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Holocnemus |
The Pholcidae are a spider family in the suborder Araneomorphae. Pholcus phalangioides, the daddy-long-legs spider or cellar spider (also known as skull spider due to its Cephalothorax looking Arthropods are Animals belonging to the Phylum Arthropoda (from Greek ἄρθρον arthron, " Joint " Arachnids are a class ( Arachnida) of joint-legged Invertebrate Animals in the subphylum Chelicerata. Spiders are Predatory Invertebrate Animals that have two body segments, eight legs no chewing mouth parts and no wings The Araneomorphae are a Suborder of Spiders They are distinguished by having Chelicerae (fangs that point diagonally forward and cross in a pinching action The Pholcoidea are a Superfamily of araneomorph spiders They contain two families of six-eyed spiders Diguetidae Carl Ludwig Koch ( September 21, 1778 - August 23, 1857) was a German Entomologist, specializing in Arachnology. This page lists all described species of the spider family Pholcidae as of May 6 2008 The Spider genus Pholcus contains the Daddy long-legs spider P Physocyclus is a Spider Genus in the family Pholcidae. Species Physocyclus bicornis Spiders are Predatory Invertebrate Animals that have two body segments, eight legs no chewing mouth parts and no wings The Araneomorphae are a Suborder of Spiders They are distinguished by having Chelicerae (fangs that point diagonally forward and cross in a pinching action
Some species, especially Pholcus phalangioides, are commonly called granddaddy long-legs spider, daddy long-legs spider, daddy long-legger, cellar spider, vibrating spider, or house spider. Pholcus phalangioides, the daddy-long-legs spider or cellar spider (also known as skull spider due to its Cephalothorax looking Confusion often arises because the name "daddy longlegs" is also applied to two distantly related arthropod groups: the harvestmen (which are arachnids but not spiders), and crane flies (which are insects). Arthropods are Animals belonging to the Phylum Arthropoda (from Greek ἄρθρον arthron, " Joint " Harvestmen are eight-legged Invertebrate animals belonging to the order Opiliones (formerly Phalangida) in the class Arachnida in the subphylum Arachnids are a class ( Arachnida) of joint-legged Invertebrate Animals in the subphylum Chelicerata. Insects in the family Tipulidae are commonly known as crane flies. Insects ( Class Insecta) are a major group of Arthropods and the most diverse group of Animals on the Earth with over a million described
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Appearance
Pholcids are fragile spiders, the body being 2–10 mm in length with legs which may be up to 30 mm long. The Millimetre ( American spelling: millimeter, symbol mm) is a unit of Length in the Metric system, equal to Pholcus and Smeringopus have cylindrical abdomens and the eyes are arranged in two lateral groups of three and two smaller median contiguous eyes. Spermaphora has a small globose abdomen and its eyes are arranged in two groups of three and no median eyes. Pholcids are gray to brown with banding or chevron markings. The shape of the Pholcus and Smeringopus's body reflects that of a peanut shell. The peanut, or Groundnut ( Arachis hypogaea) is a species in the Legume family Fabaceae native to South America, Mexico
Habitat
Pholcids are web-weaving spiders and are distributed worldwide. They hang inverted in messy, irregular, tangled webs. These webs are constructed in dark and damp recesses, in caves, under rocks and loose bark, abandoned mammal burrows and undisturbed areas in buildings and cellars, hence the common name "cellar spiders".
The web has no adhesive properties but the irregular structure traps insects, making escape difficult. The spider quickly envelops its prey with silk and then inflicts the fatal bite. The prey may be eaten immediately or stored for later. When removed from their webs, pholcids are rather clumsy, and walk with an unsteady, bobbing action.
When the spider is threatened by a touch to the web or when too large a prey becomes entangled, the spider vibrates rapidly in a gyrating motion in its web and becomes blurred, almost invisible. For this reason pholcids have sometimes been called "vibrating spiders", although they are not the only species to exhibit this behaviour. Doing so might make it difficult for a predator to see exactly where the spider is, or may increase the chances of capturing insects that have just brushed their web and are still hovering nearby [1]. If the spider continues to feel harassed it will retreat into a corner or drop from its web, and leave the harasser alone.
Diet
Certain species of these seemingly benign spiders invade webs of other spiders and eat the host, the eggs or the prey. In some cases the spider vibrates the web of other spiders, mimicking the struggle of trapped prey to lure the host of the web closer. Pholcids are natural predators of the Tegenaria species, and are known to attack and eat redback spiders and huntsman spiders [2][3]. The genus Tegenaria has several famous members including the notorious Hobo spider ( Tegenaria agrestis) the Domestic house spider ( Tegenaria The Redback spider ( Latrodectus hasselti) is a potentially dangerous Spider native to Australia. Huntsman spider is a common name given to the family Sparassidae (formerly Heteropodidae) It is this competition that helps keep Tegenaria populations in check, which may be advantageous to humans who live in regions with dense hobo spider populations. The hobo spider ( Tegenaria agrestis) is a member of the genus of Spiders known colloquially as funnel web spiders
Systematics
For a complete list of the genera and species in this family, see List of Pholcidae species. This page lists all described species of the spider family Pholcidae as of May 6 2008
The categorization into subfamilies follows Joel Hallan's Biology Catalog [4].
- Holocnemidae (probably not monophyletic)
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- Artema Walckenaer, 1837
- Aymaria Huber, 2000
- Cenemus Saaristo, 2001
- Ceratopholcus Spassky, 1934
- Crossopriza Simon, 1893
- Holocnemus Simon, 1873
- Hoplopholcus Kulczyn'ski, 1908
- Ixchela Huber, 2000
- Physocyclus Simon, 1893
- Priscula Simon, 1893
- Smeringopus Simon, 1890
- Stygopholcus Absolon & Kratochvíl, 1932
- Wugigarra Huber, 2001
- Modisiminae (New World group)
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- Blancoa Huber, 2000
- Bryantina Brignoli, 1985
- Canaima Huber, 2000
- Carapoia González-Sponga, 1998
- Chibchea Huber, 2000
- Coryssocnemis Simon, 1893
- Kaliana Huber, 2000
- Litoporus Simon, 1893
- Mecolaesthus Simon, 1893
- Mesabolivar González-Sponga, 1998
- Modisimus Simon, 1893
- Otavaloa Huber, 2000
- Pisaboa Huber, 2000
- Pomboa Huber, 2000
- Psilochorus Simon, 1893
- Stenosfemuraia González-Sponga, 1998
- Systenita Simon, 1893
- Tainonia Huber, 2000
- Teuia Huber, 2000
- Tupigea Huber, 2000
- Waunana Huber, 2000
- Ninetinae (not monophyletic)
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- Aucana Huber, 2000
- Chisosa Huber, 2000
- Enetea Huber, 2000
- Galapa Huber, 2000
- Gertschiola Brignoli, 1981
- Guaranita Huber, 2000
- Ibotyporanga Mello-Leitão, 1944
- Kambiwa Huber, 2000
- Mystes Bristowe, 1938
- Nerudia Huber, 2000
- Ninetis Simon, 1890
- Nita Huber & El-Hennawy, 2007
- Papiamenta Huber, 2000
- Pholcophora Banks, 1896
- Tolteca Huber, 2000
- Pholcinae C. A clade is a taxonomic group comprising a single Common ancestor and all the descendants of that ancestor Physocyclus is a Spider Genus in the family Pholcidae. Species Physocyclus bicornis L. Koch, 1851
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- Aetana Huber, 2005
- Anansus Huber, 2007
- Anopsicus Chamberlin & Ivie, 1938
- Belisana Thorell, 1898
- Buitinga Huber, 2003
- Calapnita Simon, 1892
- Khorata Huber, 2005
- Leptopholcus Simon, 1893
- Metagonia Simon, 1893
- Micromerys Bradley, 1877
- Nyikoa Huber, 2007
- Ossinissa Dimitrov & Ribera, 2005
- Panjange Deeleman-Reinhold & Deeleman, 1983
- Paramicromerys Millot, 1946
- Pholcus Walckenaer, 1805
- Quamtana Huber, 2003
- Savarna Huber, 2005
- Smeringopina Kraus, 1957
- Spermophora Hentz, 1841
- Spermophorides Wunderlich, 1992
- Uthina Simon, 1893
- Wanniyala Huber & Benjamin, 2005
- Zatavua Huber, 2003
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- Carupania González-Sponga, 2003
- Ciboneya Pérez, 2001
- Falconia González-Sponga, 2003
- Holocneminus Berland, 1942
- Micropholcus Deeleman-Reinhold & Prinsen, 1987
- Pehrforsskalia Deeleman-Reinhold & van Harten, 2001
- Pholciella Roewer, 1960
- Pholcoides Roewer, 1960
- Queliceria González-Sponga, 2003
- Sanluisi González-Sponga, 2003
- Tibetia Zhang, Zhu & Song, 2006
- Trichocyclus Simon, 1908
Misconceptions
Most venomous?
There is an urban legend stating that daddy long-legs spiders have the most potent venom of any spider, but that their chelicera (fangs) are either too small or too weak to puncture human skin; the same legend is also repeated of the harvestman and crane fly, also called "daddy long-legs" in some locales. The Spider genus Pholcus contains the Daddy long-legs spider P Incertae sedis ( Latin for "of uncertain placement" abbreviated "inc An urban legend or urban myth is a form of modern Folklore consisting of stories thought to be factual by those circulating them The Chelicerae are mouth parts of the Chelicerata, an Arthropod Subphylum that includes Arachnids, Merostomata Harvestmen are eight-legged Invertebrate animals belonging to the order Opiliones (formerly Phalangida) in the class Arachnida in the subphylum Insects in the family Tipulidae are commonly known as crane flies. Indeed, pholcid spiders do have a short fang structure (called uncate). However, brown recluse spiders also have uncate fang structure, but are able to deliver medically significant bites. The brown recluse Spider, Loxosceles reclusa, is a well-known member of the family Sicariidae (formerly placed in a family "Loxoscelidae" Either pholcid venom is not toxic to humans or there is a musculature difference between the two arachnids, with recluses, being hunting spiders, possessing stronger muscles for fang penetration. [1]
In 2004, the Discovery Channel show MythBusters set out to test the daddy long-legs myth (season 1, episode 13 "Buried in Concrete"). Discovery Channel is an American Satellite and Cable TV channel (also delivered via IPTV, Terrestrial television and MythBusters is a Popular science Television program produced by Australian firm Beyond Television Productions originally for the The cast of the television series MythBusters performs experiments to verify or debunk Urban legends Old wives' tales and the like After measuring the spider's fangs at approximately 0. 25 mm (average human skin thickness varies from about 0. 5mm to 4mm), the show's host was apparently bitten, although the bite produced little more than a mild short-lived burning sensation. This appears to confirm the suspicion that pholcids can penetrate human skin, but that their venom is practically harmless to humans. Additionally, recent research by Alan Van Dyke has shown that pholcid venom is actually relatively weak in its effects on insects as well[5].
According to the University of California at Riverside, the daddy long-legs spider has never harmed a human and there is no proof that they are poisonous to humans. [6]
One reason why these spiders are said to be so dangerous could be that they regularly prey on other spiders, including the black widow (Latrodectus spp. The black widow spider is a group of Spiders which includes the southern black widow ( Latrodectus mactans) the northern black widow ), which itself can be dangerous to humans, with the reasoning that the preying spider must be even more venomous; which is incorrect. (Pinto-da-Rocha et al. 2007:4)
Not spiders?
It is the harvestman (which is also called daddy long-legs) which is an arachnid but not a true spider. Harvestmen are eight-legged Invertebrate animals belonging to the order Opiliones (formerly Phalangida) in the class Arachnida in the subphylum Arachnids are a class ( Arachnida) of joint-legged Invertebrate Animals in the subphylum Chelicerata.
See also
References
- ^ Bruce Marlin (2006-04-25). Spider taxonomy is the Alpha taxonomy of the Spiders members of the Araneae order of the arthropod Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1607 - Eighty Years' War: The Dutch fleet destroys the anchored Spanish fleet at Gibraltar. Video of the "vibrating spider" vibrating (QuickTime Movie). QuickTime is a Multimedia framework developed by Apple Inc, capable of handling various formats of Digital video, Media clips sound text
- ^ Daddy Long Legs. Queensland Museum. The Queensland Museum is a museum at South Bank in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
- ^ Wim van Egmond. Pholcus phalangioides, the daddy-long-legs spider, in 3D.
- ^ Joel Hallan (2005-03-07). Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 161 - Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius dies and is succeeded by co-Emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus Synopsis of the described Araneae of the world. Texas A&M University. Texas A&M University, often called A&M or TAMU, is a Coeducational public Research University located in College Station
- ^ The Spider Myths Site. Burke Museum (2005-05-12). The Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture has been a Washington state museum since 1899 Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1191 - Richard I of England marries Berengaria of Navarre.
- ^ Spider Myths-DaddyLongLegs
- Pinto-da-Rocha, R. , Machado, G. & Giribet, G. (eds. ) (2007): Harvestmen - The Biology of Opiliones. Harvard University Press ISBN 0-674-02343-9
External links
- North American Spiders, Family Pholcidae Information and reference quality photos of cellar spiders. Includes quicktime movie of spiders "vibrating".
- Good information and pictures of European Pholcidae
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