Common house spider
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Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Family: Theridiidae
Genus: Achaearanea (Strand, 1929)
Diversity: 148 species
Type Species: Achaearanea tepidariorum

[Photo] Common house spider (Achaearanea tepidariorum) and egg sac. Photo by Patrick Edwin Moran (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Patrick0Moran). North Carolina, USA. Date 21 October 2003.

Copyright (C) 2003 Patrick Edwin Moran Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".

The Common house spider, sometimes called the American house spider, is an extremely common spider in North America and South America, as its name suggests. There are several species of this genus, Achaearanea, sharing many common features. They build their tangled web in secluded locations, which can also house eggs contained in one or more spherical sacs. Their behavior on webs is quiet and efficient. They are generally dull in appearance, with patterns consisting of brown shades for coloration. Their average body size is a quarter-inch long. These traits combined allow the spiders to blend into the background and escape notice.

These spiders are not aggressive. They are not known to bite people frequently, nor is their venom known to be dangerous to human beings. When removed from their webs their poor vision renders them helpless. Their only concern seems to be to find and return to their own web or build another one. They do not wander around inside houses except to find a secure place to build a web. Since these spiders are harmless and their diet consists of pests such as flies and mosquito, tolerating their presence in human homes is beneficial.

Many species of Common house spider share a body shape and size that makes them similar to widow spiders, which have venom that is classified as very dangerous.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_house_spider

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