Thursday, February 23, 2012

And It Was Thiiiiiiiiis Big!

Me, earlier today: "Don't look now, but I think we have a new friend living in that corner..."


Paul: "Yecch. Squish it!"

For some reason, Paul doesn't like it when spiders show up in the house. Especially not big ones. And this one was really big!

I declined to squish it, but I did take the creature down with the help of a paper towel and a plastic cup (and I cleaned up those cobwebs while I was at it), and took took him/her outside.


This is a cellar spider, and I'm pretty sure its species is Pholcus phalangioides, which is apparently one of the more common cellar spiders in North America (and it occurs around the world). I'm sure I've seen these creatures in passing before -- they like to live in human homes, hence their common name -- but I've never stopped to really look at one before. And I don't think I've ever seen one this big.


For context, this is quite a big cup. I measured it just now, and the cup is 4 inches across at the lip. I think that means this spider was just about that big, too, with its gangly legs all stretched out. (I remember I had a hard time fitting the cup over it in the first place.) Would you like a closer view?


Now those are legs! I'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around the fact that this spider actually moves with such wispy, insubstantial-looking appendages. What would it be like to walk around on super long and thin stilts all day?

Here's my final attempt at providing some perspective on this creature's size, although I think this picture just makes my hand look extra small:


Cellar spiders eat insects (and other spiders), and they don't hurt people, so I actually wouldn't have been too upset to have a gentle giant like this guy hanging out in the corner of our ceiling. And who knows, if they like living in houses so much, maybe we'll actually see him (or her) again soon.

Update: It's a couple hours after I made this post, and lo, we found another one of these creatures, the same size, crawling across Paul's desk. I'm pretty sure it was a different individual, because the abdomen was a little rounder than the first, and we took this one outside, too. I think I read, on one of the random websites that I was browsing when looking up cellar spiders, something about males and females living as pairs in close proximity.... Maybe these two are a couple, and they can find each other again outside?

6 comments:

  1. EEEWWWWWWWWWWW. AAHHHHHHHHHHHH.........

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  2. or maybe the second one WAS the first once, but s/he'd found 'lunch' before returning to 'haunt' you :-) - With spiders, I'm always afraid they'll drop down from the ceiling and land on my face - then ... what Megan said! :-)

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  3. Isn't it a Daddy Longlegs - or is there a difference between the 2 spider species?
    To show size next time do what CSI people do - have a ruler handy so you can put it in the shot with the insect.

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  4. I think people do call this spider "daddy longlegs", too, but the thing I grew up calling a "daddy longlegs" is also called a "harvestman", and they're not technically spiders (but they are arachnids, like spiders). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opiliones

    Haha, I never think to grab a ruler until after the creature's already gone. I'll try to have one handy next time!

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  5. Daddy Longlegs are everywhere in South Carolina... you kind of get used to it.

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