The brown house spider is a relative of the redback spider, which it resembles in size and body shape, but not in coloration. It is often found under furniture or in other dark places inside houses. It is very common in urban gardens. Bites from this spider may cause headache, nausea and small localized skin blisters. It has also been identified in at least two cases of redback-like envenomations, which appeared to improve after the administration of redback spider antivenom. It is possible that some presumed redback spider bite presentations to doctors may in fact be caused by Steatoda spiders.