Triangulate combfoot
The triangular white and yellow markings running down this cobweb spider's abdomen give it its common name and make it easy to recognise indoors.
| Where | Buildings, walls and dark corners |
|---|---|
| Size | Female 3.5 to 8.6 mm, male 3.5 to 5 mm body length |
| When | January to December |
The Triangulate combfoot is a small cobweb spider with a brown cephalothorax and yellowish legs darkening toward the tips; its abdomen is dark brown to black with a series of white and yellow triangular markings running down the centre.
It lives mostly in and around buildings across Europe, spinning an irregular tangle web in dark corners of walls, windows and eaves, though in warmer regions it also occurs in caves, dunes and rocky ground. It waits in its web through the night to catch small crawling insects.
Traits
Habitat
Towns
Colour
Brown, Yellow, Black
Active
Night
To people
Not dangerous to people; bites are essentially unknown and it retreats into its web rather than approaching people.
Activity through the year
Often confused with
Usually plain purplish brown with little or no pattern in adult females, unlike the Triangulate combfoot, which keeps its white and yellow triangular markings into adulthood.
Questions
Is the Triangulate combfoot dangerous to people?
Not dangerous to people; bites are essentially unknown and it retreats into its web rather than approaching people.
When can you see the Triangulate combfoot?
The Triangulate combfoot can be seen from January to December, at night.
Plate retouched from a museum specimen photo by Staatliche Naturwissenschaftliche Sammlungen Bayerns, CC BY 4.0, GBIF Licence
Report a mistake in this entry
Spiders›Cobweb spiders›Steatoda
Last updated 2026-09-27. Every entry is checked against published sources.