Fun House Spiders Facts For Kids

Southern house spiders, with the scientific name Kukulcania hibernalis, are one of the big members of the filistatidae family.

They are very commonly found in the southern states of America and throughout Central America but are also recorded to be seen in areas of the Caribbean, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Atlantic coast, Mexico, Arizona, California, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Virginia, and North Carolina.

Both male and female southern house spiders have elongated bodies, eight eyes, and compact legs.

Southern house spiders are some of the most common spiders that reside in man-made structures and houses, they are also not dangerous or venomous to humans. After reading this article on southern house spiders, do check out our other articles on darkling beetle and puss moth as well.
 

Southern House Spider Interesting Facts

What type of animal is a southern house spider?

Kukulcania hibernalis, (southern house spiders), of order araneae, are one of the biggest members of the filistadae family which are very commonly found in human-populated areas. They are also called crevice spiders or southern crevice spiders generally.

What class of animal does a southern house spider belong to?

Southern house spiders belong to the class of arachnids.

How many southern house spiders are there in the world?

Southern bouse spiders are very rarely found in areas other than Central and North America including the Caribbean, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Atlantic coast, Mexico, Arizona, California, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Virginia and North Carolina.

It is nearly impossible to account for the total number of these spiders as they are very common house spiders and reproduce quickly in order to keep their population intact.

Where does a southern house spider live?

Southern house spiders (brown recluses) are very commonly found in houses and other exterior man-made establishments. This species also resides indoors in closed barns, cracks, crevices, stone structures, logs, and loose tree bark, especially in Central and North America.

They can also be found in other places like Brazil, Atlantic coast, Mexico, Arizona, California, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Virginia, and North Carolina.

What is a southern house spider's habitat?

Southern house spiders are known to exist near human establishments, this is because they can easily find food in these places. They reside in small cracks, crevices, and even on exterior areas of houses and barns. They also like habitats including logs, stones, and loose tree bark.

Who do southern house spiders live with?

Southern house spiders are generally regarded as social arachnids as they display social traits such as sibling recognition. They also disperse in aggregations after leaving their webs when they grow up and are known to cooperate with one another when capturing prey.

How long does a southern house spider live?

Southern house spider, or brown recluses, are known to have a comparatively longer life span in comparison to other spiders. Male southern house spiders are known to have a much shorter life span when compared to females who can live up to eight years.

How do they reproduce?

Southern house spiders are known for exhibiting a great degree of sexual dimorphism. Their mating ritual is around one hour long, during which neither the male or female moves much.

Males usually roam around and try to mate with females once they find their webs. Female southern house spiders lay between 150 to 200 eggs at once and wrap them in loose egg silk sacs. The females take care of every egg until they hatch.

What is their conservation status?

These kinds of spiders are some of the most common creatures that can be found in areas of Central America and are officially Not Listed under the IUCN.

Southern House Spider Fun Facts

What do southern house spiders look like?

Southern house spiders (Kukulcania hibernalis) are known to look different when it comes to males and females. Female southern house spiders are charcoal grey in color.

They are often said to look similar to small tarantulas, and have comparatively bigger bodies than the males. Males have really long legs with smaller bodies when compared to females, and are amber colored. They have a large bulbous body with eight eyes and fine hairs that cover their abdomen.

How cute are they?

These spiders are docile creatures that are favorite pets for spider owners. They are low maintenance and rarely cause any harm to humans.

How do they communicate?

Southern house spiders (Kukulcania hibernalis) have been regarded as social creatures that help one another in times of need. They sometimes form groups when they grow up, but there is almost no information available as to how they communicate or interact with one another.

How big is a southern house spider?

Usually, southern house spiders grow up to a size of 2.2-2.5 in (5.5-6 cm), with their legs extended. Male and female spiders are around the same size, but the males tend to have longer legs while females have shorter legs and more bulbous bodies.

How fast can southern house spiders move?

Southern house spiders are large and fast-moving creatures that are known to form webs and chase prey. Females don’t wander much and stay very close to their southern house spider web.

How much does a southern house spider weigh?

Southern house spiders (Kukulcania hibernalis) are lightweight and docile. They are one of the biggest members of their family but weigh a lot less than expected.

What are the male and female names of the species?

There are no specific names given to male and female species of southern house spiders. They are called male southern house spiders and female southern house spiders.

What would you call a baby southern house spider?

Similar to many other creatures, there is no specific name given to baby southern house spiders. They are generally regarded as spiderlings.

What do they eat?

Southern house spiders are one of the best pest controllers for houses. These spiders are found very close to humans and man-made structures.

They usually are attracted to human establishments because of the insects that roam around these spaces. Southern house spider males will wander in search of prey while southern house spider females form webs to catch their prey. These prey includes insects such as mud daubers, house flies, horse flies, may beetles and cockroaches.

Are they harmful?

No, southern house spiders are proven to be not harmful or dangerous to humans. Female southern spiders are not even seen around as they keep themselves busy by forming their webs around crevices.

Although male southern spiders can be seen as aggressive, they are not at all as they have really small mouths that can barely cause any injury to human skin. They only bite when threatened or provoked. Southern house spider bites can be painful and can cause allergic reactions.

Southern house spider bite symptoms include swelling and pain for some days. So, it is advisable to remove the egg sacs as soon as you locate them.

Would they make a good pet?

Southern house spiders are not very common pets for most people. But among spider lovers, these spiders are a frequent choice among spider pet owners as they are very docile and low maintenance.

Did you know...

These spiders are known to have structures called cribellum, which is a silk producing plate that is found anterior to the spinnerets and calamistrum that is used for pulling silk. Southern house spider bites are not poisonous.

While the bite does not transmit any venom, it does cause a lot of pain and swelling.

They have been constantly studied over the years in order to learn more about their weird characteristic of sexual dimorphism. Unlike other creatures, female southern house spiders are known to live much longer than male southern spiders.

Are southern house spiders dangerous?

As we have already seen, male and female southern house spiders cause no danger or harm to humans. They are known to have really small mouths that can't pierce human skin. However, some rare cases of pain and swelling after their bite have been seen.

Southern house spiders belong to the category of cribellate spiders, which denotes that their spinnerets are not used to produce any kind of adhesive webbing. Rather they use their body parts called cribellum and calamistrum to form their webs through a silk-like material that is similar to velcro.

This helps in catching or trapping their prey when spun into sheets.

The webs are usually only formed by female southern house spiders to catch their prey, while males are known to wander around in search of their prey. Female southern house spiders usually spend most of their life forming these velvety silk webs that can easily trap prey around crevices and are rarely seen around.

How to get rid of southern house spiders?

Southern house spiders are usually found in houses or places near human populations. So, if you see these southern house spiders in your house, or want to avoid these spiders in your house, take these preventive steps: make sure to cover or repair all the crevices and cracks in the house.

Cover all the dark cracks, gaps, and holes around your house. Make sure to keep enclosed places clean as they prefer dark places for residing.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other arthropods including cicada killer wasp, or click beetle.

You can even occupy yourself at home by drawing one of our Southern House Spider coloring pages.