---
title: "False Black Widow"
description: "Steatoda grossa — Insects & spiders. Steatoda grossa, commonly known as the cupboard spider, the dark comb-footed spider, the brown house spider (in Australia), or the false widow or false black widow (though several other species are known by these names), is a common species of spider in the genus Steatoda."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/false-black-widow
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# False Black Widow

> Steatoda grossa — Insects & spiders. Steatoda grossa, commonly known as the cupboard spider, the dark comb-footed spider, the brown house spider (in Australia), or the false widow or false black widow (though several other species are known by these names), is a common species of spider in the genus Steatoda.

- Scientific name: *Steatoda grossa*
- Category: `insects` (Insects & spiders)
- Habitats: `urban` (Towns & gardens)
- iNaturalist observations: 38355
- Wikidata: [Q311833](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q311833)
- iNaturalist taxon: [61997](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/61997)

## Names

- en: False Black Widow
- de: Große Fettspinne
- es: Falsa Viuda Negra Doméstica
- fr: Stéatode domestique
- nl: Grote steatoda

## Countries with the most observations

US (9668), GB (1980), FR (1903), AR (1375), AU (1251), ES (1007), IT (985), CA (804), PT (795), MX (767), NZ (628), CL (623)

## Summary

Steatoda grossa, commonly known as the cupboard spider, the dark comb-footed spider, the brown house spider (in Australia), or the false widow or false black widow (though several other species are known by these names), is a common species of spider in the genus Steatoda.
As two of this spider's common names indicate, the spider superficially resembles, and is frequently confused for, the black widow and other venomous spiders in the genus Latrodectus.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steatoda_grossa

## Photo

![False Black Widow](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/false-black-widow/medium.jpg)

Photo: Ken Kneidel · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/244029652

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/false-black-widow?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).