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Giant housespider
Know more?
In some areas this species is being displaced by the Cardinal spider. This is one of the species of which adult males can be found in the bathtub. Males get stuck there while searching for females because they can’t climb the slippery walls of the tub. Some other spider can because they have “suction pads” on their feet!
Giant housespider (Eratigena atrica)
Web: Typical funnel web with a funnel-shaped retreat.
Habitat: In and around buildings, with a preference for sheltered, not too dry places. Often outdoors, far away from buildings, i.e. in hollow trees or on rocks.
How to recognize:
- typical light drawing on the abdomen and dark coloured drawing on cephalothorax
- often a more dark appearance compared to the other two house spider species
- legs never darkly annulated
Looks similar to:
- Blackwalls house spider, from which the Giant house spider cannot be distinguished based on general appearance. Only through examining the reproductive structures is it possible to decisively identify species but this examination is not easy.
Size
♀: 11-18mm
♂: 10-15mm
When?
♀: throughout the year
♂: August till October
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Dorsal view female in the web ©Bert Van der Krieken
Dorsal view female in the web ©Bert Van der Krieken
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Female wiht light pattern on abdomen ©Danny Declercq
Female wiht light pattern on abdomen ©Danny Declercq
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Female ©Danny Declercq
Female ©Danny Declercq
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Dorsal view male ©ARABEL image library
Dorsal view male ©ARABEL image library
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Male, typical species to find inside the house in autumn ©Rollin Verlinde
Male, typical species to find inside the house in autumn ©Rollin Verlinde
View the embedded image gallery online at:
https://www.spinnenspotter.be/en/grp/K0024/24489#sigProId24811ac02a
https://www.spinnenspotter.be/en/grp/K0024/24489#sigProId24811ac02a
Download
Get the free Citizen Science App on Google Play for Android or in the Apple App Store.
Register
After the start of the app you can register your own user account with just your eMail adress.
Start observing
Start observing! You are automatically logged-in after registering to add your first observation.
Download the App on your smartphone now or open the map in your browser:
Download the SpiderSpotter Card!
Do you want to help measuring spiders for science? Download the SpiderSpotter Card for self printing at home and hold it in the pictures you take in the SpiderSpotter App. With the measurement reference, we can determine the size of your spider or web observation better. You can also order it at spiderspotter@UGent.be, provide your address and the number of cards you need and we will send them to you!
When holding the SpiderSpotter Card near the spider or a spider's web, please make sure that a ruler and one of the brigthness gradient strips is visible in the picture. You can read more about how to take the pics in our info section!
Download PDF
Help to measure the Spiders!
With the new SpiderSpotter Data Analysis Tool, you can actively participate in generating scientific data! The online interface fetches spider observations live from the Citizen Science App and offers a range of tools to measure the size and the average colour of the spiders. Simply access the Data Analysis Tool and log in with your App account!
You can even select an option to just work with your observations from the App and export your measured data if you want to do your own analysis.
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