Spiders in Somalia

What spiders live in Somalia?

Somalia occupies the tip of the Horn of Africa: the hot Guban coastal plain, the Ogo escarpment and juniper-clad Cal Madow mountains behind it, the semi-arid Haud plateau inland, and a green belt along the Jubba and Shabelle rivers. Almost all of it is arid, and its spiders are shaped by that — burrowers, night hunters and species that survive long rainless stretches.

The fauna is poorly surveyed, so a species count would be guesswork, but the cast of groups is clear. Ground-burrowing baboon spiders hold silk-lined tubes in hard soil across the interior. Orb-weavers build in acacia and riverine thicket, including the hard-shelled kite spiders of the genus Gasteracantha and, along the rivers, big golden orb-weavers of the genus Trichonephila. Jumping spiders such as the pantropical jumper and Adanson's house jumper patrol sunlit masonry. Small cobweb spiders, including the common house spider, occupy ceiling corners, and wolf spiders and crab spiders hunt at ground level and on flowers.

Are Somali spiders dangerous?

One group deserves respect. African button spiders, genus Latrodectus, occur right across the Horn of Africa and are the only spiders in Somalia whose venom is medically significant. They are small, glossy, dark-bodied cobweb spiders building untidy tangle webs low down in thorn scrub, among rocks, in woodpiles and inside outbuildings and sheds. A bite can produce severe pain that spreads from the site, muscle cramps in the abdomen and limbs, sweating, restlessness and raised blood pressure — a syndrome called latrodectism. It responds well to hospital treatment, is rarely fatal in healthy adults, and is riskiest for small children.

Everything else in the country is painful at worst. Baboon spiders are large and defensive, and a bite is a mechanical wound with hours of throbbing pain and swelling; no African theraphosid has caused a documented human death and no antivenom is needed. Orb-weavers, jumping spiders, wolf spiders and house cobweb spiders are harmless, and no Somali spider belongs on our most venomous spiders shortlist.

Species that do not belong on a Somalia list

The original page borrowed animals from other continents, and two errors are worth naming plainly.

The redback, Latrodectus hasselti, is Australian and has no established population in Somalia. The country's widow spiders are African members of the same genus; the medical picture is similar, but calling them redbacks obscures what people are actually finding. The brown recluse is a second import on paper only: a North American spider of the Mississippi basin, and no Sicariidae species is documented as established in Somalia. Its Old World cousin, the Mediterranean recluse, travels with human goods around the Mediterranean, but confirmed Somali records are lacking. Slow-healing sores here are far more often bacterial infections, cutaneous leishmaniasis or burns, and a misattributed recluse bite delays the right treatment.

The candy-striped spider, Enoplognatha ovata, is a temperate European and North American species and does not belong here either. The king baboon spider is a genuine East African giant, but its documented range lies in Kenya and Tanzania; the burrowers dug out of Somali soil are other theraphosids that behave the same way — slow, defensive, painful rather than dangerous.

Not spiders: camel spiders, whip spiders and ticks

The animal most often reported as Somalia's most dangerous spider is not a spider at all. Camel spiders, or solifuges, belong to the order Solifugae. They are pale tan, fast, a hand's width across the legs, with enormous forward-facing jaws and what look like ten legs because the first pair of appendages works as feelers. They hunt at night and famously run towards people — chasing the shade of a shadow, not attacking.

Camel spiders have no venom glands at all. Their jaws can pinch hard enough to break skin, which needs cleaning like any other wound, and that is the whole story; the tales of flesh-eating venom and chasing camels are fiction. Whip spiders, order Amblypygi, under rocks in the northern hills, are equally harmless. Ticks and harvestmen are arachnids rather than spiders, and ticks are the group that genuinely matters in livestock country.

Where you meet them

In and around houses

The indoor cast is small and harmless: jumping spiders on sunlit walls, small cobweb spiders in ceiling corners and cellar spiders in bathrooms and stores. All live on the flies, mosquitoes and cockroaches already in the building, which is why our house spiders guide argues against clearing them out.

Compounds, stores and outbuildings

This is where the button spiders are: stacked firewood, building rubble, empty drums, latrine walls, under stored furniture and behind a corrugated sheet. Gloves and a torch solve almost the entire risk.

Thorn scrub, river valleys and the Haud

Acacia and riverine thicket carry the orb webs, with kite spiders in low vegetation and golden orb-weavers near the Jubba and Shabelle. Open ground holds burrowing baboon spiders, night-hunting wolf spiders and crab spiders waiting in flowers.

Spider season and the rains

Somalia's year runs on two rainy seasons: the gu from roughly April to June and the shorter deyr from October to December, separated by the dry jilaal and hagaa. Spider activity follows insects, and insects follow water.

After the gu rains, vegetation flushes, insect numbers climb and orb webs appear in thorn scrub within days. The second half of each rainy season is when webs are largest. The dry seasons push everything towards rivers, irrigated plots, wells and lit compounds, and that is when burrowing spiders are most often turned up by digging or by moving stored material. Heavy rain floods burrows and produces short bursts of large spiders indoors; for how the webs are built, see our guide to spider webs.

Common Spiders in Somalia

• Shorthorn Kite Spider (Gasteracantha sanguinolenta)
• Common House Spider (Parasteatoda tepidariorum)

Biggest Spiders in Somalia

• King Baboon Spiders (Pelinobius muticus)
• Redback Spider (Latrodectus hasselti)

Less Venomous Spiders

• Hairy Golden Orb-weaving Spider also known as Tufted Golden Orb-weaving Spider - Trichonephila fenestrata
• Pantropical Jumping Spider - Plexippus paykulli
• Adanson’s House Jumper - Hasarius adansoni
• Common Candy-striped Spider - Enoplognatha ovata

Most Venomous Spiders in Somalia

Sicariidae Spiders

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.

Tarantulas

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.TarantulasKing Baboon Tarantula (Pelinobius muticus)Identify the king baboon tarantula (Pelinobius muticus): rusty colour, deep burrows, its warning hiss, and why an Old World bite hurts far m

Cobweb Spiders

Cobweb SpidersRedback Spider (Latrodectus hasseltii)Identify the redback spider (Latrodectus hasseltii): the female's red stripe, the gum-footed web, where it lives, and how dangerous its biteCobweb 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 bi

Living with spiders in Somalia

Somali spiders are working pest control in a country where mosquitoes and flies carry real disease. Leave the harmless majority alone and handle the one genuinely venomous group with simple precautions.

• Wear gloves and closed shoes when moving firewood, rubble, drums, sacks and stored furniture — the classic button spider shelters.
• Shake out shoes, blankets and clothing left on the floor overnight.
• Use a torch and a stick rather than a bare hand when reaching into a hole, a burrow or a dark store.
• Do not kill camel spiders out of fear; they have no venom and eat large numbers of insects.
• Brush indoor webs away with a cloth instead of spraying insecticide in living space.

For the surrounding region see our guides to Kenya and Oman.