Mouse Spiders

Identify It >   Spiders Section >   Mouse Spiders >

Scientific name:  Scotophaeus blackwalli

Size:  Head and body 9 to 12 mm long

Distribution:  Found throughout the UK

Months seen:  All year but more frequently in summer and autumn

Habitat:  Mostly in houses, sheds and outbuildings.  Sometimes under bark on dead wood

Food:  Flies and other small insects

Special features:  Mouse Spiders are so called because their abdomens are covered in silver-grey hair which resembles the fur of a mouse.  The whole body is covered in shiny hair which gives this spider a greasy appearance.  The brown legs are relatively thick, and the dark brown head is pear shaped and narrow at the front where the closely grouped eyes are located.

Mouse spiders are are mostly nocturnal and very fast runners.  They catch their prey by stalking, and then pouncing on unsuspecting invertebrates.

Related Pages

• Is This a Deadly Spider?
• Spider Identification
• Identify other wildlife
• What's Out Now?