Definitive List of UK Spiders

Autumn in the UK marks the beginning of the Spider Season. It’s a time where the arachnids will crawl out of the holes for mating and eating. There are as many as 650 species of spiders in the UK, but luckily most of them you’ll never spot in your house. In case you do, or just out of curiosity, here is a definite list of the kind of spiders you can find in the UK: 

Common House Spider 

On the top of our list is the spider you’ll most likely find at your home. Unlike some other kinds of spiders, they are active all year round and tend to hide away in places that usually don’t receive a lot of daylight, but they are not picky. You can find them in sheds, holes in your years, under your couch. Thankfully they are harmless to us humans and instead of biting when feeling threatened, they will most likely run away from you. 

Buzzing Spider 

These spiders are pale brown in colour with chevron markings, very characteristic of the species on its abdomen. They can be spotted around April and will stay out until October. They prefer to stay among leaves and shrubs in woodland areas and they are usually found in larger numbers. They are called this way because they vibrate and emit a buzzing noise. 

Yellow Sac Spider 

The yellow sac is a tiny spider, averaging about a quarter of an inch in length. It shows shades of yellow-green, and it gets its name from the silky retreat (or sac) it rests inside during the day. 

They are hunters and feed on small insects during the night. That’s when accidents can happen. Although this kind of spider avoids indoors, yellow sacs will bite if threatened. Apart from their bite being quite painful, it usually causes swelling and redness. Symptoms might further develop into sweating, nausea, or in severe cases, it can produce a necrotic area which can take up to 2 months to heal. 

Cave Spider

They like dim spots with almost no light and can be tracked down everywhere in the country. Surviving by feeding off of flies, woodlice, and other little insects, this species is a very shy one, stowing away in caverns, passages, and spots with almost no daylight. They are around 10-15mm long and their eggs are tear-moulded and hang topsy turvy on a silk string. 

Labyrinth Spider  

This spider can grow up to 18mm long. It is larger than most, but also harmless to humans. They get their name from their intricate sheet web consisting of a labyrinth of tunnels. These webs are almost always built south to hedgerows or grassy banks. At the centre of their labyrinth, you can find their egg sac hidden and the female spiders will remain with her spiderlings until they are ready to leave the web. 

Giant House Spider

The Giant House Spider is probably the quickest arachnid around and can be astonishingly fast, covering large parts of a metre each second. It tends to be recognized by its enormous, earthy-coloured body and will normally be found in UK homes during fall. Common places to spot them include behind the chimney, in the shower, or under the couch. 

Averaging an incredible 120mm in size, this is the most recognizable creepy crawly you could discover in your home and might also look like the scariest. 

Their bites do contain toxins, however, you’ll be happy to know that they don’t normally present any danger to humans.

Marbled Orb Weaver Spider 

With their body size growing up to 14mm, this is one of the easiest to recognize spiders from this list. The marbled orb spider has three colour legs with a stripe pattern, cream-colour abdomen and a black triangle point down at the back of their bodies. 

They can be found from May to October more frequently in the southern part of England, but they are found in other parts of the UK as well.

Money Spider

These fall inside a more medium-size in the insect class, coming in at 5mm long. They are exceptionally barely noticeable, dissimilar to a lot of other bigger arachnids like the Cardinal Spider. 

They get their intriguing name from fantasies and fables. People used to believe that in case you got one of these spiders tangled up inside your hair, you would be blessed with good luck and fortune. 

The Money Spider is a group of minuscule bugs, which are likewise frequently known as Sheet Weavers. Being so tiny in size, they are of little contrast if compared to others found in households. You’ll have the chance to distinguish the insect by its reflexive earthy-coloured body.

Four-Spotted Orb Weaver Spider

Four-spot Orb Weavers receive this name for the pattern on their abdomens: 4 white marks distinguished over their light brown bodies. Some can also present red, green, and orange tones. 

This kind of spider is normally found in the wild and not in gardens. The vegetation needs to be overgrown in order to support the structure of their web, which are usually stretched between two plants.

They are the heaviest spiders in the UK and can be found during late summer and autumn. 

Running Crab Spider

About the Running Crab Spider, males and females are a bit different in appearance. The male spiders show a dark body and can seem more intimidating, while the female ones exhibit a beige appearance. 

They regularly dwell in grassy areas and low-lying vegetation. At 5mm, these spiders are very tiny. They eat a small assortment of other creepy crawlies and catch them by hunting them down and capturing them in their webs. These spiders are found in both England and Wales. 

Jumping Spider

Jumping spiders are an important part of the biggest group of spiders in the UK. They have incredible visual perception and use it to help them bounce on their prey when chasing them down. They are mostly recognized by their four sets of eyes. 

This eight-legged threat has 340-degree vision and its body is built for jumping distances in excess of multiple times its own body length. They appear in a significant range of tones, incorporating mostly earthy colours with dark markings. However alarming their appearance seems to be, these insects are not toxic and don’t represent any danger to humans. 

This creepy-crawly bounces on its prey of little spiders instead of building a web to get them tangled in. They have a metallic sheen on their dark bodies that are said to glow like copper in the daylight, and legs that are yellow-earthy coloured with dark streaks. These species can be found in low-lying vegetation from May to September and is around 4mm long.

Green-fanged Tube Web Spider 

This species seems to be located mostly in the southern UK along the coast, but it’s becoming more common to spot them in other areas. It is one of the largest spiders that can be found in the UK. 

What distinguishes this kind of spider is its big jaws having a metallic green iridescence. Adults males can make their way into people’s homes while they for females. These spiders bite people and the pain is comparable to a bee sting. 

The name of this spider comes from the way they build their webs with long tubes to support each one of their eight legs. 

Black Lace Weaver Spider

This spider is frequently found under stones and logs all around Britain. Presenting an estimate of around 15mm, its eggs are pearl white, and the females are generally found guarding them. 

In any case, there are two main species of black lace weavers – if it’s found inside a house, it’s typically the Amaurobius similis; if you discover them outside, it’s probably going to be the Amaurobius fenestral. 

These are exceptionally normal and broad around the UK, so don’t be astounded in the event that you discover them around your home during autumn time and winter, especially after it had just rained. Their web is produced using fine silk (which is the place where their name comes from) and has a woolly surface. 

The dark ribbon weaver is regularly found under stones and logs in gardens across Britain throughout the year around. The spider has a dull earthy-coloured body with yellow-earthy coloured patches on its midsection and twists a rounded silk web. Egg sacs are covered up in radiant white-hued arachnid silk with the female usually standing watch over them. They also feed off of other little creepy crawlies.

False Widow Spider

Reaching sized between 7-14mm and displaying a sparkly dark body with pale markings on their stomachs, these arachnids devour flies and other smaller spiders. Their web development is scatty and their silk strands can be discovered around urban areas throughout the entire year. The name, ‘False Widow’, comes from the way that they’re regularly confused with the dangerous Black Widow spider. Despite the fact that their nibble isn’t close to as lethal, they do come from a similar 8-legged spider family. 

There are really three similar kinds of false widow spiders – Steatoda grossa, or also called cupboard spider; Steatoda bipunctata, known as the rabbit hutch spider; and Steatoda nobilis, known as the noble false widow, being this last the largest of the three. The males can how bodies from 7 to 10 mm and the females can reach up to 14mm. Their bites are not as dangerous as other types of spiders. 

Portrayed as risky, usually by the media, false widow spider bites are actually rare and only the noble false widow and the cupboard spider are to bite through human skin. Although they don’t represent a risk to humans, bites happen when they feel threatened, are mishandled or if people get too close to their web. 

Green Huntsman Spider

It’s widely known around North and Central Europe, but the UK has its own kind of weird-looking huntsman spiders. Our own is known as the Green Huntsman. Fortunately, this insect is uncommon and it is just a simple 15mm in comparison with a lot bigger kinds of huntsman spiders, such as the Giant Huntsman spider, which can reach a scary 30 cm in leg span. 

The Green Huntsman gets its name from its chasing technique; it disguises itself in low grass prior to jumping on its prey of little bugs. This spider can be found in forest regions, parks, and basically anywhere with overgrown vegetation. Its green shading makes them camouflage very well in green environments and one would need to be looking very carefully in order to find one of these. 

So apart from being hard to spot, they are also extremely uncommon, although, now and then, can be found in the forest from May to September and are these spiders concentrate usually in the South of England and Ireland. 

Cucumber Green Orb Spider

They can be recognized by a cucumber shade of red, they have a round body and their main feature is a red or orange imprint under their mid-region. Found in woodlands and hedgerows, cucumber spiders or green spiders are most normally found in the UK from April to October. They get their prey by waiting for flying bugs to succumb to their circle-like web. They build these webs in between leaves and are always around their web in plain sight, although camouflaged by its green colour. 

The Cucumber Green Orbs are not commonly known for making their way into people’s houses but, in any case, they are harmless to humans. 

Common Garden Spider

One of the largest species of spiders in the UK, as their name says it, they are commonly found in gardens. They go from yellowish to red-orange and black tones of colour. Their size can reach up to 13 mm including their legs. They make their spider webs usually in higher places and it has a round shape, perfect for trapping small flying insects. 

Common garden spiders are not poisonous and it’s unlikely they will bite anyone, but it can happen if females in her webs are disturbed or if they feel threatened.