Coelotes atropos

Size: Female 9-12 mm; male 7-9 mm. Red head, thorax and legs with a light brown abdomen with a central cardiac mark.

C. atropos is very similar to C. terrestris, but only C. atropos has been found in Leicestershire (so far!).

This species lives under stones and logs where it builds a tube-shaped web.

The female lays eggs in the tube shaped web and the spiderlings stay with their mother once hatched, feeding on the same prey. At the end of the season the mother dies and is eaten by her offspring.

Frequent but mostly recorded from western England and from Wales.

Common in Leicestershire and Rutland.

2936 British records to Jan 2013