mature female is glossy black with a red hourglass beneath the abdomen and hangs upside down in a strong, messy web built close to the ground in rodent burrows, rock cracks, culverts, abandoned machinery and junk piles. A bite can cause intense muscle cramping, sweating, nausea, abdominal pain and raised blood pressure. It should be assessed in hospital, but antivenom is rarely needed and deaths are extremely unlikely with modern care.
Two species the original page ranked alongside it do not belong there. The eastern parson spider is a fast nocturnal ground hunter whose bite causes brief pain and sometimes a day of itching, and the northern yellow sac spider bites more often than most spiders only because it wanders over bedding at night; the sting fades within minutes and the old tissue-damage claims were tested and not supported. There are also no recluse spiders in Saskatchewan — Loxosceles is not established anywhere in Canada — so a brown recluse bite diagnosed in Regina or Saskatoon is nearly always a bacterial skin infection.
Bitten by a widow? Wash the bite, apply a cold pack, keep the limb still and get to an emergency department, particularly for a child, an older adult, or anyone whose pain spreads to the abdomen, chest or back. Do not cut, suck or heat the wound. If you can safely take a photo of the spider, do so — a confirmed identification changes how the bite is managed.
Where you meet them
Grassland, sandhills and coulees
Open prairie is jumping spider country. The red-backed jumping spider, the most striking spider in the province with its brick-red abdomen and black legs, builds a silk tube under rocks and boards in the dry south, while the bold jumping spider works fence rails and building walls across the whole settled belt. In flowers, the goldenrod crab spider ambushes bees and hoverflies from a motionless crouch; the female can switch between white and yellow to match her bloom, a change that takes several days rather than seconds. The banded garden spider strings a large orb with a zigzag silk ribbon in tall grass and shelterbelts from late summer.
Houses, garages and granaries
The long-bodied cellar spider hangs upside down in a loose tangle in basements, crawl spaces and garages, vibrating its web into a blur when disturbed; despite a very persistent myth, its venom is neither exceptionally potent nor dangerous. The barn funnel weaver spins a flat sheet with a funnel retreat in window wells, sheds and granaries and is the large brown indoor spider in almost every Saskatchewan home. Its cousin the giant house spider is often listed for the province, but that European species is firmly established on the coast of British Columbia and only patchily recorded on the prairies, so a big funnel weaver in a Saskatoon basement is far more likely to be the barn funnel weaver. The zebra spider, small and black-and-white striped, hunts on sunlit walls and window frames.
Lakes, sloughs and the boreal north
The six-spotted fishing spider is the province's largest, resting at the edge of sloughs, marshes and slow streams with its front legs on the surface film to read vibrations. It can sprint across open water and dive beneath it to escape, and it takes insects, tadpoles and occasionally small fish.
Spider season in Saskatchewan
Nearly everything happens between August and the first hard frost. Spiders hatch or emerge small in spring, feed all summer and reach full size in late summer, which is when orb webs suddenly appear in shelterbelts and mature males start wandering indoors looking for females. On calm, sunny days in September you may see mass ballooning, with young spiders drifting on silk threads and draping fences and stubble in gossamer.
Prairie winters are survived rather than escaped. Eggs and part-grown juveniles overwinter in litter, under bark and in soil cracks, insulated by snow and protected by antifreeze compounds in their tissues. A stable snowpack matters more than the air temperature, as explained in our guide to where spiders go in the winter.
Easy mix-ups on the prairie
The one that matters is the false widow. Steatoda species are dark, glossy and round-bodied, build the same untidy web and are far more widespread in Saskatchewan than true widows, but they have no red hourglass — at most a pale crescent across the front of the abdomen — and they are harmless.
Two others come up constantly. The original page listed the bold jumping spider among the province's biggest spiders; it is a stocky animal but its body is barely a centimetre and a half long, and nothing on the prairie approaches the fishing spiders for size. And large-bodied wolf spiders carrying an egg sac or a load of spiderlings on their backs are regularly reported as tarantulas. There are no tarantulas in Canada.
Common Spiders in Saskatchewan
- Bold Jumping Spider
- Red-backed Jumping Spider
Big Spiders in Saskatchewan
Dangerous Spider in Saskatchewan
- Western Black Widow Spider
Most Venomous Spiders in Saskatchewan
Comb-footed Spiders
Sac Spiders
Ground Spiders
Less Venomous Spiders in Saskatchewan
Jumping Spider
Jumping SpidersRed Back Jumping Spider (Phidippus johnsoni)Identify the red back jumping spider (Phidippus johnsoni): red abdomen, female black stripe, western range, silk nest, and whether the bite 
Jumping SpidersBold Jumping (Phidippus audax)Identify the bold jumping spider (Phidippus audax): size, the white triangle, green jaws, how it hunts without a web, and whether its bite i
Jumping SpidersZebra (Salticus scenicus)Identify the zebra spider (Salticus scenicus): the black and white bars, the male's oversized jaws, how it hunts without a web, and whether Orb-weaver Spiders
Nursery Web Spiders
Funnel Weaver Spiders
Funnel Weaver SpidersGiant House (Eratigena atrica)Identify the giant house spider (Eratigena atrica): size, banded legs, funnel web, why it appears in autumn, and whether its bite is dangero
Funnel Weaver SpidersBarn Funnel Weaver (Tegenaria domestica)Identify the barn funnel weaver (Tegenaria domestica): size, banded legs, its flat funnel web, where it lives indoors, and whether the bite Crab Spiders
Cellar Spiders
Living with Saskatchewan's spiders
Almost all of the province's risk is covered by a few habits, and only the first two concern the widow:
- Wear gloves when moving rocks, boards, scrap metal or stored machinery in the dry south.
- Never reach blindly into rodent burrows, culverts, junk piles or the underside of equipment left standing in a field.
- Check boots, gloves and coveralls left in an unheated garage, shed or granary.
- Seal gaps around basement windows and doors in August, before wandering males move in.
- Vacuum webs and egg sacs instead of spraying; removing the web and the insects that feed it outlasts insecticide.
For comparison, Alberta shares the same widow-in-the-south pattern almost species for species, while Manitoba shows the eastern end of the prairie fauna.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most dangerous spider in Saskatchewan?
The western black widow, and it is the only one. Its venom is neurotoxic and a bite can cause severe muscle cramping, sweating and abdominal pain, so it warrants hospital assessment. It is confined to the hot, dry southern part of the province and is not aggressive; bites happen when the spider is pressed against skin.
Where in Saskatchewan do black widows live?
In the dry south: the Great Sand Hills, the Big Muddy badlands, the Frenchman and Souris valleys and similar sun-warmed coulee country. They shelter in undisturbed cavities close to the ground, including rodent burrows, rock cracks, culverts, junk piles and the underside of abandoned farm machinery.
What are the most common spiders in Saskatchewan?
Sheet-web weavers and small wolf spiders are the most numerous, though they go unnoticed. The species people actually see are jumping spiders on fence posts and building walls, goldenrod crab spiders in flowers, banded garden spiders in shelterbelts, and barn funnel weavers and cellar spiders indoors. None of them is harmful.
Are there brown recluse spiders in Saskatchewan?
No. Recluse spiders are not established anywhere in Canada, and the prairie climate is far outside their range. Wounds diagnosed as recluse bites here are almost always bacterial infections, including staph. Any sore that spreads, weeps or fails to heal should be assessed by a doctor rather than blamed on a spider.
What is the biggest spider in Saskatchewan?
The six-spotted fishing spider, with a leg span of roughly six centimetres. It lives at the edges of sloughs, marshes and slow streams, hunts insects and occasionally tadpoles or small fish, and can run across the water surface or dive to escape. It is shy and its bite is not medically significant.
How do you identify a bold jumping spider?
Look for a compact, velvety black body, usually with a white or orange triangle on the abdomen, brilliant metallic green chelicerae and two very large forward-facing eyes. It spins no capture web, moves in short bursts, and jumps on prey trailing a silk safety line. It is harmless to people.
Are cellar spiders dangerous?
No. The long-bodied cellar spider is the subject of a long-running myth claiming its venom is the most potent of any spider but its fangs are too short to bite people. Neither half is true. The venom is unremarkable, the fangs can pierce skin, and bites are trivial and very rare.
Are there giant house spiders in Saskatchewan?
Rarely. The giant house spider is a European species firmly established on the coast of British Columbia but only patchily recorded on the prairies. A large brown funnel weaver in a Saskatchewan basement or garage is far more likely to be the native barn funnel weaver, which is harmless and extremely common.
When are spiders most active in Saskatchewan?
August to early October. Spiders that hatched in spring reach full size then, so webs appear across shelterbelts and doorways and mature males wander in search of mates, which is when they come indoors. Calm September days also bring mass ballooning, with gossamer draped over fences and stubble.
Do spiders in Saskatchewan survive the winter outdoors?
Yes. Most species overwinter as eggs or part-grown juveniles in leaf litter, under bark and in soil cracks, insulated by the snowpack and protected by antifreeze compounds that prevent ice crystals forming in their tissues. A deep, stable snow cover protects them far better than a bare, cold field does.
Published April 26, 2022 · Last updated September 14, 2026