They eat insects, spiders, and other small invertebrates. Like all spiders, cellar spiders are predators. They are also very sensitive to vibrations in their webs. Spiders in this group probably use touch and chemicals to communicate, though they can see too. They are not social animals, they only come together to mate. They often hang upside down while waiting for prey to touch their webs. Most cellar spiders don't move around too much, they usually stay with their web, or raid nearby webs. We don't know for sure how long these spiders live, probably only a few years at most, and very few probably make it that long. To grow they have to shed their exoskeleton, which they do many times during their lives. These animals are found in the following types of habitatĬellar spiders hatch from eggs, and the hatchlings look more or less like grown-up spiders, though sometimes their colors change as they age.These spiders prefer to live in dark places: in caves, cracks and crevices in rocks, unused animal burrows, and in the dark and quiet parts of buildings. Only a few species occur in Michigan, but they are common in basements and unused buildings. One species in particular, Pholcus phalangioides, is particularly comfortable living in houses and other buildings, and so has been spread all around the world by people moving around. There are hundreds of species of cellar spiders found all over the world. Their color varies from light tan to grayish-brown.įemale cellar spiders are often much bigger than males. Cellar spiders have fangs that they use to bite their prey with, and have venom glands, but their fangs are very short. These are used to grab prey, and in mating, and are much bigger in male spiders than in females.ĭifferent species of cellar spiders have six or eight eyes, and the size and arrangement of eyes is different in different groups. On the front they have two small "mini-legs" called palps. Because of this they are sometimes called "daddy longlegs spiders", though they are not related to the other "daddy longlegs," which are Harvestmen. Their legs are many times longer than their bodies. Cellar spiders have very long thin legs compared to other spiders. They have eight legs, all attached to the cephalothorax. However, in the unlikely event of a bite from this species, a positive identification of the spider by an expert should be made and medical attention sought if any reaction persists for more than a short time.Like all spiders, cellar spiders have two body-segments, a cephalothorax in front and an abdomen behind. Most reputable sources, including the University of California, Riverside, still say that this species would never be considered as harmful to humans. Recently, however, it was shown that the tiny fangs (about 0.25 mm) were actually capable of piercing human skin in a test done on the US television show, Mythbusters, but the stinging sensation produced was very short-lived. It had been thought that the fangs of this spider were incapable of piercing human skin. However, the venom is not actually that potent, even for insects. The myth probably grew from observations that the Daddy-long-legs Spider will kill and eat a Redback Spider. However, there is no scientific evidence to back this up. There is a persistent belief that the Daddy-long-legs Spider has the most toxic venom of all spiders.
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