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Marbled cellar spider (Holocnemus pluchei)
The marbled cellar spider (Holocnemus pluchei) and other species in the family Pholcidae are commonly called "daddy longlegs," but this can be confusing since that name also refers to harvestmen (order Opiliones - also arachnids, but not spiders). Have you ever received an email stating that daddy longlegs are deadly poisonous, but their fangs are too short to bite humans? UC Riverside dispels that myth here.
Marbled cellar spider (Holocnemus pluchei) with a mosquito as prey. Solano County, California.
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Marbled cellar spider (Holocnemus pluchei) with a mosquito as prey. Solano County, California.
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A female marbled cellar spider (Holocnemus pluchei) closely guards her emerging spiderlings. Daddy longlegs are highly synanthropic (ecologically adapted to living with humans); in fact, this picture was taken on my front porch. Solano County, California.
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Male (left) and female (right) marbled cellar spiders (Holocnemus pluchei) with egg sac. The male spider could be feeding on one of the spiderlings or simply taking advantage of the female's web for prey capture. Cellar spiders (family Pholcidae) are much more tolerant of conspecifics (members of the same species) than most other spider families. [Thanks to Jeff Hollenbeck for additional information on the above interaction.] Solano County, California.
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Marbled cellar spider (Holocnemus pluchei) with exuvia (molted exoskeleton). Like all arthropods, spiders have exoskeletons and must shed them in order to grow. Solano County, California.
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Next Spider: Brown widow (Latrodectus geometricus)
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All pictures copyright Timothy Boomer. All rights reserved worldwide.