The abdomen is globular, colored a shiny black, with two non-overlapping stripes, one dorsal and one lateral.

This differentiates it from true black widow spiders that have dorsal and ventral markings.

[3] S. paykulliana's venom is much less potent than the true black widows', and its effect on humans is minor, similar to a wasp sting.

[4] S. paykulliana spins typical tangled three-dimensional webs, usually on sloping ground covered with vegetation.

It has been reported in Portugal,[5] Spain,[6] France[7][8] including Corsica,[9] Belgium,[10] Italy,[11] Switzerland,[12] Austria,[13] Slovenia,[14] Croatia,[15] Serbia,[16] Bosnia and Herzegovina,[15] North Macedonia,[17] Albania,[18] Romania,[19] Ukraine,[20] Bulgaria,[21] Greece,[22][23] Malta,[24] Turkey,[25][26][23] Georgia,[23] Lebanon,[27] Syria,[23] Israel,[28][23] Palestine,[23] Azerbaijan,[29][30][23] Dagestan,[31] Russia,[23] Northwest China,[23] Kazakhstan,[23] Southern Kyrgyzstan,[23] Tajikistan,[23] Uzbekistan,[23] Turkmenistan,[23] Iran,[23][32] Saudi Arabia,[23] Yemen,[23] Egypt,[23] Ethiopia,[23] Eritrea,[23] Libya,[23] Tunisia,[23] Algeria,[23] Morocco,[23] the Netherlands [33] and Great Britain.