Grey House Spider

Appearance

"Badumna longinqua" is an average-sized spider, with males attaining a maximum length of no more than 11 millimetres, while females are marginally larger with a maximum body length of 15 mm. Its common name, grey house spider, is due to colouration on the cephalothorax and abdomen, which are carpeted with light-grey hairs and spot-like markings and legs, which are purplish-brown in colour with hairs arranged into stripes on each leg. The similarly coloured brown carapace darkens nearer the chelicerae and eyes. Its eight eyes are small and black, with the front middle pair exceptionally larger at approximately 1 and a half times the size of surrounding eyes. Underneath these setae is an ovate abdomen and legs, which are purplish-brown in colour with hairs arranged into stripes on each leg.

Distribution

Aside from Australasia, "B. longinqua" has increased its global range to other countries including Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Japan, the United States, Uruguay, and South Africa

Habitat

"Badumna longinqua" is mainly located in temperate zones or climates of the world. Temperate zones or climates are in the middle latitudes, which are found between the tropics and the polar regions. Environmental conditions can limit the success of a species but "Badumna longinqua" shows great tolerance and survival for varied climates. In most foreign nations including New Zealand, the grey house spider is a synanthropic species and is common in urban habitats and agroecosystems. The species resides almost exclusively in the somewhat artificial environments that are produced as a result of human inhabitancy, and not in wild habitats, for example natural forest. The distinctively messy web of "B. longinqua" can be found in many urban places, such as nooks and crannies on window frames and walls, in rubbish bins, under furniture, on car bodies and mirrors, trees bases and benches in urban parks, and artificial posies in cemeteries. "Badumna longinqua" have also been found in cemeteries in artificial flowers, which therefore suggest that they are very suitable to refuge. The species primarily are found living in tree trunks, rock walls, retreats, leaves, and tangled webbing in green shrubs. "Badumna longinqua" live in grasslands, riparian forests and wetlands. Higher densities of the species populations are found in trees near roads or urban areas where human activity is higher. Commercial "Eucalyptus" plantations in Uruguay, and "Pinus" plantations elsewhere provide an abundance of potential homes for the spiders, which often take up residence on the trees, positioning their hideaways under loose bark. In the United States, "Badumna longinqua" seems to be less reliant on a synanthropic relationship with people and can also be located in woodlands, along immediate coastal areas, within agricultural ecosystems, and recently in vineyards.

Predators

Parasitic wasps and flies can pose a risk to "B. longinqua," but its greatest predator is the notorious hunting spider, "Lampona", more commonly known as the white-tailed spider. There are two species of "Lampona" in New Zealand and both seem to readily predate grey house spiders as a favoured dietary choice. Along the Pacific Coast of California and presumably in other countries, grey house spiders are frequently preyed upon by the cosmopolitan long-bodied cellar spider or "daddy long legs", another very prevalent alien species which is likewise common and introduced in Aotearoa. Many birds eat this species as well as some mammals.