Evidence for displacement of a North American spider, Steatoda borealis (Hentz), by the European species S. bipunctata (Linnaeus) (Araneae: Theridiidae)

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Abstract
The European spider Steatoda bipunctata has apparently been introduced into North America through human transport. The earliest American collections were made in Nova Scotia in 1913. Until about 1933, specimens were known only on the coast of the Atlantic provinces, Maine, and along the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario, but they are now found widely in the Atlantic Provinces, northernmost New England, and southern Québec and Ontario. Habitats include buildings, bridges, piles of lumber and firewood, and crevices on tree trunks or among rocks. Evidence indicates that S. bipunctata, which closely resembles the native S. borealis in size, colour, microhabitat, diel activity, prey selection and utilization, life history, and sexual behaviour, can displace S. borealis. Displacement is, however, only partial, as S. borealis persists in forest habitats, where human influence is minimal. Laboratory tests on reproductive potential and interspecific aggression failed to demonstrate the method by which displacement takes place.

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