Know Your Enemy
Accurate identification of pests is as important as choosing the best preventive pest management available on the market today. Preventive Pest Control has compiled a list of most common pests to help you identify the problem.
Barn Funnel Weaver
(Tegenaria domestica)
Characteristics
The females are bigger than the males. The length of females is 3/10 to more than 2/5 inch while the male is only 6/25 to 7/20 inch in length. The color of its cephalothorax is light brown with two longitudinal lines that are pale gray.
Habitat
The barn funnel weaver is found throughout the United States but it is not that common as other spiders. This spider is mostly found indoors in sheds, barns, doors, and so on. They can also be found under rocks and boards. The webs that they create indoors are mostly made as their retreat.
Behavior
This spider creates a horizontal sheet web to capture its prey. They will also create a retreat at the corner of the web. This retreat is hidden from preys and is in a protective area. Although both genders can live a long life, those that are commonly seen indoors are males. These male spiders may just wander in search of a mate or looking for a new place to create their web.
Food
To be able to get their prey, this arachnid will spend their time staying still at the entrance of their retreat. Their web is made of a thick silk that can temporarily entangle their prey. Once a prey is caught, they will rush out rapidly to subdue and capture its prey. The barn funnel spider may just eat the prey once it is captured or it can still drag it back to its retreat. Either way, the prey is going to be the spider’s meal. This spider can eat a variety of insects that are caught in its web. They can also eat larger insects than them.
Life Cycle
This spider has a long life as it can live up to seven years if their condition and habitat are good, or if they are in captivity. During their lifetime, they can produce more than 9 egg sacs in captivity. Their egg sacs are commonly suspended in their web or near it. Those that are in their natural habitat can also live for more than a year and can survive during the winter months.
Other Information and Tips
The barn funnel weaver is a common spider found indoors. And, are mostly encountered by humans. They do not commonly bite and are harmless. If in the case that they do bite, they will just do it when they are threatened. However, their venom is not toxic to humans.
Photo by Sanchom (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons / resized from original
