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Bug of the Month April 2010: Cellar Spider with Fungus

Posted by March 31st, 2010 at 9:41 am

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attack of the fungus, Cellar Spiders

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white spider with round balls on its joints looks frozen almost
March 30, 2010
We have these in our bulked.. we rarely open it .. and this is what we found … they are alive and crawling, seems to cower from the light.. If you need more pictures I am sure I can try and brave the spiders and take some more..
Pam
Bourne, Ma

fungus cellar spider pam1 300x217 Bug of the Month April 2010:  Cellar Spider with Fungus

Cellar Spider with Fungus Infection

Dear Pam,
Numerous times in the past we have received similar images, and we have maintained that the creatures in the photos were dead and being consumed by fungus.  Readers continue to write to us insisting that the spiders are alive.  Your spider is the first that actually does look alive, and we can only surmise that it will soon succumb to this fungus infection.  We are linking to a similar photo on BugGuide of a Cellar Spider in the family Pholcidae that was infected with fungus.  Your spider is also a Cellar Spider.  It may be Pholcus phalangioides, the Longbodied Cellar Spider, a common household species.
These Cellar Spiders appear to be especially prone to fungus infections, as do many flies. Since it is the final day of the month, we need to select a Bug of the Month for April to sit at the top of our homepage for thirty days.  Your letter and photo get that honor for April.

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Comments 6

  1. Daniel Jacobs wrote:

    We have been reposting an entry if a change is made to it. I think we are going to stop doing that though. BTW, hey – we miss you!

    Posted 07 May 2010 at 7:48 am
  2. Teresa Dawson Bock wrote:

    eeewwwww!

    Posted 07 May 2010 at 3:48 pm
  3. suziethaller wrote:

    i have OOODLES of these white spiders in my basement – very eerie looking – but all dead – never seen a live one yet. they appear over the summer and by the time i go down to start the boiler in the fall, that’s what they look like.

    Posted 12 Nov 2010 at 1:14 pm
  4. beaner1993 wrote:

    ive found two of them are the dangerous

    Posted 05 Jul 2011 at 5:08 pm
  5. greg69mcgraw wrote:

    wow ive got a ton of these things in my basement and have been wondering what the freak was going on

    Posted 08 Nov 2011 at 9:18 pm
  6. bugman wrote:

    Though we maintain that these fungus riddled Cellar Spiders are dead, we continue to receive reports from people who insist they are still alive.

    Posted 09 Nov 2011 at 9:58 am

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