---
title: "What the sources say about the Long-Bodied Cellar Spider | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "42 claims from the Long-Bodied Cellar Spider profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
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canonical: "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/long-bodied-cellar-spider/sources/"
---

# What the sources say about the Long-Bodied Cellar Spider (*Pholcus phalangioides*)

> 42 claims from the Long-Bodied Cellar Spider profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Long-Bodied Cellar Spider](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/long-bodied-cellar-spider/)

## Pholcus phalangioides. Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.

https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Pholcus_phalangioides/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| The ceiling spider that raids other spiders' webs and spins itself into a blur when threatened. | Females have been seen invading another spider's web, eating that spider ... the spider swings its body around rapidly with its legs attached firmly to its web. It swings fast enough that the spider becomes very hard to see. (note: tagline; "blur" paraphrases "very hard to see") |
| Not Evaluated | IUCN Red List No special status (note: Prefetch found no Red List assessment DOI and GBIF holds no category for this name; ADW's IUCN line is 'No special status'. No IUCN reference cited.) |
| Worldwide, in dark, undisturbed places such as basements, caves and the corners of homes | is found throughout the world ... can be found in undisturbed, low light locations. Some places one might encounter this spider are in basements, under stones, under ledges, and in caves. People most often associate these spiders with living on ceilings and in corners in homes. (note: stats.habitat) |
| Apparently prefers other spiders and small insects | seems to prefer other spiders and small insects as prey (note: stats.diet) |
| Spins its body into a blur when its web is disturbed, and walks into other spiders' webs to eat them | Females have been seen invading another spider's web, eating that spider ... When the web of P. phalangioides is disturbed, the spider swings its body around rapidly with its legs attached firmly to its web. It swings fast enough that the spider becomes very hard to see. (note: stats.superpower) |
| Females have been seen invading a neighbour's web, eating the owner, and then using that web to catch new prey. | Females have been seen invading another spider's web, eating that spider, and using the foreign web to catch new prey for themselves. |
| the body is pale yellow-brown with a large gray patch in the center of the cephalothorax | is pale yellow-brown except for a large gray patch in the center of the cephalothorax. |
| The body and legs are almost translucent, and under a microscope you can see blood cells moving in the legs and body of a living spider. | The body and legs are almost translucent. ... using a microscope it is possible to see the moving blood cells in the legs and body of a living animal. |
| When its web is disturbed, it swings fast enough to become very hard to see. | When the web of P. phalangioides is disturbed, the spider swings its body around rapidly with its legs attached firmly to its web. It swings fast enough that the spider becomes very hard to see. |
| birds are listed as known predators. | Known Predators Birds |
| This spider lives throughout the world, and it is common across the United States. | is found throughout the world. It is a common cellar spider throughout the United States. |
| It can be found in undisturbed, low light spots such as basements, caves, and under stones and ledges. | can be found in undisturbed, low light locations. Some places one might encounter this spider are in basements, under stones, under ledges, and in caves. |
| Many people know it from the ceilings and corners of homes, where it builds large, loose, flat webs. | People most often associate these spiders with living on ceilings and in corners in homes. They make their webs large, loose, and flat |
| Daddy long-legs is a common name shared by the cellar spider and by harvestmen, which Animal Diversity Web says are not true spiders. | Because one of the common names for Pholcus phalangioides is daddylongleg spider, it is often confused with the Harvestmen daddylong legs, which are a separate species that is not even a true spider. |
| People often mix the two up. | it is often confused with the Harvestmen daddylong legs |
| Found Almost Everywhere | is found throughout the world (note: heading) |
| Now You See It, Now You Don't | It swings fast enough that the spider becomes very hard to see. (note: heading; was 'See Her', but whirling is not female-only) |
| when its web is disturbed, swings its body around fast enough to become very hard to see | Females have been seen invading another spider's web, eating that spider ... When the web of P. phalangioides is disturbed, the spider swings its body around rapidly with its legs attached firmly to its web. It swings fast enough that the spider becomes very hard to see. (note: vibe.reason, animal half) |

## Longbodied Cellar Spider. Penn State Extension.

https://extension.psu.edu/longbodied-cellar-spider

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Females are 7 to 8 millimetres long and males are 6 millimetres. | The females are from 7 to 8 millimeters, and the males 6 millimeters in length. |
| The forelegs of an adult female are about 50 millimetres in length. | The forelegs of the adult female are about 50 millimeters in length. |
| The abdomen is about three times as long as it is wide | The abdomen is about three times as long as it is wide and cylindrical in shape. |
| it takes about a year for the spiders to mature, and they can live for two or more years as adults. | It takes approximately one year for the spiders to mature and they can live for two or more years as adults. |
| A female carries her eggs, wrapped in silk in clusters of 25 to 60, in her jaws as she hangs upside down in her web. | The eggs, which are about 1 millimeter in diameter, are deposited in clusters of twenty-five to sixty and wrapped in a thin layer of silk. The sac is held by the female in her chelicerae as she hangs inverted in her web. (note: jaws = chelicerae, as ADW glosses: 'her chelicera (jaws)'; 25 to 60 = 'twenty-five to sixty') |
| Penn State Extension calls it the most common of its family in the United States, adds that it is not known to bite people, and says it is not medically important. | The longbodied cellar spider is the most common of the Pholcidae in the United States. ... These spiders are not known to bite people and are not a medically important species. |
| Tiny Body, Giant Legs | The females are from 7 to 8 millimeters ... The forelegs of the adult female are about 50 millimeters in length. (note: heading; figures claimed above) |

## Jackson & Brassington (1987). The biology of Pholcus phalangioides (Araneae, Pholcidae): predatory versatility, araneophagy and aggressive mimicry. Journal of Zoology.

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1987.tb01531.x

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| The long-bodied cellar spider, Pholcus phalangioides, builds a web to catch prey, but it also invades the webs of other spiders. | In addition to building prey‐catching space webs, P. phalangioides invades webs of other spiders and feeds on the occupants. |
| A study of its hunting found it acts as an aggressive mimic, making special vibrations that the web's owner responds to as it normally would to its own prey. | It acts as an aggressive mimic by performing specialized vibratory behaviours to which the prey‐spider responds as it normally would to its own prey. (note: Reviewer: the writer's gloss ('fakes the signals of something else') cut; the sentence now says only what the abstract says.) |
| On its own web, it is most efficient at catching spiders and, especially, insects. | It is most efficient as a predator of spiders and, especially, insects on its own web |
| When prey trips a line at the edge of the web without entering it, it leans out and throws silk over the victim, keeping as few as two legs on the web. | Prey that trips over lines at the edge of a web of P. phalangioides , but fails to enter the web, is successfully attacked: P. phalangioides leans out of its web to throw silk over the prey, keeping as few as two legs on the silk. |
| It attacks prey by wrapping it in silk. | Prey (spiders and insects) is attacked by wrapping. |
| A Spider That Hunts Spiders | P. phalangioides invades webs of other spiders and feeds on the occupants (note: heading) |

## Jackson (1990). Predator-prey interactions between jumping spiders (Araneae, Salticidae) and Phokus phalangioides (Araneae, Pholcidae). Journal of Zoology.

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1990.tb04734.x

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| The spider swings its body around in a circle while keeping its long legs on the silk, and a lab experiment gave further evidence that this is an effective defence against jumping spiders. | Pholcus phalangioides is a web‐building spider with a special defensive behaviour—called whirling—in which it swings its body around in a circle while keeping its long legs on the silk. ... An experiment in which pholcids were artificially induced to whirl whenever the predator was near provided additional evidence that whirling is an effective defence of pholcids against predation by salticids. (note: salticids = jumping spiders (Salticidae); 'further evidence' = 'additional evidence') |
| Portia, a genus of jumping spiders, preys on it in nature | Portia is a genus of specialized web‐invading salticids that use aggressive mimicry. ... Pholcus phalangioides is preyed on by Portia (note: salticids = jumping spiders) |
| The spinning is called whirling. | a special defensive behaviour—called whirling—in which it swings its body around in a circle |

## Heuts et al. (2001). Long-duration whirling of Pholcus phalangioides (Araneae, Pholcidae) is specifically elicited by Salticid spiders. Behavioural Processes.

https://doi.org/10.1016/s0376-6357(01)00157-7

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| A laboratory study found that this spider whirled for several hours a day in the presence of jumping spiders, and hardly ever with predatory spiders from eight other families. | Long-duration whirling (gyrating of the body during several hours a day) was shown by the pholcid spider Pholcus phalangioides to salticid spiders and hardly ever to predatory spiders from eight other families in laboratory arenas. |
| The authors suggest the long spin may disturb a jumping spider's ability to keep its eyes fixed on its target. | Long-duration whirling may have the anti-predatory function of disturbing continual visual fixation of prey in attacking salticids |

## Zobel-Thropp et al. (2019). Not so Dangerous After All? Venom Composition and Potency of the Pholcid (Daddy Long-Leg) Spider Physocyclus mexicanus. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution.

https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2019.00256

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| No. The story says the venom of cellar spiders is the most potent of any spider for mammals, and would be lethal if only their fangs could pierce human skin. | have been maligned in popular culture as having venoms with the highest mammalian potency of all spiders, that would be lethal if they only had fangs that could penetrate human skin (note: FAQ 1; 'most potent' = 'highest mammalian potency of all spiders') |
| A 2019 study of a different cellar spider, Physocyclus mexicanus, says reports of high potency come from rumor and non-scientific anecdote. | Reports of high mammalian potency emerge from rumor and non-scientific anecdote. (note: study species is Physocyclus mexicanus (Pholcidae, 'commonly called cellar spiders'), not Pholcus; 2019 is the reference's year field) |
| The fangs of adult males of that species can pierce uncalloused human skin | the fangs of adult male Physocyclus mexicanus are able to pierce uncalloused human skin (note: that species = P. mexicanus) |
| and documented bites typically cause a mild sting with no long-lasting effects. | Documented bites on humans make clear that while these spiders can bite, the typical result is a mild sting with no long-lasting effects. (note: about P. mexicanus bites) |
| From that species, the authors conclude that the effects of cellar spider bites on humans and other mammals are inconsequential. | the evidence we present indicates pholcid venoms are a source of interesting new peptides and proteins, and effects of bites on humans and other mammals are inconsequential (note: pholcid = cellar spider family; the evidence is from P. mexicanus) |

## Pholcus phalangioides (Fuesslin, 1775), Taxonomic Serial No. 865102. Integrated Taxonomic Information System.

https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=865102

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| ITIS lists it as introduced in both Canada and the continental US. | Jurisdiction/Origin: Canada, Introduced Continental US, Introduced |