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Tegenaria is a genus of fast-running funnel weavers that occupy much of the Northern Hemisphere except for Japan and Indonesia. It was first described by Pierre André Latreille in 1804, though many of its species have been moved elsewhere. The majority of these were moved to Eratigena, including the giant house spider (Eratigena atrica) and the hobo spider (Eratigena agrestis).
They construct a typical non-sticky funnel web with flat open sheet like area, usually in dark corners, commonly in outbuildings.
Mating takes place during the summer months.
Tegenaria can be difficult to identify because they resemble wolf spiders and other funnel-web spiders in their area, unless found in an area where they do not occur naturally. They live on sheet webs, usually stretching across the corner between two walls. They have eight eyes in two straight or almost straight rows. Size varies from one species to another, but the body length of adults can range from 10 millimetres (0.39 in) to 20 millimetres (0.79 in), not including the legs. The cardinal spider is the largest funnel weaver, with females that can grow up to 18 millimetres (0.71 in) long.
With access to a microscope, Tegenaria can be distinguished from other members of Agelenidae (particularly Eratigena) by its 3 to 7 large teeth present in its cheliceral retromargin (Eratigena has 6 or more teeth, and distal teeth smaller than proximal teeth). Additionally, Tegenaria epigyna will be broader than long, whereas Eratigena epigyna will be close to longer or longer than broad.