Common House Spider

The house spider is dusty brown with several darker chevron markings on the upper and lower sides of its abdomen. The female's body is about 1/4 inch long with moderately long legs. The male is smaller. They mate in spring and Mr. Spider soon dies or is eaten by his wife who, 6 to 8 weeks later, lays from 50 to 200 small eggs enclosed in a brownish pear-shaped cocoon hung in the web. The young hatch in about a week but remain inside the cocoon until after they first molt (shed their skin). Then they emerge to remain in their mother's web until after their second molt. Meanwhile, in the cocoon and in the web, they prey on each other. Only the most vigorous survive. After that, each spins its own web and goes through 3 or 4 more molts before it is fully grown.

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