Spiders in Hong Kong

What spiders live in Hong Kong?

Hong Kong squeezes secondary woodland, upland grassland, stream valleys, mangrove and one of the densest cities on earth into a little over a thousand square kilometres. Roughly three quarters of the territory sits outside the built-up area, much of it inside country parks, and that green backbone is why a city this size still holds a well over a hundred recorded spider species, with new records still appearing as the hillsides are surveyed.

What you actually meet sorts into a handful of groups. Big orb-weavers dominate the trails, led by the giant golden orb-weaver, whose yellow-tinted web can span the gap between two trees over a footpath. Smaller Argiope and Gasteracantha orb-weavers work the shrub layer. Jumping spiders such as the grey wall jumper patrol sunlit concrete and balcony railings by day. Huntsman spiders take over the same walls at night. Flattened two-tailed spiders of the genus Hersilia press themselves against tree trunks until they are almost invisible, and wolf spiders hunt on damp ground beside streams and paddies.

Are there dangerous spiders in Hong Kong?

No Hong Kong spider has been shown to kill a healthy person, and the territory produces no spider antivenom because none is needed. The one species with genuine medical interest is the brown widow, Latrodectus geometricus, an introduced tropical cobweb spider that tangles its untidy web under garden furniture, in electricity meter boxes, along fence rails and inside stacked flowerpots. Its bite gives sharp local pain, redness and a cramping ache that usually eases within a day or two; systemic reactions are far milder than those of the bigger black widows. Its Australian relative the redback, Latrodectus hasseltii, turns up in the wider region as a stowaway in cargo, so a widow-shaped spider with a red stripe is worth photographing rather than handling.

Everything else on the classic Hong Kong list is painful at worst. Sac spiders of the genus Cheiracanthium can bite when trapped against skin in bedding, giving a stinging welt; the necrotic reputation attached to the group, including to the American black-footed yellow sac spider, is not supported by clinical evidence. Huntsman, orb-weavers and jumping spiders are all harmless. Nothing on our most venomous spiders shortlist lives here.

Species that do not belong on a Hong Kong list

Older versions of this page, like most spider lists for Asia, borrow animals from other continents. The brown recluse is a North American species of the central and southern United States and has no established population anywhere in Hong Kong or southern China; slow-healing sores here are infections, burns or bites from other arthropods, never a recluse. The giant huntsman, Heteropoda maxima, is a cave species described from Khammouane in Laos; the large huntsman that crosses a Hong Kong ceiling is the pantropical cane spider, Heteropoda venatoria.

Two more names travel badly. The cross orb-weaver is a temperate European and North American garden spider, not a subtropical one, and the giant crab spider Olios giganteus named in some Hong Kong lists is a Sonoran Desert animal from Arizona and Mexico. The banded garden spider is the one genuinely wide-ranging Argiope on the list. It is also worth stating plainly that Australian funnel-webs — the family Atracidae, covered on our Australian funnel-web page — occur only in eastern Australia and have never lived in Hong Kong, whatever a holiday rumour says.

Where you meet them

Flats, stairwells and village houses

Cellar spiders hold bathroom and stairwell corners with loose tangles, small cobweb spiders take ceiling angles, jumping spiders work window frames and light wells, and huntsman spiders appear on bedroom walls at night. The huntsman is the most useful animal in the building — a fast, effective cockroach hunter that runs rather than fights. Our house spiders guide covers the same indoor cast worldwide.

Country parks and hiking trails

The trails on Lantau, in the Tai Mo Shan uplands and along the MacLehose Trail carry the heaviest web traffic anywhere in the territory. Golden orb webs are strung head-high across gaps, spiny Gasteracantha shells hang in low shrubs, and trunk-hugging Hersilia spiders sit flattened on bark with their long spinnerets held apart.

Gardens, podium planting and village edges

Brown widows shelter under pot rims, in drainage holes and beneath plastic furniture, which is exactly where fingers go. Lynx spiders hunt on foliage, and orb-weavers rebuild nightly across gaps between shrubs and railings.

Spider season in Hong Kong

Hong Kong is warm enough that spiders remain active all year, so nothing truly overwinters, but the population still has a strong rhythm. The wet season from roughly May to September floods the hills with insects, webs get larger, and orb-weavers reach full adult size in its second half. August to October is when the golden orb webs across country-park paths are at their most spectacular and when sightings peak.

Typhoon rain and the winter monsoon both push spiders indoors for short bursts: heavy rain floods ground-dwellers out of leaf litter and drains, while the cool, dry northerlies of December to February concentrate activity around heated interiors and lit walkways where insects still gather. Egg sacs guarded through the cooler months hatch as the humidity returns in spring.

Common Spiders in Hong Kong

• Common two-tailed spider
• Pirate Wolf Spider

Biggest Spiders in Hong Kong

• Giant Golden Orb weaver (Nephila pilipes)
• Giant Huntsman Spider (Heteropoda maxima)
• Giant Crab Spider (Olios giganteus)

Most Venomous Spiders in Hong Kong

Sac Spiders

Sac SpidersBlack-Footed Yellow Sac (Cheiracanthium inclusum)Identify the black-footed yellow sac spider (Cheiracanthium inclusum): size, colour, its silk retreat, where it lives, and what its bite rea

Sicariidae

Sicariidae SpidersBrown Recluse Spider (Loxosceles reclusa)How to identify a brown recluse (Loxosceles reclusa): six eyes, violin mark, where it lives, and what a recluse bite really does to skin.

Cobweb Spiders/Tangle Web Spiders (Theridiidae)

Cobweb SpidersBrown Widow (Latrodectus geometricus)Identify the brown widow (Latrodectus geometricus) by its orange hourglass and spiky egg sac, and learn how its bite compares with a black w

Less Venomous Spiders in Hong Kong

Huntsman Spiders (Sparassidae Family)

Huntsman SpidersGiant Huntsman (Heteropoda maxima)Identify the giant huntsman spider (Heteropoda maxima): the world's longest leg span, its cave habitat in Laos, diet, and whether its bite i

Orb Weaver

Orb WeaversBanded Garden (Argiope trifasciata)Identify the banded garden spider (Argiope trifasciata): silver banding, size, the zigzag in its web, egg sac, range, and whether its bite iOrb WeaversCross Orb Weaver (Araneus diadematus)Identify the cross orb weaver (Araneus diadematus) by the white cross on its abdomen: size, colour, web, egg sac, range and whether the biteOrb WeaversGiant Wood Spider (Nephila pilipes)Identify the giant wood spider (Nephila pilipes): huge black-and-yellow females, tiny males, golden orb webs, range, diet and whether its bi

Jumping Spiders

Jumping SpidersGray Wall Jumping (Menemerus bivittatus)Identify the gray wall jumping spider (Menemerus bivittatus): size, the flattened grey-haired body, its walls-and-tree-trunks habitat, and w

Living with spiders in Hong Kong

In a subtropical city the spiders in your flat are free mosquito and cockroach control, and removing them changes nothing while the insects that feed them remain. A few habits remove almost all risk of a bite:

• Wear gloves when moving stacked flowerpots, bricks, timber and garden furniture, where brown widows shelter.
• Shake out shoes, gloves and laundry left on a floor or balcony overnight.
• Brush webs off window frames and furniture undersides rather than spraying insecticide indoors.
• Walk trails with a stick held ahead of you in late summer so you break orb webs before they reach your face.
• Leave the huntsman on the wall alone; it will be gone by morning and it is eating your cockroaches.

For neighbouring faunas see our guides to Vietnam and Thailand, and to understand how those huge trailside webs are engineered, read how spider webs work.