Grey House Spider, Australian House Spider, Brown House Spider
Badumna longinqua
Desidae (Intertidal and House Spiders), Order Araneae. Key family characteristics include cribellate or ecribellate respiration and constructing distinctive lacy or funnel-like retreat webs.
Physical Description
Robust build with a dark, elongated oval abdomen and a compact, darker cephalothorax. The body is covered in fine, velvety hairs giving it a matte appearance. Chelicerae are prominent and strong.
Size Estimate
Body length ranges from 9 to 18 mm for females, with a leg span extending up to 30 mm. The specimen in the image appears to be a medium-to-large adult.
Coloration & Markings
Dark brown to charcoal black overall coloration. The carapace is typically a deep glossy black or dark reddish-brown, while the abdomen may show faint, lighter mottled greyish chevron markings, though often appearing entirely dark.
Web Type
Constructs a messy, characteristic sheet or funnel-like web with a tubular retreat, often built around window frames, crevices, corners, and outdoor furniture.
Eye Arrangement
Eight eyes arranged in two rows across the front of the carapace, typical of cribellate spiders, with lateral eyes often grouped on tubercles.
Leg Characteristics
Strong, moderately long legs with dense scopulae and prominent claws. The legs are generally uniform in color with the body, lacking strong banding patterns, and held close to the body when resting.
Venom & Safety Information
Venom Information
Possesses mild neurotoxic venom used to immobilize insect prey. Not considered dangerous to humans, though bites can be painful.
Medical Significance
Low medical significance. Bites can cause local pain, swelling, and redness, and in rare cases, mild systemic symptoms such as nausea or sweating, but these are transient and do not require antivenom.
Safety Recommendations
Avoid direct handling with bare hands. If relocation is needed, gently guide the spider into a container using a piece of card. Wash any accidental bite sites with soap and water.
Habitat & Behavior
Habitat & Range
Originally native to Australia and New Zealand, but now widely introduced globally including parts of North and South America, Europe, and South Africa. Prefers urban environments, human habitations, tree bark, and wooden structures.
Behavior & Temperament
Nocturnal hunters that spend daylight hours hiding within their tubular silk retreats. Generally non-aggressive, but may bite defensively if trapped or firmly pressed against the skin.
Diet & Prey
Feeds primarily on household pests including flies, mosquitoes, moths, beetles, and other small insects that become entangled in the surrounding web structure.
Seasonal Activity
Active year-round indoors, but most frequently encountered outside during the warmer spring and summer months when males wander in search of mates.
Description
The Grey House Spider is a familiar commensal species often found sharing human dwellings. Recognized by its dark coloration and messy, lace-like retreat webs built in corners, it acts as an effective natural pest controller against flies and mosquitoes.
Key Features
Dark, robust body; distinctive messy funnel or sheet web with a tubular retreat; preference for building webs in corners of walls, window frames, and rough wooden surfaces.
Similar Species
Funnel-web spiders (Atracidae) and Southern House Spiders (Kukulcania hibernalis). Distinguished by eye arrangement, habitat context, and the lack of aggressive posturing.
Life Cycle
Females produce round, white silk egg sacs hidden within or near the web retreat. Spiderlings disperse via ballooning after hatching. Lifespan typically ranges from one to two years.
Ecological Importance
Serves as an effective urban predator helping control populations of nuisance and disease-carrying flying insects around human habitations.
Conservation Status
Not evaluated by the IUCN, but highly abundant, widespread, and successfully adapted to human-modified environments.
Interesting Facts
Despite being native to Australasia, these spiders have successfully stowed away on international cargo to establish thriving populations worldwide in temperate urban zones.
Photography Tips
Use macro lenses with a ring flash or side lighting to capture texture and subtle abdominal markings. Maintain a safe distance to avoid startling the spider back into its retreat.
Identified: 2026-10-01T12:03:19.180600