When attacked cellar spiders will often trigger a curious defensive mechanism that involves them standing tight on their webs and gyrating their bodies rapidly. Tables turnedĪlthough cellar spiders are accomplished hunters they are not without their own predators and have some clever ways to stay out of trouble. When times are hard they will even eat each other. But, unlike many other spiders, cellar spiders will also regularly leave their webs to seek out potential victims wherever they can be found. Their webs consist of an untidy mass of unordered silk but these modest structures are still very effective for trapping their passing prey. Web developersĬellar spiders are not known for their craftsmanship when it comes to web building. In other areas of the world, these useful spiders are actually a welcome sight in people’s homes where they kill larger spiders some of which are deadly to humans. A long-bodied cellar spider (Pholcus phalangioides) waiting to rid your house of some of your most unwelcome guests. In fact, having a few cellar spiders around might mean that you don’t need to call a service similar to the Pest Authority of Birmingham or your local pest controller as often due to them arguably helping to control numbers. This can very useful in summer when pests can be at their heights. It’s not just the big stuff either, they will also hoover up some of the most unwelcome visitors to your home such as fleas, woodworm beetles, and mosquitos. Their long legs enable them to keep these dangerous adversaries at ‘arms’ length enabling them to punch well above their weight. They often take prey much larger than themselves including large spiders, beetles, and even wasps. In House Pest ControlĬellar spiders are fearsome hunters and will catch and eat other invertebrates lurking in your house. So for us humans, they are not to be feared, in fact, they can be very beneficial.

In reality, their venom is no stronger than that of most other UK spiders and their jaws are too small and weak to break human skin. The cellar spider’s long legs can make them appear large and there are tales of them being highly venomous, but these tales are not true. This long-bodied cellar spider is hanging upside down in a garage looking ominous. Their untidy webs can cause annoyance, but don’t write them off just yet, they are definitely worth the extra dusting. 'Verified spider bites in Oregon (USA) with the intent to assess hobo spider venom toxicity.' Toxicon 84: 51–55.The cellar spider, AKA the daddy longlegs spider, is a common but not always welcome sight in our homes. 'Localized Pruritic Rash Due to Recurrent Spider Bites.' J. 'The Spider Genus Latrodectus (Araneae, Theridiidae).' Trans. 'Effects of envenoming by comb-footed spiders of the genera Steatoda and Achaearanea (Family Theridiidae: Araneae) in Australia.' J. Spiders of the Eastern United States: A Photographic Guide. 'The spider genus Loxosceles in North America, Central America, and the West Indies (Araneae, Loxoscelidae).' Bul Amer Mus. The American Arachnological Society Committee on Common Names of Arachnids. The Black Widow and Five Other Venomous Spiders in the United States.

These spiders are not known to bite people and are not a medically important species. The sac is held by the female in her chelicerae as she hangs inverted in her web.Īn unusual behavior is that the spiders will rapidly vibrate in a circular fashion in the web if threatened, making it difficult to see them. The eggs, which are about 1 millimeter in diameter, are deposited in clusters of twenty-five to sixty and wrapped in a thin layer of silk. It takes approximately one year for the spiders to mature and they can live for two or more years as adults. Life History/Behaviorīoth male and female spiders can be found in heated structures throughout the year. The webs are an irregular mesh of threads. The forelegs of the adult female are about 50 millimeters in length. The color of the carapace and abdomen is a pale tan or yellow with a gray mark in the center of the carapace. The eyes are arranged in two triads of larger, light-colored eyes on the top of the cephalothorax and a pair of dark, small eyes on the front. The abdomen is about three times as long as it is wide and cylindrical in shape. The females are from 7 to 8 millimeters and the males 6 millimeters in length. This spider is commonly found in cellars, warehouses, garages, caves, and other dark, quiet, protected spots. Although these spiders can develop large populations in protected locations, they are not known to be in any way harmful. It has extremely long legs and is found in many types of buildings throughout the year.

The longbodied cellar spider is the most common of the Pholcidae in the United States. Pholcidae-Cellar or Daddylong-legs Spiders

Long bodied cellar spider web