Stats

Lifespan

1-3 yrs

Size

Small

Diet

Insectivore

Activity

Nocturnal

Social

Solitary

Biome

Temperate forest

Range

Worldwide

Movement

Walking

Breeding

Egg-laying

Defense

Camouflage

Status

Common

About

The pale, spindly-legged spiders that hang in loose tangled webs in the corners of cellars, garages, and quiet rooms — the classic 'daddy longlegs spider.' When threatened they whirl so fast in the web they blur into a haze, and despite a myth to the contrary their venom is harmless to people.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   egg sac

   A silk-wrapped egg sac shelters a clutch of eggs until the young are ready to emerge.
2. 2.
   juvenile

   A spiderling emerges from the egg sac already in miniature adult form and starts catching prey almost immediately.
3. 3.
   subadult

   A near-adult arachnid molts through several instars, growing larger and developing mature markings.
4. 4.
   adult

   Fully grown after its final molt.

Learn more

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Taxonomy

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Arachnida

Order

Araneae

Family

Pholcidae

Genus

Pholcus