Individuals construct a funnel-shaped structure of silk sheeting and lie in wait at the small end of the funnel for prey insects to blunder onto their webs.

[2][3][4] The species was first described in 1802 by naturalist Charles Athanase Walckenaer as Aranea agrestis,[1] in reference to its western European habitat in fields, woods, and under rocks.

Like many species of spider the positive identification of Eratigena agrestis requires microscopic examination of the epigynum and palpal bulb (the female and male sex organs respectively) and is best done by an arachnologist.

However, the following characteristics identify hobo spiders among other species with a similar general appearance: Eratigena agrestis is distributed from Europe to Central Asia, and is also found in western North America, in the Pacific Northwest and Great Basin.

[1] It is recorded in the checklist of Danish spider species,[9] and is present on the small artificial island of Peberholm, probably having been carried there by trains.