Tegenaria domestica

The spider species Tegenaria domestica, commonly known as the barn funnel weaver in North America and the domestic house spider in Europe, is a member of the funnel-web family Agelenidae and a close relative of the hobo spider. Domestic house spiders range worldwide from as far north as Scandinavia to as far south as Greece in Europe. It is recorded in the checklist of Danish spider species. It is found from as far north as Maritime Canada to as far south as Louisiana in North America. Some also inhabit parts of Western Asia. Common belief has it that T. domestica, first only occurring in Europe, was accidentally introduced to the Americas by British lumber merchants during the Napoleonic Wars era along with wooden cargo exported over the Atlantic Ocean. Recent arachnological studies, however, suggest that the species had a common ancestor with the giant house spider that spread to both Europe (through Asia) and the rest of North America from Northwestern Canada (possibly from a region currently including British Columbia) long before the first human settlement in North America. Domestic house spiders possess elongated bodies with a somewhat flattened cephalothorax and straight abdomen. Their body/legs ratio is typically 50–60%, which accounts for a body size of 7.5–11.5 mm (0.30–0.45 in) in females and 6–9 mm (0.24–0.35 in) in males. Males are usually distinguished from females by having longer, more agile legs, bloated pedipalps and elongated abdomen. Other distinctions are strictly behavioral. The coloring of an adult T. domestica is typically dark orange to brown or beige (maybe even grayish), with a common characteristic of striped legs and two dull, black, longitudinal stripes on the cephalothorax. The abdomen is mottled in brown, beige, and grey and has a pattern of chevrons running lengthwise across the top (similar to an argyle pattern). Barn funnel weavers are active and agile hunters, relying on both their vision and movement speed as well as web mechanisms. Their eye configuration, with six out of eight sighting forward, allows them to distinguish even the smallest movement in front of them and either follow it, or retreat if the movement is too large. These spiders are also known to be photosensitive, i.e. moving to or fleeing from the light, depending on situations.