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Funnel-Web Spiders, or Grass Spiders, build a small vortex of web into the grass, lunging at any insect prey that has the misfortune of passing too closely.
Grass Spiders are common sights throughout North American summers and belong to a family of Funnel Web Weavers.
Noted for the shape of their webs, Funnel-Web Spiders, or Grass Spiders, create cave-like webs and hide in the back of them. They have large spinnerets on the tip of the abdomen and use them to build webs that resemble non-sticky black holes. Males are smaller than females.
Grass Spiders are fast movers and catch their prey, dragging their catch into the funnel. Unknowing insects can also wander into the opening of the funnel and become entangled, triggering telegraph lines for the spider in the back to respond to. The speedy Grass Spider pounces on the prey and eats it at its leisure. Theses funnel webs can usually be found on grass, in low shrubs,in the crevices of buildings, or along the bottoms of fences.
Females lay egg sacs that overwinter, hatching spiderlings in the spring. Sometimes the egg sac is found at the edge of the web, sometimes at the feet of the dried up, dead mother. The spiderlings hatch and yield a bounty of hatchlings that will scurry about and build individual nests spread away from one another. These small webs will increase in size and visibility the bigger the spider gets. These webs are most visible after a rain, when water droplets cling to the silk and reflect light.
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Arthropoda
Class:Arachnida
Order:Araneae
Family:Agelenidae
Genus:Agelenopsis
Species:spp.
Identifying Information
Scientific Name: Agelenopsis spp.
Other Name(s): Funnel-Web Spider
Category:
Spider
Size (Adult; Length): 15mm to 20mm (0.59in to 0.78in)
Note: An insect's reach is not limited by lines drawn on a map and therefore species may appear in areas, regions and/or states beyond those listed above as they are driven by environmental factors (such as climate change), available food supplies and mating patterns. Grayed-out selections indicate that the subject in question has not been reported in that particular territory. U.S. states and Canadian provinces / territories are clickable to their respective bug listings.
Spider Anatomy
1
Legs: Spiders have four pairs of legs and these are attached to the cephalothorax.
2
Pedipalps: Small appendages near the mouth used as taste and smell organs.
3
Cephalothorax: Contains eyes, head, mouthparts, and legs.
4
Abdomen: Contains various organs related to digestion, reproduction, and web-making.
5
Spinnerets: Used in the production of spider silk for fashioning webs or catching prey.
NOTE: Unlike insects, spiders have both an endoskeleton (internal) and exoskeleton (external).
Colors: yellow; gray; brown; ivory
