Common house spider classification
The Common house spider belongs to the genus Achaearanea in the family Theridiidae. Its scientific name is Achaearanea tepidariorum. The common house spider is also known as the American house spider. 

Common house spider range
The Common house spider is today a cosmopolitan species that is found all over the world, but it is believed to have originated in Central and South America.

Common house spider habitat
When we come across the Common house spider, it is usually because it has moved into our home. The Common house spider will often build its web in the corner of a room or behind and under furniture. Outdoors, it will typically build its web between stones and rocks. It can however seek out man made objects too, and is for instance frequently spotted in angles between fences. The most important thing for the Common house spider is to find a spot that provide plenty of food and little disturbance.

Common house spider size
Female Common house spiders grow bigger than the males, but the males have longer legs. A female Common house spider will typically reach a size of 5-6 millimetres and her first pair of legs can be nearly three times as long as her body. The male body stays between 3.8 and 4.7 millimetres.   

Common house spider description
The colour of the Common house spider varies from dirt white to nearly black, and the cephalothorax is of a yellow shade. The legs of this spider have a pale yellow coloration and are decorated with grey or brown rings at the ends and middle of the joints. In male specimens, the legs can have an orange brown shade and be considerably darker at the joints.

In dark Common house spider specimens, you can see six black marks that transverse the abdomen of the spider and curve upward. The markings are thicker in the middle and connected by dark dots at the ends. The black markings are framed by silvery white lines.    The Common house spider has an abdomen that is quite high in the front and narrow towards the spinnerets. In paler Common house spider specimens, markings are less visible and they also tend to be smaller. 

Common house spider web
The web of the Common house spider is different than the webs created by a majority of the world’s spider species. The Common house spider will make one part of its web more densely woven than the rest of the net. This closely woven part of the net will also be provided with an additional layer of silk which servers to increase the stability. The Common house spider uses this special part of the web to stand on while waiting for prey to become entangled. If the web has been spun in an open space, it is not uncommon for the spider to fetch a small leaf to hide under.Young Common house spiders will often create webs that are more regular and symmetric than the webs made by adult spiders.