The spider's bite is estimated to be four times as venomous as that of the button spider, and causes nausea, headache, rapid pulse rate, great pain and localised nerve damage. L. geometricus has a patterned abdomen, dorsally, and darker bands on the leg joints, while L. rhodesiensis is more of a dark brown. They are very similar in appearance and habit. Both make messy webs under window-sills, behind gutters and in cavities, and in the corners of walls. Their egg sacs are found in their webs.
Males are much smaller than the females.
These spiders vary in size from 4 mm to 10 mm, and can easily be confused with other members of the comb-foot family which are harmless. The common species in Zimbabwe has a golden body with a black chevron pattern on its abdomen. This is a delicate spider with a body length of 8 mm to 10 mm, and a leg span of up to 50 mm. It hides in cracks and crevices in logs and rocks during the day, and at night wanders about in search of prey. The bite is cytotoxic, usually taking weeks to heal, but it is not fatal, and is rare in Zimbabwe.