# Common false-widow (*Steatoda bipunctata*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-false-widow  
Data as of: 2026-11-14

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.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | Not recorded |
| Length | 4 mm – 7 mm |
| Lifespan | Not recorded |
| Diet | Invertivore |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | forest, human_modified |
| Young per litter or clutch | Not recorded |
| Conservation status | Not recorded |
| Countries on record | 5 countries |

## Recorded prey and predators

Recorded prey: Mottled umber (*Erannis defoliaria*). Each pair is recorded by at least two datasets compiled by Global Biotic Interactions (https://www.globalbioticinteractions.org/, CC0 1.0).

## Introduced range

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists it as introduced in 2 countries. Introduced: Canada, United States. Source: https://griis.org/ (CC BY 4.0).

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Arthropoda
- class: Arachnida
- order: Araneae
- family: Theridiidae
- genus: Steatoda
- species: *Steatoda 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*

## Countries on record

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.

Brazil, Germany, Slovenia, Switzerland, Ukraine

## Common questions

### 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

- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Global Biotic Interactions (GloBI): interpreted data products](https://www.globalbioticinteractions.org/), CC0 1.0, 0.11. Poelen, J.H., Simons, J.D. & Mungall, C.J. (2014) Global Biotic Interactions: an open infrastructure to share and analyze species-interaction datasets. Ecological Informatics 24: 148–159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoinf.2014.08.005. Data: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22691479, with each record's original reference.
- [Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (GRIIS)](https://griis.org/), CC BY 4.0, 2026-11-13. Pagad, S., Genovesi, P., Carnevali, L., Schigel, D. & McGeoch, M.A. (2018) Introducing the Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species. Scientific Data 5: 170202. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.202. Country checklists published through GBIF by the IUCN SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group.
- [TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe](https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15063844), CC BY 4.0, 2.0. Chauvier, Y., Adde, A., Bergamini, A. et al. (2025) TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15063844

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