The Grass Spider is light brown in color, with darker
brown stripes on its cephalothorax and its abdomen.
Its body is slender and the male is 5/8 inch long.
The female is 3/4 inch long and has very large rear
spinnerets.
The Grass Spider is a funnel web weaver, meaning that
it belongs to the family of spiders that spins a web
that covers plants like a sheet with one end shaped
like a funnel.
Habitat
The Grass Spider is found almost everywhere in North
America! It lives around grassy areas, stone fences,
and small shrubs.
It builds its web down in crevices, under stones, or
between leaves or twigs (often in "leaf litter").
This spider tends to stay in one location, and as it
grows, its web increases in size until the sheet extends
over a large area.
Food
The Grass Spider waits inside of its funnel for small
crawling or flying insects like crickets, ants, and
grasshoppers.
When its prey walks across the sheet-like portion of
its web, it can feel the vibrations "telegraphed" by
the insect.
The GrassSpider then dashes out of the funnel to grab
its prey and drag it back down into the funnel for its
feast!
Defense
Although the Grass Spider likes to hide from both predators
and prey down in its funnel, it always "plans" an escape
route from predators when it builds its web.
The funnel part of the web is open at both ends. So,
if it is threatened, the spider can escape out the "back
door!"
