![]() When finished feeding they will clean the web by unhooking the remains of the prey and letting the carcass drop from the web. The prey may be eaten immediately or stored for later. When pholcid spiders detect prey within their webs the spiders quickly envelop prey with silk-like material before inflicting a fatal bite. The web of pholcids has no adhesive properties and instead relies on its irregular structure to trap prey. BehaviorĬellar spider vibrating rapidly in response to a threat Trapping In areas of human habitation pholcids construct webs in undisturbed areas in buildings such as high corners, attics and cellars, hence the common name "cellar spider". These webs are constructed in dark and damp recesses such as in caves, under rocks and loose bark, and in abandoned mammal burrows. Pholcids hang inverted in their messy and irregular-shaped webs. ![]() Pholcids are found in every continent in the world except Antarctica. They can be further distinguished by their irregular structure, and usually brown, tan or grey coloration. But they can be easily differentiated by the two segments this family have, harvestmen having fused segments. These spiders have legs roughly 4 times as large as their bodies, making them look quite a lot like harvestmen ( Opiliones). Pholcids are gray to brown, sometimes clear, with banding or chevron markings. Spermophora has a small globose abdomen and its eyes are arranged in two groups of three without median eyes. Arrangements of eight and six eyes both occur in this family. Pholcus and Smeringopus have cylindrical abdomens and eyes arranged in two lateral groups of three and two smaller median contiguous eyes. The body, resembling the shape of a peanut, is approximately 2–10 mm (0.08–0.39 inch) in length, and the legs may be up to 50 mm (1.97 inches) long. Pholcids are thin and delicate arachnids. The common name "daddy long-legs" is used for several species, especially Pholcus phalangioides, but is also the common name for several other arthropod groups, including harvestmen and crane flies. The family, first described by Carl Ludwig Koch in 1850, is divided into 94 genera. The family contains more than 1,800 individual species of pholcids, including those commonly known as cellar spider, daddy long-legs spider, carpenter spider, daddy long-legger, vibrating spider, gyrating spider, long daddy, and skull spider. The Pholcidae are a family of araneomorph spiders. (2013) provide an excellent entry into the pholcid literature. Much progress has been made, however, in understanding the higher level systematics and biogeography of the pholcids (Huber 2011 Dimitrov et al. Huber (2005) notes that the taxonomy of Nearctic pholcids is greatly in need of revision (this is presumably true for other regions as well). Web structure varies considerably within the family. The palps of adult males are very large and conspicuous. The eggs are held together by a thin silken net and individual eggs are easily seen. Pholcid females frequently carry their egg case in their chelicerae. Short-legged pholcids can run rapidly (Huber 2005). ![]() ![]() This may make them difficult to see and perhaps difficult for their main predators, wasps, to capture (Bradley 2013). When long-legged pholcids are disturbed in their web, they move rapidly, flexing their legs so that the body gyrates in a circular motion. Most pholcids have eight eyes, although some have only six. The legs have flexible tarsi that are usually held in a curved position. The legs are extremely long and thin (this feature accounts for one of the common names for spiders in this family, "daddylonglegs spiders", although unlike daddylonglegs, which are not actually spiders, they spin webs). The cephalothorax of a pholcid is typically about as long as it is wide. Pholcus phalangioides, for example, is common in buildings worldwide (Bradley 2013). Many pholcid species have adapted well to human habitats and are commonly found in corners and dark spaces in and around buildings, especially in basements. In North America north of Mexico, six of the 12 genera found in this region are represented by introduced species only. The spider family Pholcidae (cellar spiders, daddylonglegs spiders) includes 1340 described species the family is largely tropical, but several dozen species occur in North America north of Mexico, with the highest diversity in the southeastern United States (Huber 2005 Platnick 2013). ![]()
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