{{Short description|Species of spider}} {{Speciesbox | image = Sphodros niger dorsal.jpg | image_caption = ''Sphodros niger'', adult male | taxon = Sphodros niger | authority = (Hentz, 1842) | range_map = | synonyms = <small> ''Atypus niger'' </small> }}

'''''Sphodros niger''''', the '''black purse-web spider''', is a mygalomorph spider from the Eastern United States.<ref name=fitch>Fitch, Henry S. (1963): Spiders of The University of Kansas Natural History Reservation and Rockefeller Experimental Tract. </ref> It is listed as a special concern species in Connecticut.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20151023162806/http://www.ct.gov/deep/lib/deep/wildlife/pdf_files/nongame/ETS15.pdf "Connecticut's Endangered, Threatened and Special Concern Species 2015"]. State of Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Bureau of Natural Resources. Retrieved 10 January 2018.</ref>

==Description== Males have a body length of about 11&nbsp;mm, 29&nbsp;mm with extended legs. The body is black, except for chocolate-brown legs.<ref name=fitch/> Although the species was first described in 1842, females were first described in 1980.<ref>Platnick, Norman I. (2009): [http://research.amnh.org/entomology/spiders/catalog/index.html The world spider catalog], version 9.5. ''American Museum of Natural History''.</ref> This results from the male's behavior of wandering about in search of mates, while females, which reside in tubes, are rarely found.

==Name== The species name ''niger'' is Latin for "black".

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Further reading== {{Wikispecies|Sphodros niger}} *Gertsch, W.J. & Platnick, N.I. (1980). A revision of the American spiders of the family Atypidae (Araneae, Mygalomorphae). ''American Museum Novitates'' 2704. [http://hdl.handle.net/2246/5390 Abstract] - [http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/bitstream/2246/5390/1/N2704.pdf PDF (12Mb)]

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Category:Atypidae Category:Spiders of the United States Category:Spiders described in 1842