Funnel Spider – Agelelnidae

Funnel Spider   Family: Agelenidae Common Name: Funnel weaver spiders, Grass spiders, Funnel spider, Australian web spider Appearance: Funnel spiders are mostly brownish and grayish spiders; their body sizes vary from 1/3 to 2/3 inches when fully grown. They have four pairs of eyes. Their body is covered with hairs, including their legs. Their legs have dark bandings, and they resemble wolf spiders but are distinguished by the size and pattern of their eyes. They are swift runners. Males are more lightly built than females, and they are glossy from the front, where legs are attached. Host Plants or Food: The diet of funnel spiders comprises beetles, cockroaches, insect larvae, native land snails, millipedes, and other small vertebrates. Territory: North America, Australia. Mode of Damage: Funnel spiders are beneficial garden insects. Habits and Life History: Funnel spiders capture prey with horizontal webs mainly constructed by thick silk; they spend the most time at the retreat entrance and rush rapidly to catch the prey. They often construct their webs in dense grass or mulch, and when been built inside or on a building, they make near a crack. And they eat the prey where they capture They have the habit of wandering in the house’s backyard or pools. And they have the most toxic venom. Females mate with a male and lay 80 to 200 yellow, green eggs wrapped in silk egg sacs. She keeps sacs in her burrows until they reach the spiderlings stage after three weeks. Then they wander off to live life on their own and undergo several molts to reach adulthood males die after some time of mating while females live longer and can mate again.