Urban Nature Pictures 9/16; 50 More Urban Species #34: American House Spider

[urbpan]

American house spider Parasteatoda tepidariorum. (Listed as Achaearanea tepidariorum in many sources. It is unclear to me which is more proper to contemporary spider taxonomists.)


Spiders find houses to be such good hunting grounds that there are numerous species that get to be called "house spiders." Many are European species that were associated with buildings early in human history. This species appears to be native to South America, but is now found in houses throughout North America and around the world. This little cobweb-builder is responsible for many of the dusty webs in corners of kitchens, under shelves and chairs, and other places visited more by insects than by human hands.

Comments

[ndozo.livejournal.com]

It's disappointing that these are not called Cobs.

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

We could try to resurrect the word:

cobweb
early 14c., coppewebbe; the first element is O.E. -coppe, in atorcoppe "spider," lit. "poison-head" (see attercop). Spelling with -b- is from 16c., perhaps from cob. Cob as a stand-alone for "a spider" was an old word nearly dead even in dialects when J.R.R. Tolkien used it in "The Hobbit" (1937).

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=cobweb