Giant house spider: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the giant house spider lives – recorded in 15 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Eratigena atrica
Group	Spiders, scorpions & other arachnids
Found in	15 countries
Continents	Europe, North America
Class	Arachnid
Order	Araneida
Family	Agelenidae

Where does the giant house spider live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the giant house spider in 15 countries and territories across Europe and North America. In Norway it is listed as introduced (GRIIS checklists via GBIF).

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

What kind of animal is the giant house spider?

The giant house spider (Eratigena atrica) is an arachnid in the order Araneida and the family Agelenidae, genus Eratigena. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the giant house spider

The giant house spider has been treated as either one species, under the name Eratigena atrica, or as three species, E. atrica, E. duellica and E. saeva. The three-species-view was accepted by the World Spider Catalog in 2020. They are among the largest spiders of Central and Northern Europe. They were previously placed in the genus Tegenaria. In 2013, they were moved to the new genus Eratigena as the single species Eratigena atrica. In 2018, the three separate species were restored. The bite of these species does not pose a threat to humans or pets, and they are generally reluctant to bite, preferring instead to hide or escape.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Giant house spider (revision 1375357049), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q1071758 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).