Spiders in Denmark
Denmark has several hundred spider species and not one of them is medically significant. There are no widows, no recluses and no funnel-webs anywhere in the country, so every Danish encounter is with a harmless animal. The species you actually meet are house and cellar spiders indoors, orb-weavers in the garden and hedgerow, and small hunters on heath, dune and woodland floor.
On this page
- What spiders live in Denmark?
- Are any Danish spiders dangerous?
- Where you actually meet them
- Spider season in Denmark
- Look-alikes and species that do not live here
- Common Spiders in Denmark
- Biggest Spiders in Denmark
- Most Venomous Spiders in Denmark
- Less Venomous Spiders in Denmark
- Living with spiders in Denmark
- Frequently asked questions
What spiders live in Denmark?
Denmark sits at the mild, wet end of northern Europe, and the spider fauna matches the climate: several hundred recorded species, almost all under a centimetre in body length, and none with venom that matters to people. Beech woodland, hedgerows, the heaths and coastal dunes of Jutland, reed beds around the fjords and a large stock of heated buildings between them supply every niche a temperate spider needs.
By numbers the fauna is dominated by money spiders, the tiny sheet-web weavers whose gossamer covers Danish stubble fields on still autumn mornings, and by ground-running wolf spiders carrying egg sacs on the spinnerets. The species people actually notice are larger and fewer: the cross orb-weaver in garden shrubs, the giant house spider crossing a living-room floor in September, and the long-bodied cellar spider trembling in its tangle in a basement corner.
Are any Danish spiders dangerous?
No. This is the single most important correction to older lists, which rank a "most venomous" Danish spider as though the country had a dangerous one. It does not. The groups that cause genuine envenomation elsewhere — Latrodectus widows, Loxosceles recluses, Australian funnel-webs and South American wandering spiders — are all absent from Denmark, and no Danish hospital treats spider envenomation as a clinical category.
Two species get talked about anyway. Yellow sac spiders of the genus Cheiracanthium hunt at night without a capture web and occasionally bite when pressed against skin in clothing or bedding; the result is a sharp sting, redness and itching that fades within a day or two. Note that the species usually illustrated on these lists, the black-footed yellow sac spider, is a North American animal — Denmark's are native European Cheiracanthium such as C. erraticum. The false black widow, Steatoda grossa, is a glossy dark cobweb spider of Danish cellars and outbuildings whose name does the damage: it is not a widow, and its bite is comparable to a wasp sting.
Bitten? Wash the site with soap and water, apply a cold pack and keep an eye on it. In Denmark there is no antivenom to seek and no reason to panic. See a doctor only if the wound becomes hot, spreads, weeps pus or is still worsening after two days, which points to an ordinary bacterial infection rather than the venom.
Where you actually meet them
Inside the house
Danish homes hold a predictable set. Cellar spiders occupy ceiling corners and unheated basements; the rabbit hutch spider tucks a small tangle web into window frames, sheds and animal hutches; the triangulate cobweb spider strings dusty threads behind furniture; and the giant house spider builds a flat funnel retreat in an attic, garage or the gap behind a wardrobe. Our guide to house spiders covers this indoor group in more detail.
Garden, hedge and field edge
Outdoors, orb-weavers take the visible layer — cross orb-weavers and Zygiella species across gaps in shrubs, fences and window reveals. The goldenrod crab spider sits motionless on umbellifers and yellow composites, able to shift between white and yellow over several days to match the flower, and the zebra spider patrols sunlit brick, fence posts and south-facing walls.
Under stones, logs and leaf litter
The ground layer holds the woodlouse spider, unmistakable with its glossy red-brown front half, pale abdomen and oversized forward-pointing fangs built for piercing woodlouse armour. Alongside it live ground spiders, small wolf spiders and money spiders, while Jutland's heaths and dunes add sand-camouflaged Arctosa specialists.
Spider season in Denmark
Denmark has a short, sharp spider season. Very little is visible from November to March. Activity builds through spring as wolf and jumping spiders warm up on open ground, and the great flush comes in late August, September and October, when orb-weavers reach adult size and rebuild large webs every evening. This is also when male giant house spiders abandon their funnels to walk the floors looking for females, which is why almost every Danish "huge spider in the living room" report arrives in September.
The first cold nights end the orb-weaver generation: females die once the egg sac is fixed to a sheltered surface, and the spiderlings overwinter inside it. Indoor species carry on all year at a slower pace, because a heated Danish house never has a winter. For the full picture, see where spiders go in the winter.
Look-alikes and species that do not live here
Most misidentifications in Denmark come from three directions. Harvestmen, the long-legged arachnids with a single oval body and no waist, are not spiders at all: they have no silk glands and no venom. Both they and the cellar spider get called daddy-long-legs, which is why the internet claim about "the most venomous spider in the world with fangs too short to bite" refuses to die — it is false for both.
The second source is the name false widow. Denmark's Steatoda species are glossy, dark and sometimes pale-marked, and photographs of them circulate as black widow sightings every summer. There are no Latrodectus widows in Denmark. The noble false widow, Steatoda nobilis, is expanding northwards through western Europe and is worth watching for around buildings, but even where it is well established it causes local pain and swelling rather than anything serious.
Third, brown recluse reports. Recluses are not part of the northern European fauna, and the brown recluse itself lives in the central and southern United States. A long-legged brown spider in a Danish house is a funnel weaver or, in a bathroom, a cellar spider. For context on the small handful of spiders that do warrant caution worldwide, see our round-up of the most venomous spiders.
Common Spiders in Denmark
- Leaf curling sac spiders (Clubiona phragmitis)
- Cricket-bat Orb weaver spider (Mangora acalypha)
- Red-sided Sector Spider (Zygiella atrica)
- Long-bodied Cellar Spider (Pholcus phalangioides)
Biggest Spiders in Denmark
- Giant House Spider (Eratigena atrica)
- Silver-sided Sector Spider (Zygiella x-notata)
Most Venomous Spiders in Denmark
Sac Spiders
Cobweb Spiders/Tangle Web Spiders (Theridiidae)
Less Venomous Spiders in Denmark
Orb Weavers (Araneids)
Cobweb Spiders/Tangle Web Spiders (Theridiidae)
Crab Spiders
Jumping Spiders
Woodlouse Hunter (Dysderidae)
Comb-footed Spiders
Funnel Weaver Spiders
Living with spiders in Denmark
Because nothing in the Danish fauna can hurt you, the only real question is tolerance. House spiders eat flies, mosquitoes, moths and silverfish, and spraying achieves very little because it never reaches the cracks where spiders actually sit.
- Move a spider outdoors with a glass and a sheet of card, but only in mild weather — a house spider put out in November will not survive.
- Vacuum ceiling corners, skirting boards and window frames now and then; removing webs and egg sacs beats insecticide.
- Seal gaps under exterior doors and repair torn fly screens if September floor-runners bother you.
- Keep firewood, compost and stacked garden furniture away from walls, and wear gloves when you move them.
- Shake out shoes, gloves and bedding left in a shed or summerhouse over winter.
- Leave garden webs alone through autumn: one large cross orb-weaver removes thousands of insects before the frosts.
The Danish fauna overlaps almost completely with that of Sweden and Norway, and to understand what those garden webs are actually doing, read our guide to spider webs.
Frequently asked questions
Are there any dangerous spiders in Denmark?
No. Denmark has no spider with venom of medical significance. Widows, recluses, funnel-webs and wandering spiders are all absent from the country. A few species, such as native yellow sac spiders and the false black widow, can give a bite comparable to a wasp sting, with brief local pain, redness and itching that settles on its own.
What is the largest spider in Denmark?
The giant house spider, Eratigena atrica, with a leg span commonly around five to seven centimetres in a large female and a body up to about 18 millimetres. It is the spider that startles Danish households in September. Despite the size and the speed it is completely harmless and rarely attempts to bite even when trapped.
Which spiders are most common inside Danish homes?
The long-bodied cellar spider in ceiling corners and basements, the giant house spider in attics, garages and behind furniture, and small cobweb spiders such as the triangulate cobweb spider and the rabbit hutch spider around window frames. All four live indoors year-round because heated buildings never experience a Danish winter.
Are there black widow spiders in Denmark?
No. No Latrodectus widow species occurs in Denmark or anywhere in Scandinavia. The spiders mistaken for them are Steatoda cobweb spiders, sometimes called false widows, which are glossy and dark but unrelated closely enough for the venom to act the same way. Their bite causes local pain and swelling at worst.
Do brown recluse spiders live in Denmark?
No. The brown recluse is a North American species restricted mainly to the central and southern United States, and no recluse of the genus Loxosceles is part of the Danish fauna. Brown, long-legged house spiders in Denmark are funnel weavers or cellar spiders, neither of which causes necrotic wounds.
Why do big spiders appear indoors in September?
Because adult male house spiders stop feeding and start searching for females at the end of summer. They leave their funnel retreats and cross open floors, which is exactly when people see them. They have usually been in the building all along; the season changes their behaviour, not their address.
How do you identify a woodlouse spider?
By the two-tone body: a shiny dark red-orange head region and legs, and a smooth cream to pinkish-grey abdomen. The giveaway is the pair of long, forward-pointing fangs it uses to pierce woodlouse armour. It has six eyes rather than eight, hunts at night under stones and logs, and builds no capture web.
Is the cross orb-weaver dangerous to people or pets?
No. The cross orb-weaver, Araneus diadematus, is the large garden spider with a pale cross of spots on the abdomen. It is reluctant to bite, and on the rare occasion it does the effect is a brief pinprick with slight redness. It is harmless to cats and dogs and is one of the most useful insect predators in a Danish garden.
Are cellar spiders venomous to humans?
Cellar spiders have venom, like almost all spiders, but it is weak and the quantity is tiny. The widespread claim that they are the most venomous spider in the world with fangs too short to bite is simply untrue. They are harmless, and they usefully prey on flies, mosquitoes and other spiders indoors.
How many spider species are there in Denmark?
Several hundred species have been recorded, the great majority of them small money spiders, sheet-web weavers and ground hunters that people never notice. Only a dozen or so are large or conspicuous enough to be reported regularly, and it is those garden, house and heathland species that this identification chart covers.
Published December 2, 2023 · Last updated September 14, 2026