ARACHNIDA > ARANEAE > Agelenidae

The Agelenidae family includes 15 species of funnel weaving spiders separated into five genera. The majority were grouped together in the Tegenaria genus, but in the revised checklist (Lavery, 2019) a new genus, Eratigena, has been introduced. The two genera are now treated as a group of eleven species including the familiar 'house spiders'. They are a difficult group to distinguish and are looked at on the next page.

The remaining four species are in three genera; Agelena (1), Coelotes (2) and Tetrix (1).

All species have eight eyes, a longish cephalothorax that narrows at the front, a well-marked abdomen with chevron-like patterns, and conspicuously long posterior spinnerets.

Agelena labyrinthica, commonly known as the Labyrinth Spider, spins a large web, often described as either a sheet web or cobweb, low down in vegetation in a wide range of habitats, but typically in rough uncut grassland around field margins, hedgerows or woodland clearings. But also, in scrub amongst brambles, or in heather or gorse on heathland; anywhere really where the spider will be undisturbed. Importantly, the web includes a densely woven funnel-shaped tubular retreat, where the female will eventually guard her egg-sac. in the meantime, she will sit in the entrance waiting for prey to be caught in the web, which are more often than not grasshoppers or small planthopper bugs. Later, when the time is right, the smaller males will come knocking and if the female is receptive, she will invite him in to mate (see photo), and if he's lucky and she has food, he may escape to live another day. The egg chamber will then be added either as an integral part of the web as in a side passage off the retreat or a separate, sometimes annexed, construction. And, of course, it's the intricacy of the web as a whole with its labyrinth of passages that gave the spider the name labyrinthica. The species is common and widespread across southern England with adults most active in July and early August.

There are two Coelotes species, both listed as regional, with Coelotes atropos being the more common and widespread. Coelotes terrestris is primarily confined to the south-east and is classified as nationally scarce, which is helpful to a degree as both species are very similar in appearance and for official recording require microscopic examination. Although there's an assumption that any seen locally are most likely Coelotes atropos, there's probably as much chance with Coelotes terrestris according to the current recording scheme distribution maps. In fact, the juvenile I photographed in the New Forest is likely to be that species according to one of the administrators of the FB British Spider Indentification Group.

Both species construct tubular silk-lined burrows with a collar of silk around the entrance. They're placed here in the Agelenidae family in accordance with both the British Spiders field guide treatment of this family and the recent checklist (Lavery, 2019), yet the Recording Scheme lists them as an Amaurobidae laceweb species.

The final species is the attractive Tetrix denticulata, commonly known as the Colourful Funnelweb Spider. It's another so-called common species with widespread, but scattered distribution. As far as I can see it's never been recorded from East Dorset and only once from the New Forest over fifty years ago, so it's not surprising that I haven't seen one.

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Updated, Nov.23 (v.3)