Spiders in Malaysia

What spiders live in Malaysia?

Malaysia sits astride the equator, with lowland dipterocarp rainforest, limestone hills, montane forest in the Cameron Highlands and Borneo's interior, mangrove along both coasts and oil palm in between. That produces one of the richest spider faunas in Asia, most of it undescribed, and no credible national species total exists. What you can learn is the set you will actually see.

The orb-weavers are the showpiece. The giant golden orb-weaver, Nephila pilipes, hangs golden silk strong enough to stop a small bird across forest gaps, while the long-horned orb-weaver Macracantha arcuata, with two curved spines longer than its body, and the black-and-white spiny spider Gasteracantha kuhli hang in low webs like painted ornaments. Jumping spiders are everywhere in the sun: the heavy-bodied Hyllus semicupreus, the banded Phintella species, the ant-mimicking Myrmaplata plataleoides that passes for a weaver ant until it moves. After dark the huntsman spiders take over walls and tree trunks, and earth tiger tarantulas wait at silk-lined tubes in trees and banks.

Are there dangerous spiders in Malaysia?

No Malaysian spider is known to have killed anyone, and the country produces no spider antivenom because it has no need of one. The only species worth knowing is the brown widow, Latrodectus geometricus, an introduced tropical member of the widow genus now common in Southeast Asian towns. It builds a tangle web under garden furniture, in meter boxes and along fence rails, and its bite gives local pain, sweating and a cramping ache that normally settles within a day or two.

The other frequent biter is the yellow sac spider, Cheiracanthium, which folds a leaf into a silk cell and defends it. The bite stings sharply and swells, and the necrotic reputation attached to the genus has never been supported by verified cases. Tarantulas and huntsman spiders worry people far more than they should: the Malaysian earth tiger, Omothymus schioedtei, is fast and defensive with long fangs, so a bite hurts mechanically and can throb for hours, but no Asian tarantula has caused a documented human death. Nothing from Malaysia appears on our most venomous spiders shortlist.

Three claims about Malaysian spiders that are wrong

The first is the oldest internet spider hoax. The two-striped Telamonia dimidiata, named on nearly every Malaysian list, owes its deadly reputation entirely to a chain email that circulated from 1999 claiming a lethal spider lurked under aircraft and restaurant toilet seats. The story was invented outright. Telamonia is a small, brightly marked, harmless jumping spider of vegetation and house walls.

The second is geographic. The six-spotted fishing spider, Dolomedes triton, listed here among Malaysia's venomous spiders, is a North American species of ponds and marshes. Malaysia has its own Dolomedes fishing spiders on forest streams; they sit at the water's edge, feel for ripples and take insects and small fish, and they are harmless.

The third is the deadliest-sounding. Malaysia has no Atracidae, the Australian funnel-web spiders, which live only in eastern Australia. Southeast Asian mygalomorphs that get called funnel-webs are unrelated animals with painful, non-lethal bites.

Where you meet them

In and around the house

The indoor cast matches our house spiders guide. Huntsman spiders are the flat, fast, long-legged animals on bedroom walls at night, and they are welcome residents that hunt cockroaches and geckos; they run rather than fight. Cellar spiders hold bathroom corners, the common housefly catcher Plexippus petersi and other jumpers work lit walls, and sac spiders build silk retreats where wall meets ceiling.

Gardens, kampung and plantation

Hedges, fruit trees and oil palm carry the heaviest web traffic: spiny orb-weavers in low webs, golden orb-weavers across wider gaps, and lynx spiders hunting on foliage. In paddy and plantation those spiders are a working part of pest control, which is why integrated pest management programmes ask growers to leave them alone.

Rainforest and limestone

Primary forest holds the richest fauna: huge orb webs across trails, hermit spiders with a retreat in a curled leaf, net-casting spiders that hold a silk rectangle between their front legs, and earth tiger tarantulas in tree hollows and bank tubes. Limestone caves add whip spiders and long-legged cave dwellers.

Spider season and the monsoon

Malaysia is hot and humid all year, so spiders breed continuously, nothing overwinters and there is no spider season in the temperate sense. The rhythm comes from the monsoons: the northeast monsoon brings heavy rain to the east coast and Borneo from November to March, and the southwest monsoon runs from May to September.

Insect numbers climb with the rain, and webs grow with them, so the weeks after heavy rain are when the big trail-spanning orb webs look most impressive. Storms also flood burrows and leaf litter, producing short pulses of indoor sightings as ground-living spiders and tarantulas are pushed out for a few days.

Common Spiders in Malaysia

• Two-striped Telamonia (Telamonia dimidiate)
• Heavy-bodied Jumping Spider (Hyllus semicupreus)
• Banded Phintella (Phintella vittate)
• Common Housefly Catcher (Plexippus petersi)
• Black and White Spiny Spider (Gasteracantha kuhli)
• Multi-colored Phintella (Phintelloides versicolor)
• Long-horned Orb Weaver (Macracantha arcuate)
• Hasselt’s Spiny Spiders

Biggest Spiders in Malaysia

• Giant Golden Orb Weaver (Nephila pilipes)
• Pantropical Huntsman Spider (Heteropoda venatoria)
• Malaysian Earth Tiger Tarantula (Omothymus schioedtei)
• Giant Tree Trunk Huntsman (Heteropoda boiei)

Most Venomous Spiders in Malaysia

Sac Spiders

Nursery Web SpidersSix-spotted Fishing (Dolomedes triton)Identify the six-spotted fishing spider (Dolomedes triton): size, stripes, how it walks on water, its range, and whether its bite is dangeroSac SpidersCheiracanthiumA guide to Cheiracanthium, the yellow sac spiders: how to identify the genus, the silk sac it sleeps in, where its species live, and how bad

Cobweb Spiders (Theridiidae)

Cobweb SpidersWidow (Latrodectus)A guide to the widow spiders (Latrodectus): how to identify the genus, the species you may meet, the gumfoot web, and how serious a widow biCobweb 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 Malaysia

Orb Weavers

Cobweb SpidersWidow (Latrodectus)A guide to the widow spiders (Latrodectus): how to identify the genus, the species you may meet, the gumfoot web, and how serious a widow biOrb 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

Living with spiders in Malaysia

The spiders in a Malaysian house are free mosquito and cockroach control, which counts for a lot in a dengue country. Clearing them out changes nothing while the insects remain.

• Wear gloves and closed shoes when moving timber, bricks, pots and stacked furniture, where brown widows shelter.
• Shake out shoes, bags and clothing left on the floor overnight, especially in kampung houses and jungle camps.
• Never reach blind into a tree hollow, a bank or a hole in the ground; use a stick if you need to look.
• Brush webs off window frames and furniture undersides rather than spraying insecticide indoors.
• Leave the huntsman on the bedroom wall alone. It is the most useful animal in the building.

For the wider region see our guides to Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia, and read how spider webs work to understand those golden trailside orbs.