Agelenidae is considered to be a world-wide family but its representatives are mostly obscure and identification is difficult. The introduced Agelenid house spider Tegenaria domestica was first described by Clerck in 1757. It is now found throughout the world, including Australia. It may be Australia's only Agelenid. It is thought Roewer's record of Oramia rubrioides may have been mistaken, and Rainbow's 1920 record of Oramia frequens on Lord Howe Island is only from a female. Agelenids have three claws at the tips of their legs, are mostly grey to brown and have eight eyes in two rows, the rear one wider. The front row of eyes is slightly downcurved. The cephalothorax is roughly pear shaped, narrowing at the leading edge.
Tegenaria domestica (Clerk, 1757) European Domestic House Spider
This cosmopolitan spider builds a sheet web under a corner or crevice in a buildings with its retreat at the rear between the sheet and the structure above it. It has a mid-brown carapace and a lighter-coloured abdomen with five distinctive chevrons on the rear of the upper surface. The legs are relatively long and hairy. ♀ 13mm ♂ 12mm.
References
- Spiders of New Zealand and their Worldwide Kin By Ray and Lyn Forster - ISBN 1 877372 13 7, hardback 290 x 217 mm, 312 pages.
Over 200 photographs in colour and 84 in black and white. - Spiders of Australia CD-Rom - Interactive Identification to Subfamily by RJ Raven, MS Harvey and BC Baehr CSIRO PUBLISHING / Australian Biological Resources Study (ABRS) CD-ROM - 2002 ISBN: 9780643068704 - AU $ 94.95