The cellar spider, the cucumber spider, the false widow, the wolf spider – there are an amazing number of spiders in the world. An incredible 53,680 species have been recorded, many with intriguing names and skills.
Spiders are arachnids, a class of invertebrate that also includes harvestmen, ticks, mites, scorpions and pseudoscorpions. They have two parts to their body, eight legs, six or eight eyes, and they produce silk from spinnerets on their abdomens.
But what's the most common spider in the world? The answer to that is not as simple as you may think.
What's the most common spider in the world?
We asked experts at the International Society of Arachnology what they thought the answer would be. They pointed out that most common depends a little on what you're looking for – the most individuals in a single species, or spiders that appear in most places in the world, due to being ferried around the world with humans.
Daddy long-legs
The Pholcus phalangioides – or the cosmopolitan cellar spider – is found in most buildings throughout the world, and is what you might describe as a daddy long-legs. This spider preys on other spiders and is harmless to humans. Their legs are around five to six times as long as its body, with an adult female's legs measuring around 50mm. The spider has spread so far and wide throughout the globe that we aren't totally sure where it originated from.
Many other spiders feed on prey stuck in their webs, but the Pholcus phalangioides will actively hunt and find spiders sitting on other nests and eat them. They also won't shy away from cannibalism if they're hungry.
Common garden spider
Another hugely common spider is the common garden spider – or Araneus diadematus – which you'll find in parks and gardens throughout most of Europe and North America. This spider is an orb-weaver, named because of the way it spins its webs.
All of these spiders have mottled white markings on their dorsal abdomen and they are one of the UK's largest spider species, measuring around 13mm including its legs.
While garden spiders aren't dangerous to humans, the females do have a tendency to kill and eat the male after mating.
But are they the most common?
While these two spiders are hugely common, and you'll likely spot these either in your house or garden, there has not been a specific study to discover the most common spider in the world. Dr Jason Dunlop from the International Society of Arachnology said: "We don’t know for sure, as no-one has specifically studied that question.
"My suspicion is that the most common species could lie within the so-called money spider family Linyphiidae as these are typically very small spiders which can occur in very high densities in low vegetation. In autumn, these include the spiders which make the dew-covered webs that can cover entire fields."
Linyphiidae are a family of small spiders that make up around 5,000 species and are also generally known as money spiders.
They are known for ballooning: a technique used by the spider whereby they drift through the air. They can also be resistant to low temperatures, with some being found on snow at -7 degrees celsius in Norway.
