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Found this spider in my bathroom in central London,UK. I’m convinced it’s tropical. I’m probably wrong. My kids are very curious. Many thanks!enter image description hereenter image description here

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    $\begingroup$ Welcome to Biology.SE! Please edit your post to include an estimate of the size of the organism and if possible photos from different angles (e.g. from the side, front, back, and below) — this will improve your chances of getting a good answer. ——— Please also take the tour and then go through the help center pages starting with How to Ask questions effectively on this site. $\endgroup$
    – tyersome
    Commented Nov 9, 2021 at 18:37
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    $\begingroup$ Can you name this spider? -- how about Kevin? ;-) $\endgroup$
    – acvill
    Commented Nov 9, 2021 at 21:40
  • $\begingroup$ here is a famous one youtube.com/… $\endgroup$
    – trond hansen
    Commented Nov 10, 2021 at 6:46

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This is a false wolf spider called Zoropsis spinimana:

It is found all over Europe, including the London,UK area:

A photo gallery and distribution map of user-submitted observations of Zoropsis spinimana can be found here:

https://inaturalist.org/taxa/127112-Zoropsis-spinimana

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Without a sense of how big this spider exactly, but based on the width of the grouting, I'm guessing body length of about 15-18 mm (0.59 - 0.71 in). This, along with the colouration and long palps would most likely make it Eratigena atrica also known as the Giant House Spider.

This species is widespread in Europe and parts of North America, so not of tropical origin. They are harmless to humans and like to live in cool dark environments, such as under houses, in caves etc.

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  • $\begingroup$ This is NOT Eratigena: the carapace markings are not Eratigena, the leg markings are not Eratigena, no visible spinerrets, the abdominal markings are not Eratigena, the eye arragement is not Agelenid. $\endgroup$
    – JimN
    Commented Nov 10, 2021 at 5:44
  • $\begingroup$ @JimN Thanks. I have almost no knowledge of spiders at all, so I welcome your comment and answer. Wolf spider was my second guess, but the dimensions I could find were all much smaller than I could estimate. $\endgroup$
    – bob1
    Commented Nov 10, 2021 at 7:13
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    $\begingroup$ Hi Bob, While the Tegenaria House Spiders would normally be a good guess, this one has some noticeable points of difference. Eratigena and its cousins have a rather 'blocky-looking' cephalothorax, with a broad, light-colored central band flanked by darker edge bands. This has the more shield-shaped pattern similar to the North American Dolomedes tenebrosus Fishing Spiders and some Wolf Spiders. $\endgroup$
    – John Robinson
    Commented Oct 5, 2022 at 16:57
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    $\begingroup$ Also, the abdominal pattern is quite different. If you look at Eratigena and its relatives, the pattern is rather lacy, not too unlike the Amaurobius-type Ground Spiders, with a chevron patterning at the back. This spider has a dark somewhat triangular mark at the front of the abdomen, rather like many familiar Wolf Spiders, and does not have the obvious dark/light chevrons you'd expect from Eratigena. $\endgroup$
    – John Robinson
    Commented Oct 5, 2022 at 17:06
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    $\begingroup$ @JohnRobinson Thanks, very interesting. I'm not an arthropod person at all, nor from North America, so ID is a challenge from half-way across the world, but always willing to learn. $\endgroup$
    – bob1
    Commented Oct 5, 2022 at 19:27

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