شناسایی Spiders and alies

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Zebra Spider (Salticus scenicus)

The name of this spider in Latin 'scenicus' means 'actor'. The Zebra Spider does indeed behave remarkably, as if acting or even posing and staring at the camera with its big shiny eyes. The males have giant jaws called 'chelicerae' used for fighting with other males for the territories.

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The spider below resembles a jumping spider, but the big, round belly would indicates other species. Most jumping spiders are not as lumpy as this one is. Still it is a jumping spider (a female) of the Sitticus gender. It lives not only in Europe, but in the USA as well.

This is a female of Sitticus pubescens, a common jumping spider.

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The spider below to the left is a very small jumping spider, which you will probably encounter raking old leaves, or when your garden has lots of trees in them because it mainly lives in forests. It is very small (less than 5 mm) so it is close to the limits of what our camera can capture without extra magnifying devices. It is very remarkable seeing the jumping spider below to the right in your garden. The species is not often seen. Luckily it is easily identified, because of the striking front legs, which are ringed an partly swollen. The males use these legs to impress each other and females.


To the left: this very small jumping spider is called Euophrys frontalis. To the right: Sibianor aurocinctus, a striking but quite rare Jumping Spider.

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Cob-web Spiders (Agelenidae)

Cob-web Spiders (Agelenidae)

Cob-web Spiders (Agelenidae)


To this family belongs one of the biggest Western European spiders that can often be found in the house: Common House Spider. There are four species, that resemble one another very much. They can be found indoors regularly and this is the most common one of them. Especially during the night the males often actively search for the females. Females are hardly bigger than males and actually look smaller: the males have a leaner body, but much longer legs. The infamous North American Hobo Spider, also known as Biting House Spider (Tegenaria agrestis) is a close relative of the Common Housespider below and it does look similar. The animal is not known to bite people in Europe, but somehow it does bite in the USA. The venom causes open wounds that heal very slowly. Most of the members of the Tegenaria genus however are either unable to penetrate the human skin or their venom is very weak indeed.

Much feared by many people: the Common Housespider (probably Tegenaria atrica)

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Common Housespider (Tegenaria atrica)

Common Housespider (Tegenaria atrica)

Common Housespider (Tegenaria atrica)


Reaching the sizes of up to 1.8cm for females and up to 1.5cm for males, Tegenaria atrica is one of the biggest spiders of Western and Central Europe. Adult males are found from July to October only while adult females all year.

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Orb-web Spiders (Araneidae)

Orb-web Spiders (Araneidae)

Orb-web Spiders (Araneidae)


Most of the Orb-web Spiders live in the garden with one exception: Zygiella x-notata. The Zygiella spiders are sometimes referred to as Marble Heads. There are various species but the best known are Z. x-notata, which lives on walls and windows and the closely related Z. atrica which lives on bushes and trees. The web they make is rather identical to that of the Garden Spider, but there is always one sector missing. Not only the spider itself is much smaller (7 mm) than the Garden Spider because also the web is much smaller. Zygiella x-notata is a nocturnal animal. During the day it sits in its retreat (a crack in the wall or rather an opnening between wall and window) and stays there, even when the web gets destroyed. The missing sector is the part where the signaling wire runs through. It is a very common spider, found all over Europe, except for parts far in the North, such as Finland. It is not as often seen as some of the other house spiders because of its nocturnal life and its readiness to retreat into its shelter whenever it senses something unusual.


Of the missing sector spiders this one is usually found near windows: Zygiella x-notata

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Six-eyed Spiders (Segestriidae)

Six-eyed Spiders (Segestriidae)

Six-eyed Spiders (Segestriidae)


This spider probably lives in your garden rather than on the walls of your house. But it is rather difficult to find in the garden, if you succeed at all. It lives in holes and crevices in bark and occasionally on walls, where it can catch your eye more easily. It's part of a small family, represented in Britain by three species only. Like the family name implies, Six-eyed Spiders do have six eyes only. These are placed on three groups of two eyes each. The members of this family have an elongated abdomen. They build little webs with which they keep in touch in their little hole. When a prey stumbles over the wires, the spider quickly comes out of its hiding place and attacks the victim. The way they are waiting is quite interesting and characteristic too: the last pair of legs is stretched backwards while all other pairs are kept in the front and are always bent. Males and females are almost identical: the size is roughly the same and so are the markings on the abdomen. The only difference is that the male has a shorter and more slender abdomen. Segestria senoculata is quite easy to recognise due to the markings on the abdomen.

This species is unmistakably Segestria senoculata because of the markings on the abdomen.

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