| | The spider families of Britain and Ireland |
Funnel-web Spiders, Cobweb Spiders.
Morphology. The adult spiders 2–17 mm long; of medium build (mainly), or decidedly plump-bodied; diverse in form, decidedly short-legged, or with legs of medium length, or decidedly long-legged to harvestman-like with very long, thin legs more than five times the body length; with eight eyes. The eyes in two horizontal rows of 4; all clear and glassy. The palpal organs of the male of complex structure and enclosed by the specialized, hollowed tarsal segment (the cymbium). The trochanters not notched. Metatarsus IV of the females without a calamistrum. Tarsal claws 3. Tarsus IV without a ventral ‘comb’. The abdomen conspicuously patterned dorsally. The spinnerets clustered and superposed. With one pair of spinnerets 2-segmented (the posterior, larger pair). The abdomen of the females without a cribellum. The reproductive openings of the females associated with an epigyne.
The adults making snare-webs; constructing funnel-shaped or tubular webs, or constructing horizontal sheet webs (usually with a tubular retreat at one corner, prey being attacked on the upper side of the web).
Representation in Britain and Ireland. 17 species in Britain; in 7 genera: Agelena, Cicurina, Coelotes, Cryphoecia, Tegenaria, Tetrix, and Tuberta.
Comments. The tarsi bear a series of trichobothria, increasing in length acopetally. These are the common formers of large, sheet cobwebs in buildings, but in more confined spaces the webs tend to be funnel-shaped; and in very enclosed places, such as under stones, they tend to be tubular.
Illustrations. • Agelena labyrinthica. Agelena labyrinthica (Clerck): a, female; b, male; c, eyes; d, maxillae and labium; e, palpal organs of the male; f, spinnerets; g, the superior spinnerets, in profile. From Blackwall (1861). • Coelotes atropos. Coelotes atropos (Walck.): a, female, b, male; c, eyes and chelicerae; d, mouthparts; e, palpus of the male; f, lateral view of the spinnerets; g, claws; h, the small, third (lower) claw, with its two pairs of teeth; i, cocoons, with particles of earth deposited by the spider on their upper surfaces. From Blackwall (1861; this being his Coelotes saxatilis). • Cryphoeca silvicola. Cryphoeca silvicola (C.L. Koch): female, with its eyes in detail. From Blackwall (1861). • Tegenaria "atrica". “Tegenaria atrica”: a, female, b, male; c, palpal organs of the male; d, the latter in profile; e, spine, enlarged; f, part ot the latter, still more enlarged; g, a compound sessile hair; h, portion of the integument of a leg, showing sockets of the hairs and spines. From Blackwall (1861). Former interpretatons of “T. atrica” included three entities now recognised as distinct species: T. gigantea Chamberlin & Ivie, T. saeva Bl. and T. atrica Koch. The last of these is much the rarest in Britain, with gigantea common in the east and saeva common in the west. Blackwall described T. saeva in 1844, but later reduced it to synonymy with Koch's T. atrica, and this 1861 illustration may not be precisely identifiable. • Tegenaria parietina. Tegenaria parietina (Fourcroy): a, male; b, female; c, palpal organs of the male; d, the latter in profile. From Blackwall (1861, who in common with other early British arachnologists referred to this species as T. domestica). • Tegenaria domestica. Tegenaria domestica (Clerck): a, female; b, male; c, eyes and chelicerae; d, maxillae, labium and sternum; e, cephalothorax and abdomen, in side view; f, palpus of the male; g, claws. From Blackwall (1861). • Tetrix denticulata. Tetrix denticulata (Oliv.): a, female; b, male; c, eyes and chelicerae; d, mouthparts; e, cephalothorax and phalx, in lateral view; f, palpus of the male; g, the latter in profile. From Blackwall (1861).
We advise against extracting comparative information from the descriptions. This is much more easily achieved using the DELTA data files or the interactive key, which allows access to the character list, illustrations, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting or lacking specified attributes, and distributions of character states within any set of taxa. See also Guidelines for using data taken from Web publications.
Cite this publication as: ‘Watson, L., and Dallwitz, M.J. 2003 onwards. The spider families of Britain and Ireland. Version: 5th August 2019. delta-intkey.com’.
