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Lampshade Weaver and Long Bodied Cellar Spider with Brood

A whole unknown type of arachno-family
Location: McCreary County, Kentucky
November 5, 2011 5:48 pm
Hello. I am very curious as to what kind of spider these may be. While I am arachnophobic, I am also quite adventurous, and thoroughly curious.
While on vacation this past August in Southeastern Kentucky, I came across this ”little” guy in the Daniel Boone National Forrest. He was hanging around the underside of a damp rock face along with several other fairly common arachnids like Wolf and furrow spiders.
I am under the impression that it is likely that this is a male and female coupling since what I think is a freshly hatched bunch of young are clinging to the smaller of the two.
Unfortunately I could not figure out a way to include a visual size reference in the image. However, I noted that the smaller of the two is roughly the same size as a common cellar spider.
I could not tell if the web was orb or cob-web like.
I lived in this area for 6 years and never saw, or at least noticed, anything quite like this.
I have several questions.
What kind of spider or spiders are these?
Are they male and female?
Are the newly-born eating or riding the smaller critter?
Thanks for any information you may have!
Signature: arsinal Apocalypse

spider family kentucky 300x184 Lampshade Weaver and Long Bodied Cellar Spider with Brood

Lampshade Weaver and Long Bodied Cellar Spider with Brood

Dear arsinal Apocalypse,
We are relatively confident that the smaller spider with the brood is a Long Bodied Cellar Spider, Pholcus phalangioides, and we found a photo depicting similar maternal care on BugGuide.  The female Long Bodied Cellar Spider carries the eggs about until they hatch.  Here is another photo series from BugGuide showing the eggs in the process of hatching.  We believe the larger spider is a different species.  We hope to get a more definitive answer eventually.

spider family kentucky cu 300x206 Lampshade Weaver and Long Bodied Cellar Spider with Brood

Long Bodied Cellar Spider with Brood

Daniel:
Would really, really help to know the geographic location where the spiders were found….
That said, it looks like maybe a male “lampshade weaver,” genus Hypochilus, family Hypochilidae.  They only occur in the Appalachian mountains, parts of the southern Rocky Mountains, and parts of the Sierras(?) in North America.
Looking forward to learning more.  This might be of interest for Bugguide.net if it was not found in the Smoky Mountains.
Eric

lampshade weaver kentucky 300x206 Lampshade Weaver and Long Bodied Cellar Spider with Brood

Male Lampshade Weaver

This picture was taken at the Split Bow Arch in McCreary County, Kentucky in the Appalachian area.
I thought the other looked like a cellar spider, as my size reference may have indicated, but with the close proximity of the two, my distance and my lack of knowledge, I had to wonder.
The image seems fairly spot on to me, specifically the dark dot like marking on the back! Thanks for answering my question and IDing my bugs! You guys are Awesome!
The ‘cave spider’ name explains it all. I’ve done hiking and camping in the area, but I tend to stay away from the caves and rock shelters for obvious reasons. I can handle being within a certain distance of 8 legged critters as long as they don’t move. The second they move, I’m outta dodge! Hence my interest to learn as much as I can about them and (hopefully) conquer whatever is stuck in my head that they are *after* me icon razz Lampshade Weaver and Long Bodied Cellar Spider with Brood
The worst were always the 6 spot fishing spiders. I don’t know that they were *after* me persay, but they certainly weren’t too shy to chase after a human invading their space, even if it was my room icon razz Lampshade Weaver and Long Bodied Cellar Spider with Brood

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Posted 06 November 2011 § ‡ Comments (0) °
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Long Bodied Cellar Spider

Weird Bug
Location:  Thetford, Norfolk, England
September 26, 2010 3:57 am
I found this on my toilet wall very near 2 dead spiders. it’s about 5cm long.
Signature:  name of the bug

long bodies cellar spider england 300x237 Long Bodied Cellar Spider

Long Bodied Cellar Spider

This sure looks to us like a Long Bodied Cellar Spider, Pholcus phalangioides, which has a worldwide distribution according to BugGuide.

1

Posted 30 September 2010 § ‡ Comments (0) °

Bug of the Month April 2010: Cellar Spider with Fungus

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.

2

Posted 31 March 2010 § attack of the fungus ‡ Comments (6) ° Tagged:
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Long Bodied Cellar Spider and Egg Sac

cobweb spider with egg sack
We have these in our basement shower all the time but this is the first time I’ve seen one with an egg sack. I didn’t see a picture of a cobweb spider with an egg sack as good as this one on your web site and thought you might like it. Hope you enjoy it.
Becky

cobweb spider eggsac becky Long Bodied Cellar Spider and Egg Sac

Hi Becky,
We will happily post your image of a Cobweb Spider, Pholcus phalangioides, and her Egg Sac. We use the common name Cobweb Spider after Hogue in his wonderful book “Insects of the Los Angeles Basin, but BugGuide calls this the Long Bodied Cellar Spider.

Posted 26 January 2008 § Cobweb Spiders ‡ Comments (1) °

Cobweb Spider

Cobweb Spider?
Hello again!
I recently sent you in a photo of an unknown spider that I found in my basement. It’s been awhile since I’ve been able to send in any pictures of new bugs not many bugs to be found in 5 ft snow banks! I did, however, find a spider on the ceiling in my basement. It was in a web and had very long legs. I’m not sure what kind of spider it is. I thought maybe it was a long jawed orb weaver, but when I looked that up, they didn’t really match. I’m not very fond of finding spiders in my home, but didn’t have the heart to terminate this one. I let it go in my garage, but I imaging he’ll find it’s way back inside, as it is still rather cold out. I’ve had a bit more time to research your pages and I’m wondering if the spider is a cobweb spider. When I relocated the spider from its web, it did start gyrating like crazy, which is described in the cobweb spider submission on your Spider 2 page, sent in by Kathy. I can’t really tell if my spider matches the image posted on that page, though. Thanks again for any info you may have.
Yvonne

cobweb yvonne Cobweb Spider

Hi Yvonne,
Yes, this is a Cobweb Spider, Pholcus phalangioides.

Posted 12 March 2007 § Cobweb Spiders ‡ Comments (0) °

Unknown Unusual Spider or Fungus Infection

Stumped two Universities so far with this amazing white spider…
February 20, 2007
Hello there:
So far two Universities have no idea what this amazing white spider is. It was found with many others in an old house my friend *was* considering buying in Easton, CT. ABOUT PHOTO: Subject’s photo was taken in Easton, CT- USA. Estimated size 2-4 inches. This photo has not been altered in any way except reduction of resolution. Oh, the spider was very much alive. Many of his brethren too. In fact, my friend could not sleep for many nights after observing all the crawling.
Cary

amazing white spider Unknown Unusual Spider or Fungus Infection

Hi Cary,
The reason we asked if the spider was alive is that this looks like it could be a fungus infection on one of the spiders in the Pholcus genus. Your further clarification tends to rule that out. We do not recognize your spider, nor have we ever seen a spider that resembles this. Sadly, your image does not have enough critical focus to reveal any details. We will try to search for information as well as check with some of our contributors. One of our readers wrote back to us: ” Oh gee, this is really ridiculous-looking. Sorry but no way is this thing alive, despite what Cary’s friend said. There is no real focus, so you can’t even be sure what you are looking at, but to me it looks either as you say, like a dead 2 inch daddy-long legs completely ‘bloomed out’ with a fungal growth, or perhaps more likely it is a molted exoskeleton hanging on an external wall which got coated with freezing condensation (sort of like frozen dew) in winter. I can well believe there were living daddy-long legs running around in the basement in this place, but they would have been normal color and normal appearance, not like this. “

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Posted 20 February 2007 § attack of the fungus ‡ Comments (32) ° Tagged:

Cobweb Spiders Mating

Bug Love
Hi Bugman!
Here’s a picture I shot from two Pholcus phalangioides mating. If you use it on your Bug Love page, could you please include a link to my page?
http://www.jr-worldwi.de/photo/
Thanks! I also have pics of [other bugs mating]. Interested? And thanks for that entertaining page! Cheers
Jens

pholcus phalangioides matin Cobweb Spiders Mating

Hi Jens,
Thanks for sending the photo of the mating Cobweb Spiders. We would love to get any other mating insect photos you have in your archive when you locate them. We are happy to link to your site.

Posted 04 January 2006 § Cobweb Spiders ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Cobweb Spider

Hi Bugman,
Could you help me identify this spider. We have these every year, usually from spring to fall and they seem to enjoy the bathroom more than anywhere else. Some of them are small and other very large measuring about 3 – 5 inches of leg span. They come back very quickly, it doesn’t matter how many times we remove them and clean up after them. They are back within a couple of days. Sometimes we have up to 20 at a time. They aren’t bothersome. They seem to like to use hair and thread in their webs and I never see them catch food and eat. What are they? This particular one seems to have a big ball she / he is holding onto with little bumps all over. Is that an egg sack. I have searched for many years trying to find this spider but have had no luck. We live in the Northwestern mountains of New Jersey. I have a few other spiders that I have yet to get pictures of and will post them also when I do.
Thanks,
Kathy

cobweb kathy Cobweb Spidercobweb kathy2 Cobweb Spider

Hi Kathy,
Search no further. You have Cobweb Spiders, Pholcus phalangioides. These are domestic spiders, often found in the bathroom. Sometimes when the web is disturbed, the spider gyrates wildly. That does appear to be an eggsac. One of your photos also shows a discarded skin from a prior molt.

Posted 03 September 2004 § Cobweb Spiders ‡ Comments (0) °

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