Venomous snakes and spiders in Alaska
Alaska has no species on its snake list: GBIF holds two licensed snake records for the whole state. GBIF holds no venomous snake record for Alaska under any license, so the answer to “are there venomous snakes in Alaska” is no. No widow or recluse spider reaches the listing threshold in Alaska. GBIF holds 1 widow or recluse record of any license in Alaska (western black widow 1), fewer than 10 of any one species; such records can be genuine rarities, strays, transported animals or misidentifications. Treat any spider that looks like a widow as venomous.
Are there venomous snakes in Alaska?
No. GBIF holds no venomous snake record for Alaska under any license.
Dangerous spiders of Alaska
No widow or recluse spider reaches the Alaska list, which needs 10 GBIF records of a species, out of 26,079 licensed spider records in all. GBIF holds 1 widow or recluse record of any license in Alaska (western black widow 1), fewer than 10 of any one species; such records can be genuine rarities, strays, transported animals or misidentifications. Treat any spider that looks like a widow as venomous.
Other spiders recorded most in Alaska
These eight account for 18% of all licensed spider records in Alaska; the most recorded, the common west coast woodland spider, alone for 5%.
Same family (Linyphiidae): Frontinella pyramitela
Same family (Linyphiidae): Frontinella pyramitela
Related species: Walckenaeria directa
When spiders are most active in Alaska
Observation records of spiders in Alaska run mostly May through August, peaking in August with 29% of them. December through February together hold under 2% of the records, so spiders in Alaska are rarely recorded in winter.
Alaska counties with their own page: Aleutians West Census Area, Anchorage Municipality, Denali Borough, Fairbanks North Star Borough, Haines Borough, Juneau City and Borough, Kenai Peninsula Borough, Matanuska-Susitna Borough, North Slope Borough, Prince of Wales-Outer Ketchikan Census Area, Skagway-Yakutat-Angoon Census Area, Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, Wrangell-Petersburg Census Area and Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area.
Harmless lookalikes in Alaska
Many snakes and spiders taken for venomous ones are harmless species with a similar look. These are the usual confusions, with each species' licensed records in Alaska.
What looks like a widow spider in Alaska
Widow spiders are not on the Alaska list, but they are recorded in Alaska once (records of any license: western black widow 1): treat any spider like this as venomous until identified. Harmless species often taken for them in the state: boreal combfoot (58) and false black widow (8).
What looks like a recluse spider in Alaska
No recluse spiders reach the Alaska list, and GBIF holds no recluse spider record for Alaska under any license, so a spider taken for one here is most likely a harmless lookalike. Those recorded in the state: longbodied cellar spider (10).
How Alaska compares
Alaska is one of five states with no venomous snake on the list; the others are Hawaii, Maine, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. GBIF still holds a few venomous snake records for three of them, too few to list: Hawaii (pelagic sea snake: 5 records), Maine (timber rattlesnake: 3 records) and New Hampshire (timber rattlesnake: 2 records). At the other end, Arizona leads with 14 species.
Are there poisonous spiders in Alaska?
Does Alaska have black widows?
Not on our list: GBIF holds 1 widow spider record of any license in Alaska (western black widow 1), fewer than 10 of any one species; such records can be genuine rarities, strays, transported animals or misidentifications. Treat any spider that looks like a widow as venomous.
Does Alaska have brown recluse spiders?
No. GBIF holds no brown recluse record for Alaska under any license.
Are there scorpions in Alaska?
No. GBIF holds no scorpion record for Alaska under any license. Every scorpion has venom; only the Arizona bark scorpion's sting is medically significant, and it is not on the Alaska list.
More for Alaska
GBIF records read 2026-09-29. Listed: any license. Counted: CC0/CC BY only. How we count.