Pest Control: Basic cleaning and other natural pest control measures will greatly reduce the presence of these spiders. There may be either 6 or 8 eyes, depending on the species, and the outer 3 eyes on either side of the head are arranged in a close triangle. The color is a yellowish brown and the legs may be as long as 2 inches. Insect Identification: Cellar spiders are easily identified by their extraordinarily long and thin legs, which are attached to their elongate and thin body. The female creates an egg mass of about a dozen eggs, and holds it in her jaws until the eggs hatch. These spiders have been known to feed on black widow spiders. They hang upside down on their webs, and when disturbed they will begin to shake and bounce the web noticeably, or they may drop off the web and run to hide. Their long legs make them very clumsy when attempting to walk. Webs typically appear under the eaves of roofs, around porch lights, within garages, and indoors around windows where the light may draw small insects that the spiders feed on. Their primary crime is the messiness of their webs, which are thin and flimsy but tend to gather dust and floating debris, as well as the remains of the insects the spiders have fed on. The cellar spiders are incapable of biting humans and are harmless to us and our pets. However, the true Daddy Long-legs is another animal entirely, called the Harvestman. Origin: Several dozen species of Pholcids are native to North America, with the three species listed above the most common to be found in and on structures.īiology: The cellar spiders are often called “Daddy Long-legs” due to their very long, thin legs. If this document didn’t answer your questions, please contact HGIC at or 1-88.Other Names: Long-bodied cellar spider, short-bodied cellar spider, daddy-long legs spider Installing weatherstripping and a proper threshold with a door sweep can prevent access into the building.Īppropriately labeled insecticides can be used to temporarily reduce cellar spiders however, their use should be minimal and not used as a substitute for proper sanitation and proper maintenance. Use pole lights away from the structure but directed back to illuminate entrances to reduce insects and spiders around the building.īy sealing cracks and crevices around doors and windows or other entry points, insect and spider access into the structure will be deterred. At commercial locations, replace lights on buildings, especially over doors. Replacing exterior white lights to a less attractive yellow or sodium vapor lamp can indirectly reduce the number of spiders because yellow light is less attractive to insects. Humidity can be controlled in many ways such as a dehumidifier or through proper ventilation. Lowering the relative humidity in the area where cellar spiders are found may help eliminate them because lower humidity will deter insects from entering the building. Adequate insect control through proper sanitation, maintenance and insecticide use (if necessary) will help prevent spiders from becoming established. One key feature of spider control is to reduce the available food source. Removing the webbing also allows for easy reference of future spider activity. This can be very effective in reducing the number of spiders in a relatively short time. Spider webs, egg sacs, and individual spiders can be removed with a broom or vacuum. Several non-chemical measures can be taken to reduce the presence of cellar spiders from around a home or business. Once prey is captured, cellar spiders vigorously shake their webs to further entangle their meal. They hang upside down on the web until a food item gets tangled. Cellar spiders construct loose haphazard webs, often in corners, to catch insect prey. They continuously add to it, creating large amounts of webbing which becomes a nuisance to remove. Many species of spiders consume their old web before making a new one, but cellar spiders do not. In instances where cellar spiders are pests, it is due to the large amounts of webbing they produce. Adult cellar spiders may live for an additional two years. Development from egg to adult usually takes about one year. Once the eggs hatch the spiderlings crawl onto the mother’s body for a short time. Both species carry the egg sacs in their mouthparts instead of attaching them to the web like many other spiders. The short-bodied cellar spider females produces about 10-27 eggs per case. Female long-bodied cellar spiders produce about three egg sacs over a lifetime, each containing 13-60 eggs each. The female short-bodied cellar spider has a 1/16 inch long body with legs extending about 5/16 inch. The female long-bodied cellar spider is approximately 1/4-5/16 inch long with legs extending another 2 inches. The two more commonly seen species are the long-bodied and short-bodied cellar spiders.
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