Abstract
The spider, Heteropoda venatoria, has been known to be an effective natural enemy of pest insects like cockroaches and flies. The field study on the geographical distribution of this spider was made during the periods from 1963 to 1966 and from 1972 to 1973. It covered 174 points in 42 prefectures. Results were as follows : 1. This spider was recorded at 137 points in 35 prefectures. 2. This spider was found more abundant in the southern parts of Japan, as Kyushu and Chugoku districts and in the Pacific side of Honshu Islands including many southern remote islands. 3. The northern boundary of habitats of this spider was found to lie on the area of six different prefectures, namely Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gumma, Nagano, Toyama and Ishikawa Prefecture. Those prefectures lie at 36°-38°North Latitude and in the zone of the annual mean temperature of 12°-14℃.
