Bug FAQWall Spider
Oecobius navus · Order: Araneae · Family: Oecobiidae
Also called: Baseboard Spider, Cosmopolitan Midget House Spider, House Ant-eating Spider
Wall spiders are tiny, about 2 to 2.5 mm long, and have a round pale-brown carapace with a dark central spot and a thin black edge. They spin small, flat webs about 3 cm across under rocks, on ceilings and in wall corners, with a few signaling threads. They catch prey by running around it and coating it with sticky silk from their anal tubule and spinnerets before biting.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Its abdomen is yellow-brown with black spots and small white flecks.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Adults of both sexes are about 2 to 2.5 mm in body length.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
They build flat, roughly 3 cm wide webs with side openings under rocks, on ceilings and in wall corners, using thin signaling threads.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
They capture prey by circling it and wrapping it in sticky silk produced from the anal tubule and spinnerets. After the prey is fully ensnared, the spider bites it.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Females lay several small egg sacs, each holding 3 to 10 eggs, and then leave them unattended.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Wall spiders originate from Europe and northern Africa.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
Other Oecobiid spiders use the same hunting method of running around prey and coating it with sticky silk.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 14 of 51 states and DC. Most records: California, Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Ohio, Illinois, Mississippi, Georgia.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: introduced in North America; introduced in Canada; introduced in United States. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
Where might I find a wall spider in my home?
Look for their small, flat webs with side openings under rocks, on ceilings, or in wall corners.
Source: Wikipedia
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oecobius_navus
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.