Stats

Lifespan

1-2 years

Size

Small

Diet

Insectivore

Activity

Nocturnal

Social

Solitary

Biome

Temperate forest

Range

North America

Movement

Climbing

Breeding

Egg-laying

Defense

Venom

Status

Uncommon

About

This cobweb spider inhabits dark corners of buildings across North America. It constructs sticky, tangled webs that can snare prey much larger than itself.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   egg sac

   A silk-wrapped egg sac shelters a clutch of eggs until the young are ready to emerge.
2. 2.
   juvenile

   A spiderling emerges from the egg sac already in miniature adult form and starts catching prey almost immediately.
3. 3.
   subadult

   A near-adult arachnid molts through several instars, growing larger and developing mature markings.
4. 4.
   adult

   Fully grown after its final molt.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Arachnida

Order

Araneae

Family

Theridiidae

Genus

Steatoda

Species

Steatoda borealis