![]() ![]() I have handled cellar spiders and never been bitten and if this rare event did happen, the spider’s bite is reported to be harmless to humans. In the land down under and some other parts of the world, cellar spiders go by the name of daddy-long-legs, a moniker associated with another arachnid, opilionids, which we met in a previous episode. Millions of years ago cellars were noticeably absent from the planet, but caves and dank tree hollows were aplenty and cellar spiders found these habitats perfect for building their loose webs for snaring prey. Beneath the web, exsanguinated bodies of small flies, pill bugs, and beetles piled up on the window sill.Ĭellar spiders are found throughout much of the world in temperate and tropical regions. Just on the other side of the glass, the cellar spider employs the same strategy for trapping small insects drawn to the light of a window in a futile attempt to escape the confines of a basement. In last week’s episode, we met the common house spider that exploits outdoor window frames to string her web and capture prey. ![]() Near the corner of one dimly lit window, I discovered a diverse collection of tiny insect carcasses and didn’t have to look far to see a gangly and beautiful cellar spider hiding in the upper corner of the window. Part of the assignment was to inspect windows and remove any arthropods living or dead that might terrorize visitors who do not share affection for animals lacking fur and possessing more than four legs. Harvestmen do not have silk glands, so they cannot spin webs they also lack the venom glands that true spiders possess.With the holiday season fast approaching and family and friends soon to visit, the Bug Guy received orders to prepare the spare bedroom in the basement for overnight guests. Among the obvious structural differences are harvestmen’s having one apparently unified (usually egg-shaped) body, while true spiders have clearly separate head and abdomen regions. Similar species: Though they also have long, thin legs and are also often called daddy longlegs, harvestmen (in order Opiliones) are quite different and unrelated. To distinguish it from other cellar spiders may require close examination of palps, “face” structure, carapace markings, and eye groupings. ![]() Perhaps the most common species in our area is the longbodied cellar spider, Pholcus phalangioides. Many common spiders in this family have 8 eyes arranged into three groups: 2 in the center of the face, and a cluster of 3 on each side of the central pair. Most have oval or rounded abdomens, sometimes described as “peanut shaped.” Females build nonadhesive, unorganized, messy-looking cobwebs, usually in corners or crevices. ![]() Some species have darkened joints on their legs, giving them a “knobby-kneed” look. This movement turns them into a blur, rendering them practically invisible to potential predators. Other characteristics add to their camouflage: Their gray, tan, or whitish color, small body size, and remarkable habit of “vibrating” or bouncing rapidly in their webs when alarmed. The tarsi (“feet”) are flexible, adding to the wispy impression they give. Cellar spiders are inconspicuous, harmless, fragile spiders with extremely long, thin legs. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |