There are over 650 species of spider found in the UK.
These are divided into 34 separate families.
It is usually quite easy to distinguish between the families and get a general idea of what the spider is but getting down to the exact species can be quite difficult in some cases.
Family list with some of the common names
- Agelenidae – House Spiders
- Amaurobiidae – Funnel-web Spiders / Lace-web Spiders
- Anyphaenidae – Buzzing Spider
- Araneidae – Garden Spiders / Orb web weavers
- Atypidae – Purseweb Spiders
- Clubionidae – Sac Spiders
- Cybaeidae – Water Spiders
- Dictynidae – Mesh-web weavers
- Dysderidae – Woodlouse Spider
- Eresidae – Velvet Spiders / Ladybird Spider
- Gnaphosidae – Ground Spiders
- Hahniidae – Dwarf Sheet Spiders / Lesser Cobweb Spiders
- Linyphiidae – Money Spiders
- Liocranidae – Running Foliage Spiders
- Lycosidae – Wolf Spiders
- Metidae – Orb weavers
- Mimetidae – Pirate Spiders
- Nesticidae – Comb-footed Cellar Spider
- Oonopidae – Six-eyed Spiders
- Oxyopidae – Lynx Spiders
- Philodromidae – Running Crab Spiders
- Pholcidae – Daddy Long legs / Cellar Spiders
- Pisauridae – Fishing Spiders
- Salticidae – Jumping Spiders
- Scytodidae – Spitting Spiders
- Segestriidae – Six-eyed Spiders
- Sparassidae – Huntsman Spiders
- Tetragnathidae – Long-jawed Orb Weavers
- Theridiidae – Comb-footed Spiders / Cobweb Spiders
- Theridiosomatidae – Orb Weavers
- Thomisidae – Crab Spiders
- Uloboridae – Hackled Orb Weavers / Feather-legged Spiders
- Zodariidae – Ant-eating Spiders / Ant Spiders
- Zoridae – Ghost Spiders
Quite often common names span across families and can cause confusion.
Spiders.org.uk 