Females have swollen pedipalps that resemble the pedipalps of a male before his final molt. Immature members of the species resemble adults. pluchei have long fragile legs with black and white circles around the joints.

Males and females of the species are approximately the same size, with males ranging between 5–7 mm and females ranging between 5-7.5 mm. pluchei, females also possess stridulatory organs, and both sexes engage in stridulation. pluchei is that while in many species of spiders, stridulation commonly occurs by males during sexual encounters, in H. Although some members of the species live in solitary webs, the majority join already existing webs and migrate to new webs multiple times throughout the course of their lives. It is considered a common household spider and builds its nest in attics, basements, and eaves of houses. So before you show them the door, spare a thought for their survival and send them to the garage instead.Holocnemus pluchei, commonly known as the marbled cellar spider, is a species of Pholcidae, a family commonly referred to as 'cellar spiders' or 'daddy long-legs'. This species is distributed across the North Pacific region of the United States, as well as in parts of North Africa, Europe, and the Mediterranean. They originate from sub-tropical areas of Asia and are not able to survive outdoors in the temperate conditions of central and northern Europe. Don’t Show them the Doorĭespite their impressive hunting abilities, cellar spiders are actually very delicate creatures. The trusty cellar spider, definitely a worthy housemate. These gyrations are so so fast that the spider’s body becomes a blur confusing the vision of would-be predators. 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. The cellar spider, AKA the daddy longlegs spider, is a common but not always welcome sight in our homes.

Long body cellar spider up close