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). If, like me, you live in the UK then you will have seen this spider.