Giant house spider
The giant house spider is a big, hairy, brown spider that likes living in our houses. It hides behind boxes, around windows and under furniture. Its long legs make it look scary, but it is really quite shy.
How big is it?
How long is it?
How big is Giant house spider compared to YOU?
Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
With its legs stretched out, a big boy can be 7.5 centimetres across.
It has eight eyes, but it can probably only tell light from dark.
It builds a flat, messy web with a little tunnel at one end to hide in.
In late summer and autumn the boys go wandering to look for girls, which is why you see more of them then.
Its family name Eratigena is made by mixing up the letters of Tegenaria, its old family name.
Most asked questions about Giant house spider
?Why do I see more big spiders in autumn?
In late summer and autumn the males wander around looking for females.
?How big is a giant house spider?
Its body is about 12 to 18 millimetres long, but its legs can reach 7.5 centimetres across.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Eratigena atrica
- Group
- Spiders
- Family
- Agelenidae
- Classification
- Arachnida > Araneae > Agelenidae
- Lives on
- Europe, North America
Where the facts come from
- Eratigena atrica (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Darkone. CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
European garden spider
Goliath birdeater
Brown recluse
Redback spider
Yellow garden spider
Bold jumping spider
Case-bearing clothes moth
Ghost ant
House dust mite
Human flea
Kudzu bug
Eastern subterranean termite