Silver-sided sector spider
Its web keeps one sector without spiral threads, crossed instead by a single signal line running to the spider's hidden daytime retreat.
| Where | Walls, fences and buildings across Europe |
|---|---|
| Size | Female 5.7 to 12 mm, male 3.5 to 8 mm body length |
| When | January to December |
The Silver-sided sector spider has a yellow brown body with dark markings and a shining silver patch at the centre of the abdomen, set against grey banded legs with darker markings.
By day it hides in a silk retreat at the edge of its web, only coming out at night to rebuild the sticky spiral and wait at the hub for insects caught on walls, fences and window frames.
Traits
Habitat
Towns
Colour
Yellow, Black, Metallic
Active
Night
To people
This common window and wall spider has no documented bite to people; if found indoors, it can be covered with a cup and carried outside.
Activity through the year
Often confused with
A browner spider without the sharp silvery central patch of the Silver-sided sector spider, usually found on bushes and rocks away from buildings rather than on the walls and windows this species favours.
Questions
Is the Silver-sided sector spider dangerous to people?
This common window and wall spider has no documented bite to people; if found indoors, it can be covered with a cup and carried outside.
When can you see the Silver-sided sector spider?
The Silver-sided sector spider can be seen from January to December, at night.
Plate retouched from a photo by Alexis Tinker-Tsavalas, CC BY 4.0, iNaturalist Licence
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Last updated 2026-09-27. Every entry is checked against published sources.