Tegenaria is a genus of fast-running funnel weavers that occupy much of the Northern Hemisphere except for Japan and Indonesia. It was first described by Pierre André Latreille in 1804,[2] though many of its species have been moved elsewhere. The majority of these were moved to Eratigena,[3] including the giant house spider (Eratigena atrica) and the hobo spider (Eratigena agrestis).[1]
They can be difficult to identify because they resemble wolf spiders and other funnel-web spiders in their area,[4] unless found in an area where they do not occur naturally.[5] They live on sheet webs, usually stretching across the corner between two walls. They have eight eyes in two straight or almost straight rows.[5] Size varies from one species to another, but the body length of adults can range from 10 millimetres (0.39 in) to 20 millimetres (0.79 in), not including the legs.[4] The cardinal spider is the largest funnel weaver, with females that can grow up to 18 millimetres (0.71 in) long.[6]