Know Your Enemy
Accurate identification of pests is as important as choosing the best preventive pest management available on the market today. Preventive Pest Control has compiled a list of most common pests to help you identify the problem.
Longbodied Cellar Spider
(Pholcus phalangiodes)
Characteristics
The female longbodied cellar spider is 7/25 to 3/10 inch in length while the male is smaller, with the size of 1/4 inch. Both genders have a very wide carapace. They have eight eyes that are made in two triads. The first set is light colored that are placed on the top of the cephalothorax. The second set is a pair of dark, small eyes that are placed at the front. This spider is known for their forelegs that can reach up to 2 inches in length. They also create webs that are irregular and messy.
Habitat
The longbodied cellar spider can be commonly found in cellars, garages, warehouses, ceilings, walls, book shelves, and other protected areas. Although its name says cellar, this does not mean that they just prefer the cellar. This spider can be found in homes, buildings, and caves as long as it provides the right temperature for them.
Behavior
This spider prefers to stay indoors where heat is available to them. They are known for their odd behavior of going around in circles on their web while vibrating it so that their predator will not be able to see them.
Food
They prefer a variety of insects that gets trapped on their web. They can even eat spiders that are bigger than them, such as the hobo spider, and the giant house spider. They can also attack other spiders of the same species by going to the opposing spider’s web and consuming them.
Life Cycle
Since this spider prefers to live indoors, there is no specific month when they will become mature as they are active all year round. Once a female spider is able to produce eggs, she will wrap the eggs in a silk and carry the egg sac in her chelicerae or fangs. Each egg sac is made of 30 eggs. One spider can produce three egg sacs during her life. A spiderling will commonly become an adult after a year. Once they become an adult spider, they will live for two years.
Other Information and Tips
This spider is not venomous, although some rumors regarding this spider indicate that it has the most potent venom among all of the spiders. However, there is no report of any death regarding the longbodied cellar spider. It can eat other venomous spiders such as the black widow, but it does not mean that the cellar spider will inherit the venom of the black widow.
Since this spider is an indoor spider, it may create unwanted infestations. To get rid of them in homes, check possible harborages and clean these areas regularly. Vacuum these areas to capture even the spiderlings.
Photo: Daddy longlegs spider by David Short, used under CC BY 2.0 / resized from original