CreatureData

Common false-widow

Steatoda bipunctata (Linnaeus, 1758)

Status not recordedspiders

The common false-widow (Steatoda bipunctata) is a species in the family Theridiidae, order Araneae. Recorded adults reach 7 mm in length. Source checklists list it for 5 countries, including Brazil, Germany and Slovenia.

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Quick facts about the common false-widow

Weight
Not recorded
Length
4 mm – 7 mmsrc for Length
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Invertivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
forest, human_modifiedsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
Not recorded
Conservation status
Not recorded
Countries on record
5 countriessrc for Countries on record

How big is the common false-widow?

COMMON FALSE-WIDOW · LENGTH 7 MMADULT HUMAN · HEIGHT 1.7 M
At 7 mm, the recorded maximum length of the common false-widow is about 0.4% of the height of an adult human (1.7 m, a fixed reference used for scale).

Which animals does the common false-widow eat?

Species recorded in published studies and collections.

Recorded prey of the common false-widow

1 on record

  1. Mottled umber Erannis defoliaria2 sources

Each pair is recorded by at least two independent datasets. A record shows the animal was seen or found to have eaten the other, including scavenged carcasses and young animals; it does not say how often. Compiled by Global Biotic Interactions (CC0 1.0).

References for these records

Where does the common false-widow live?

Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.

The common false-widow is listed for 5 countries.

BrazilUkraineGermanySwitzerlandSlovenia
  • Listed
  • Not listed
small islands are not drawn at this scale

The same countries as a list

  1. Brazil
  2. Germany
  3. Slovenia
  4. Switzerland
  5. Ukraine

Why a country list is not a range map

Listed by: WSC (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.

Where has it been introduced?

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the common false-widow as introduced in 2 countries.

  1. Canada
  2. United States

Introduced means brought by people and now present; invasive means the country's checklist records an impact. A species can be native to one part of a country and introduced in another. Source: Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (CC BY 4.0).

Is the common false-widow endangered?

No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.

How is the common false-widow classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumArthropoda
  3. classArachnida
  4. orderAraneae
  5. familyTheridiidae
  6. genusSteatoda
  7. SpeciesSteatoda bipunctata (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms Aranea bipunctata, Aranea punctata, Aranea quadripunctata, Epeira ancora, Eucharia bipunctata, Eucharia quadripunctata, Phrurolithus ornatus, Stearodea bipunctata, Steatoda 4-punctatum, Steatoda ancora, Steatoda bipuncata, Steatoda brasiliana, Steatoda cruciatum, Steatoda m-album, Steatoda malphigii, Steatoda ornata, Steatoda punctata, Steatoda quadripunctata, Steatoda quadripunctatum, Theridion 4-punctatum, Theridion quadrimaculatum, Theridion quadripunctatum, Theridium bipunctata, Theridium cruciatum, Theridium quadripunctatum

Other names and names in other languages (20)
  • Common false widowEnglish
  • Rabbit Hutch spiderEnglish
  • The rabbit Hutch spiderEnglish
  • snovačka pokoutníCzech
  • FedtedderkopDanish
  • FettspinneGerman
  • Gewöhnliche FettspinneGerman
  • pilkkupavukkiFinnish
  • Stéatode à deux pointsFrench
  • kétpettyes faggyúpókHungarian
  • Steatoda punteggiataItalian
  • Dvitaškis brėžiusLithuanian
  • Brun husedderkoppNorwegian Bokmål
  • husenkeedderkoppNorwegian Bokmål
  • KoffieboonspinDutch
  • Zyzuś tłuściochPolish
  • Стеатода двуточечнаяRussian
  • Стеатода двухточечнаяRussian
  • snovačka dvojbodkováSlovak
  • fettspindelSwedish

Catalogue of LifeiNaturalistITISTAXREFWikidata

Relatives of the common false-widow

Other species in the same genus Steatoda.

CompareCommon false-widow vs Cupboard spiderCommon false-widow vs Noble false widowCommon false-widow vs Triangulate CombfootCommon false-widow vs Mediterranean false black widow

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the common false-widow?

An adult common false-widow measures 4 mm – 7 mm long, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Where does the common false-widow live?

Catalogue of Life checklists list the common false-widow for 5 countries: Brazil, Germany, Slovenia, Switzerland and Ukraine. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.

Is the common false-widow an invasive species?

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the common false-widow as introduced in 2 countries: Canada and United States, but does not flag it as invasive in any of them.

What kind of animal is the common false-widow?

The common false-widow (Steatoda bipunctata) belongs to the family Theridiidae in the order Araneae.

Which animals does the common false-widow eat?

Animals recorded as prey of the common false-widow include mottled umber. The records are compiled by Global Biotic Interactions from published studies; each pair is reported by at least two datasets.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-14. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Common false-widow (Steatoda bipunctata). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-false-widow

MLA

“Common false-widow (Steatoda bipunctata).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-false-widow.

BibTeX
@misc{common_false_widow_2026,
  title = {Common false-widow (Steatoda bipunctata)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-false-widow},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-14}
}