christmas arachnid :D

Our bathtub has delivered us a christmas present in the shape of a Domestic House Spider, Tegenaria domestica. These guys feed on ground organisms, most often beetles, by making a sheet of web to catch them in and usually eat them immediately after. They are also known as the Barn Funnel Weaver in North America because they also build funnel webs.

This species is distributed all over Europe, North America and parts of Asia. It was believed that they were introduced to North America by merchants in the 19th century, but it is now thought that they share an evolutionarily recent common ancestor. However, there have been reports in the US of more severe reactions to the bite of T. domestica. To determine whether they are still the same species they will have to be genetically analysed, and in the meantime here is a paper on the differences in venom over range.
T. domestica do not hibernate. After mating in late Autumn, the male dies and the female eats him, contributing to the health of his progeny. An egg sac is then laid inside the funnel web, which the female will protect until April, when the young hatch.
Individuals can survive for months without food, but it is common for females to die as a result of severe winters. For this reason, i've released it back into aberdeen university's zoology building, where it is more likely to stay warm, and may even help to keep down the infestation of Golden Spider Beetles on taxidermied specimens.