European House Spider - Tegenaria domestica, click for a larger image
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European House Spider - Tegenaria domestica, click for a larger image

European House Spider - Tegenaria domestica
Family - Agelenidae
Also known as - Funnel Weaver, Domestic House Spider

This plant is poisonous

The domestic house spider is a member of the funnel–web family Agelenidae, commonly called the Barn Funnel Weaver in North America and the domestic house spider in Europe, they will be commonly found from North America and Canada, through the UK and Europe throughout to parts of Western Asia.  Young spiders called "spiderlings" hatch in early April passing through seven molts to reach adulthood where females attain a body length of 7.5–11.5mm (0.30–0.45in), whilst males are slightly smaller at 6–9mm (0.24–0.35in) but having longer, more agile legs, bloated pedipalps and an elongated abdomen.  They are a chocolate brown in colour with a mottled "herringbone" or "Argyle" style pattern in light brown to beige to the abdomen, hairy legs and two dull, black, longitudinal stripes on the cephalothorax.

They are active and agile hunters building a funnel–shaped web to catch its prey, which it senses from movement within the web and using their sight.  They have eight eyes in two rows of four, the lower row faces forwards, the upper row is arched upwards giving them reasonable all round vision.

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