# Cupboard spider (*Steatoda grossa*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/cupboard-spider  
Data as of: 2026-11-14

The cupboard spider (Steatoda grossa) is a species in the family Theridiidae, order Araneae. Recorded adults reach 1 cm in length. Source checklists list it for 3 countries: Argentina, New Zealand and Spain.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | Not recorded |
| Length | 5 mm – 1 cm |
| Lifespan | Not recorded |
| Diet | Invertivore |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | human_modified |
| Young per litter or clutch | Not recorded |
| Active | At night (nocturnal) |
| Conservation status | Not recorded |
| Countries on record | 3 countries |

## Introduced range

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists it as introduced in 6 countries. Introduced: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Germany, South Africa, 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 grossa* (C. L. Koch, 1838)

Synonyms: *Aranea nocturna*, *Asagena zonata*, *Eucharia zonata*, *Lithyphantes grossus*, *Steatoda fulvo-lunulata*, *Steatoda grossa obliterata*, *Steatoda grossa strandi*, *Steatoda hamatum*, *Steatoda modesta*, *Steatoda pulchella*, *Steatoda punctilineata*, *Steatoda pusulosa*, *Steatoda serica*, *Steatoda versuta*, *Steatoda versuta*, *Steatoda versutum*, *Steatoda zonata*, *Teutana grossa*, *Teutana grossa*, *Teutana grossa obliterata*, *Teutana modesta*, *Teutana nitida*, *Teutana zonata*, *Theridion coeliferum*, *Theridion fulvo-lunulatum*, *Theridion pulchellum*, *Theridion sericum*, *Theridion versutum*, *Theridium coeliferum*, *Theridium domesticum*, *Theridium grossa*, *Theridium grossum*, *Theridium nicoluccii*, *Theridium nitidum*

## 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.

Argentina, New Zealand, Spain

## Common questions

### How big is the cupboard spider?

An adult cupboard spider measures 5 mm – 1 cm long, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

### Where does the cupboard spider live?

Catalogue of Life checklists list the cupboard spider for 3 countries: Argentina, New Zealand and Spain. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.

### Is the cupboard spider an invasive species?

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the cupboard spider as introduced in 6 countries, including Austria, Belgium, Canada, Germany and South Africa, but does not flag it as invasive in any of them.

### What kind of animal is the cupboard spider?

The cupboard spider (Steatoda grossa) belongs to the family Theridiidae in the order Araneae.

## 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 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: Cupboard spider (Steatoda grossa). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/cupboard-spider