Cellar Spider
Scientific Name: Pholcus phalangioides
Order & Family: Araneae / Pholcidae
Size: Body length 7–9 mm (0.28–0.35 in); legs can be up to 50 mm (2 in) long.
Natural Habitat
Dark, damp, or secluded areas such as basements, cellars, caves, and corners of ceilings in homes.
Diet & Feeding
Mainly insects and other spiders; they are known to invade other spiders' webs to eat them.
Behavior Patterns
They build messy, irregular webs and exhibit a 'vibrating' behavior when disturbed, shaking their web rapidly to blur their silhouette from predators.
Risks & Benefits
Benefits the ecosystem by controlling household pests; they are harmless to humans as their fangs are generally unable to penetrate human skin and their venom is not medically significant.
Identified on: 3/2/2026