Quick Facts

Scientific name:  Zoropsis spinimana

Size:  Males up to 12mm, Females up to 19mm

Distribution:  Found in parts of England - especially in and around London.  The one in the photo above was found in a warehouse in Andover, Wiltshire.  Also a sighting of one in Northumberland in Jan 2018, another in Orpington, Kent in Nov 2018, and one in East Molesey, Surrey in September 2019.

Months seen:  All year round

Habitat:  Mostly in houses and out buildings

Food:  Invertebrates

Special features:  False Wolf Spiders Zoropsis spinimana are pale brown in colour with a greyish blush.  There is a row of two or three black blobs along the middle of the abdomen which look like badly painted diamond shapes.  The legs are also speckled with black.  They have eight eyes arranged in four groups of two (one above the other).

This spider has recently been introduced to the UK.  It originates from the Mediterranean area, so being more used to milder climates prefers to be indoors in the UK. It has also recently been introduced to the San Francisco area of the United States.

False Wolf Spiders are active at night.  They hunt their prey actively by chasing it down.  Like most spiders they have enough venom to inflict a temporarily painful bite, but not enough to do any serious harm.

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