Around Montana
Conditions vary across the state. Choose your city below, then describe what’s happening around your home or business.
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Local spider information
Spider control in Montana
Learn what to look for around your property, explore your city, and ask about an inspection or a quote.
Spiders in Montana: what to know
What to note
Where you see spiders, how long it has been going on, and anything you’ve already tried are the most useful details to mention.
A useful next step
Ask about an inspection, what treatment would involve, and whether follow-up visits are included. You don’t need to identify the problem yourself before getting in touch.
Local research
Spiders in Montana: what the public record shows
Before you compare quotes, it helps to know which spiders actually live in Montana, when they are busiest, and what the state figures look like. Everything below links to the agency or university page it came from.
To date, no brown recluse spiders have been positively identified by trained arachnologists or entomologists in Montana
Brown recluse in Montana
Not rare — zero verified records. MSU Extension's Urban IPM program states it outright.
Montana State University Extension Urban IPMIts native range is southeastern Nebraska south through Texas and east to approximately eastern Georgia
Actual brown recluse range
Montana is roughly a thousand miles outside that range.
Montana State University Extension Urban IPMThe most common cause for such necrotic lesions in areas of the country where brown recluse spiders are not found (such as Montana) is MRSA (Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection)
What necrotic wounds usually are
MSU warns that 'the misdiagnosis of brown recluse bites can have serious consequences for certain medical conditions that go undetected.'
Montana State University Extension Urban IPMSpider species recorded in Montana
- Western black widow (Latrodectus hesperus) — 'The black widow spider, Latrodectus hesperus, is the most common harmful spider in California' and 'occur in most parts of California' (UC IPM); 'common in Colorado' (CSU); Lat…
- Hobo spider (Eratigena agrestis) — European funnel weaver 'detected in the Pacific Northwest in 1936', now 'throughout northern Utah' and 'throughout Washington'. Current extension/health stance: not medically si…
When spiders are busiest in Montana
Western black widows are present throughout Montana and shelter in woodpiles, burrowing sites and low-traffic areas around homes; MSU Extension emphasizes habitat modification near entrances (MSU Urban IPM).
MSU Extension Urban IPM: 'The brown recluse is not native to Montana' and no specimen has ever been positively identified in the state by a trained arachnologist or entomologist; 'it is extremely unlikely that any diagnosed spider bite from this area is from a brown recluse.' A recluse could only arrive as a hitchhiker in shipments or boxes.
Rules that apply in Montana
For context, nationally
Sources: Montana State University Extension Urban IPM; CDC/NIOSH; Pest Notes: Spiders (PN 7442); Hobo Spider. Figures are quoted as the source prints them. How we check our sources
Explore Montana cities
Anaconda
Semi-Arid Continental · rural setting
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Belgrade
Semi-Arid Continental · rural setting
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Billings
Semi-Arid Continental · urban setting
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Bozeman
Warm Summer Continental · suburban setting
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Butte
Semi-Arid Continental · suburban setting
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Great Falls
Semi-Arid Continental · suburban setting
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Havre
Semi-Arid Continental · rural setting
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Helena
Semi-Arid Continental · suburban setting
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Kalispell
Warm Summer Continental · suburban setting
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Miles City
Semi-Arid Continental · rural setting
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Missoula
Warm Summer Continental · urban setting
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Livingston
Warm Summer Continental · rural setting
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