Malthonica ferruginea is a European reddish, rather common spider with rusty markings on its back. It looks rather similar to T. parietina

Tegenaria parietina

Tegenaria parietina is a rather rare European spider with a distribution from Northern Africa to Central Asia and has also been found in Uruguay and Argentina. In the UK is sometimes known as the cardinal spider because of the legend that Cardinal Woolsey was terrified by this species at Hampton...

. It is sometimes also considered to be of the genus Tegenaria

Tegenaria

House spiders of the genus Tegenaria are fast-running brownish funnel-web weavers that occupy much of the Northern Hemisphere except for Japan, Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand. Of all Agelenids, Tegenaria possesses the largest species of funnel weavers: the dust spider , the Cardinal spider ...

, where it has been placed for over 160 years before being transferred to Malthonica in 2005.

Females grow up to 14 mm, males up to 11 mm. The spider lives mostly near the ground, in forests and in buildings. Adults appear from May to October.