Best time to see: all year
Key facts
A slim spider with long spindly legs, often found in houses building small untidy webs in corners of ceilings
Trusses up its catch in silk; also eats other spiders that come too close, including its own kind
Widely distributed across southern England and Wales
Recognition
Female body length is about 9mm, with legs 5 or 6 times as long
Brownish with darker markings on its body and bands on its legs
Vibrates its web violently when disturbed, as a defence against predators
Lifecycle
Males go in search of females at night, vibrating the web and approaching cautiously before mating
Females hold the eggs between their jaws until they hatch
The young stay in their mother's web until big enough to move away and look after themselves
© Tony Gunton