Lacking the characteristically small body as this female is gravid (carrying eggs). A female cellar spider upside down on the ceiling of a shed. They have been observed hanging from their webs leaving as few as two legs still in contact with the web and ‘throwing’ silk over a prey item that is residing away from the web. Their first move is often to throw silk at their prey, be it a spider or an insect, before biting. Its long, thin legs, do not give the spider a lot to attack and enables the cellar spider to keep its body out of reach of counter attack. As the web’s owner approaches, thinking it has caught itself some dinner, the P. To do this, the cellar spider sits next to another spider’s web and uses its legs to vibrate the web in a way that resembles the vibrations of an ensnared insect (Jackson and Brassington, 1987). phalangioides has a number of attributes and behaviours that enable it to predate on larger spiders. The size difference between these two spiders is substantial and the one you’d expect to be the hunter is the prey. There are plenty of araneophagic animals out there, but what fascinates me is the contest between these cellar spiders are your typical “house spiders”, Eratigena atrica (or Tegeneria depending on your phylogenetic stance… a topic for another day). That’s right, even arachnophobes are going to want these guys occupying their homes. Whilst they are often overlooked due to their abundance, they exhibit numerous fascinating behaviours.ĭespite their spindly appearance, these thin bodied arachnids are deadly spider hunters. Pholcids are well known for their incredibly long legs when compared to their body size and their messy, tangled webs. These spiders are spread across the world and found on every continent apart from Antarctica. They belong to the spider family Pholcidae, which is among the most speciose spider families and is comprised of approximately 1500 species (Dimitrov et al., 2013). The cellar spider ( Pholcus phalangioides), is also sometimes called a ‘daddy-longlegs’ but this is a term that I greatly dislike, due to it being used for so many different organisms (crane flies, harvestmen etc). So, I thought I would write a little post about why these common house invaders are one of my favourite species and why they should be a welcomed house guest. However, being incredibly common, does not make them boring, in fact they display several behaviours that make them particularly interesting. If you don’t believe me then go and open your airing cupboard, garage, or garden shed and I guarantee you’ll find one of these spindly spiders. I am pretty confident that these guys are probably one the most frequently encountered spiders out there, yep that’s right I am talking about the cellar spider ( Pholcus phalangioides). When the Cellar Spider is in its web and feels threatened, it has the ability to vibrate itself within the web to make it less visible.If, like me, you live in the UK then you will have seen this spider. They are known to actually hunt down and kill the more dangerous spiders to humans. Pholcidae is one of the best spiders to have around, especially, if you live in a state, with more poisonous spiders. At the worst, it may leave a small red blemish that will fade fairly quickly. It is difficult to get bitten by a Cellar Spider, and on the very rare occasion one does bite, it is completely harmless to humans. The Daddy Long-Leg Spider often builds its web in the corners of the ceiling, behind bookshelves, under and behind couches, between joists in the basement, etc… Bites Webįitting to this spider, their webbing is made of very thin strands and strung about haphazardly giving it the look of a light cobweb. The body will reach a maximum length of up to 10 mm (less than half an inch) and its legs may grow to around two inches long (51 mm).
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