Sri Lankan Ornamental tarantula: (Poecilotheria fasciata) Beautifully marked but with temperamental problems. The dark abdomen has a broad, central, cream band that's edged in black and five oblique marks. Their carapace is grey with cream markings and the legs are banded black and white with yellow at the bottom but only on the first two legs. They are nocturnal and live in trees and known locally as "tree spiders".

Size: F 55mm; M 40mm.
Web: silk burrow and opens to a funnel shaped entrance.
Habitat: Eucalypt forest, acacia thickets and grassland.
Range: Australia, including Queensland, northern territories and new south Wales.
Season: Adults mostly all year ; mating activity during summer rains.

Woodlouse Spider: (Dysdera crocota) This species looks rather sinister with its reddish carapace and legs contrasting with a cream or grey abdomen, and absence of hairs.  It usually lives close to numbers of Woodlouse its favourite prey.  It lives in a silk retreat, where the eggs are laid, its active during night time for hunting excursion.  The bite is painful but not strong.

Size: F 15mm; M 10mm.
Web: None.  
Habitat:  Under stones and logs; in and around buildings (in crevices).
Range:  Europe; introduced to Japan, N and S America, s Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
Season: Adults all year.

Tube web spider: (Segestria florentina) an impressive spider seen during the night or when food is at the entrance of the web, this black cigar shaped body had iridescent green mouth parts that are "unmistakable".  They make a tube shaped web that's made up from holes in walls or tree trunks, and they have neat trip lines radiating from the entrance and they are used for transporting vibrations made my other living things e.g. Male spider or insect food. They place the first six legs on the trip lines and wait for the vibrations.

Size: F 22mm; M 15mm.
Web: Simple tubular shape with trip lines radiating.
Habitat: Old walls, rocks, under stones and tree bark.
Range: Cosmopolitan, including Europe, Argentina and New Zealand.
Season: In Europe, adults June-November.
 

False widow spider: (Steatoda paykullianus) This species resembles the deadly black widow spider.  The carapace, legs and abdomen are all blackish.  There is an orange, red or maybe yellow band at the front of the abdomen and also lengthwise along the centre.  The male is slimmer than the female but its the female that have the mildly poisonous bite.  The web of this spiders is referred to "spring trap".

Size: F 15mm; M 7mm.
Web: A tangle web with taut threads below bearing sticky globules.
Habitat: Under rocks and stones, in building and plantations.
Range: S Europe: N Africa and W Asia.
Season: Adult females all year; males in the spring and autumn.

Katipo: (Latrodectus katipo) The female Katipo is black with a red stripe across the abdomen.  The much smaller male has a brown carapace with a central black band and a white abdomen with two irregular black bands enclosing a string of orange, diamond shaped patches.  The spider’s web is built close to the ground and catches mostly beetles, many larger than the spider its self.

Size: F 10mm; M 4mm.
Web: A tangle web with taut threads below bearing sticky globules.
Habitat: Coastal dunes, especially among marram grass.
Range: New Zealand (North island and northern parts of the south island).
Season: Adults female probably all year; males September-November.

Brown widow spider: (Latrodectus geometricus) This tangle web weaver is a house spider in many warm countries. The adult female is usually brown but varies from almost black, to cream with brown markings, and to bluish grey. There is usually an orange "hourglass" marking on the underside.  The bite may be painful but is not highly poisonous. The male is small and lacks the hourglass marking.

Size: F 12mm; M 5mm.
Web: An untidy tangle web with taut threads below bearing sticky globules.
Habitat: Buildings: corners of rooms, under ledges; in gardens on opuntia and cactus.
Range: Cosmopolitan in warm countries.
Season: Adults all year.

  This image is copyrighted to Helena Tugwell - Essex
Yard spider/hobo spider: (Tegenaria agrestis) A mottled grey brown spider, greenish in certain light.  It is a European species that has spread to the pacific Northwest of the USA where it has become known for aggression; its said this spiders bites more humans in America than in Europe.  In Europe it builds sheet webs in wastelands but in America is home is back yards and in direct contact with humans.

Size: F 15mm; M 10mm.
Web: A rough sheet with a funnel retreat, built among wood or other debris on the ground.
Habitat: Gardens, yards, wastelands and open areas.
Range: Europe and N America.
Season: adults June-November.

Slender sac spider: (Cheiracanthium mildei) A straw coloured spider with large, shiny black jaws and a glossy brown carapace.  The male is smaller than the female but has longer legs.  The flat, papery retreat is built in a folded leaf or, for example folds of a curtains.  At night the spider leaves the retreat to forage as a hunter.  It is fast, agile and very aggressive.  A bite from this species may cause blisters of the skin.

Size: F 10mm; M 8mm.
Web: None, but makes a tough sac like retreat.
Habitat: grassland, heather and shrubs, buildings in N America.
Range: S Europe, N Africa and W Asia; introduced to N America.
Season: Adults May-July.

Steatoda Nobilis: A relative to the false widow.  Little is know about this spider.  It’s brown in colour with pale markings, some recorded pictures show a white line round the front of the abdomen and sometimes a white stripe down the back with brown markings either side.  It’s the female that has the bite.  It can with stand British winters to temperatures of -5C .  I will update as I get more information.

Size: F 15mm; M 10mm.
Web: Buildings and sheds also under window seals.
Habitat: walls, fences also lose objects like tree bark.
Range: First found in the canary islands UK but is on the move... Reported places are: Essex, Westcliff-on-Sea, Kent, Surrey, Portsmouth, Dorset, West Sussex, Torquay, Warwick and Worthing.
Season: Adults from June-November

White tailed spider: (Lampona cylindrata) A sleek, furry spider with a rather slender and cylindrical body.  The other colour ranges from grey to reddish brown or bluish black but there's always a white spot at the end of the abdomen.  The male has a hard plate towards the front of the abdomen.  At night this vagabond spider forages on walls, walking slowly.  It may enter the webs of other spiders and capture the host.  It can bite humans with effect local to the site of the bite.

Size: F 14mm; M 10mm.
Web: None.
Habitat: on trees or buildings.
Range: S Australia and Tasmania; introduced to new Zealand.
Season: both sexes mature late in summer.

Kenyan hunting spider: (Ctenus modetus) a large grey and silver, long legged spider that resembles the wolf spider.  Like other species of the genus, this one is a vagrant that does not build a retreat but rests inside spiny and prickly plants.  On the spider’s abdomen, tufts of stiff white hairs may be seen projecting upwards.  The female carries her enormous egg sac under body.  This spider is likely to be aggressive if provoked and may give a painful bite.

Size: F 25mm; M 20mm.
Web: None.
Habitat: tropical forest and savannah.
Range: Kenya.
Season: Adults probably all year.

Giant huntsman: (Holconia immanis) An impressive species, especially when found in a house.  The carapace is a dark olive brown and the abdomen pale grey with black cardiac marks.  The long banned legs extend sideways.  This spider is an agile, nocturnal hunter whose diet includes large insects and small vertebrates.  During the mating season, the male and female cohabit.  The female guards her eggs and cares for the young.  The spider’s bit is painful but not highly toxic.

Size: F 35mm; M 25mm.
Web: None
Habitat: Forest, gardens and in buildings.
Range: Australia; introduced to New Zealand.
Season: Adults females and year, males October-April.