8cm of arachnofobic info for fearajinx. This is one of the most common house-spiders and one the largest spiders in Europe. It is a rather big male of some 8 cm. total length, though 10 cm has been reported. It's a Tegenaria species, most probable Tegenaria atrica or gigantea (giant housespider)! One european Tegenaria species has become very infamous in the United States as the Hobo- or ASH-spider. ASH stands for Attacking Home Spider. This Tegenaria agrestis was imported in the U.S. round 1930 by ship and is now invading a large area of the USA.It seems to like the home-environment there. It is the only Tegenaria species reported to have a venomous bite. The bite gradually develops into a nasty very slow healing open wound, though the bite itself seems hardly noticed. Laboratory research on rabbits of both american- and european-agrestis-spiders could not substantiate the toxic capacity of the bite. Bites of agrestis are only reported from the USA. In Europe agrestis is rarely seen in houses because of the presence of other spiders like the giant house-spider, which predate on them. Although AHS stands for agressive, agrestis is told to be not agressive at all. It will only bite if pressed on to the skin. This spider doesn't actively attack or pursuit its victim. ASH-female-spiders have a funnelweb in places you never clean, like most Tegenaria- species. ASH-spider-males roam the house at night in search for a nice lady. During the day they hide and are therefore seldom seen. Every now and then they are found in sincs, bathtubs and the like, where they trapped themselves. Rarely they hide in clothes or shoes in which case a bite might occur the next morning/day. 50% of the bites seem to be defensive-dry-bites where no venom is injected! The determination of Tegenaria species is very difficult, the spider on this photo could as well be an ASH-spider, though not very likely.A normal house(hold) lodges thousands of insects and hundreds of spiders, it is a small eco-system in itself. So it will be very likely that some Tegenaria species live in your house in places you seldom or never come with your vacuum cleaner. Maybe under your ......., have a nice day :) PapaGuru.