Really big house spiders

[Matthew Baines]

Was looking at my wall today ( Yes i need to get out more often) And i found a house spider then i looked up and found another then another until i counted 8 adults . Then upon colser inspection i found a load of babies . I also found one with an eggsac . I think the pressence of escapee pin head crickets is making this little colony thrive .

[Phil Rea]

Pholcus phalangioides - Nice pictures

These will kill prey very much larger than themselves without any problems. They are incredible predators.



Oh by the way, they double clutch too. I found one wandering around clutching an eggsac a few weeks ago, that I kept in a pot and fed. She produced five babies from the first sac, and whilst they were still all together, she laid another eggsac.

I let the first lot disperse (as they will quite happily eat each other ), and the second eggsac produced six offspring

[Matthew Baines]

Great stuff Phil!!! Thats my new thing learned for the day. I have just been reading up that they are beneficial in australia because they eat red back spiders (Latrodectus hasselti) i am going too leave them too there own devices as we have a few escaped crickets!

[Phil Rea]

The spider in my picture took almost two days to finish eating that house spider, and then she just pushed it out of her web and onto the floor for me to clean up

It's been picnic time for them lately with all the male Tegenaria sp. wandering around looking for females.

[Colin D Wilson]

absolutely outstanding spiders, my lad Shane breeds these by the thousand...no flies in our house !!

[Peter Lacey]

According to wiki and others this is commonly referred to as the Daddy long legs which is also attributed to the Huntsman and Crane Fly.
What I find interesting about these is how they shake their web when you get close - makes my eyes go funny!

[Lisa Baines]

They have even taken up residence in the water dragon vivarium behind the scrim netting, lots of pin heads and slightly larger crickets in the webs.

I suppose this is a great environment for them as well. nice and warm, plenty of hiding space behind the netting and more food than they can eat.

Plus the webs make for a more natural look in the tank

[Zoltan Mihaly Lestyan]

Nice pictures guys. During the summer I found some long legged spiders in my grandmother's garage. There were two females with eggsacs and a few males. A few weeks later I visited them again. Meanwhile the eggs hatched and there were young ones all over the ceiling, about 25-30 cm (10-12") far from each other. It was a really cool experience. They are probably gone by now.

Not exactly big, but I really like Scytodes thoracica. In fact, I just checked on my spiders and found one in the spider room walking down on a wall. They are quite unique, in appearance and habit.

[Gayle E. Anderson]

Its been so long since I've seen one of these that I can't even remember if I actually ever have... but i must have... Right?

Cracking shots, especially the spider munching one!

[Zoltan Mihaly Lestyan]

I recently found out that I have some pictures on my camera of the long legged spiders I mentioned in my previous post.

[Picture 1] - [Picture 2] - [Picture 3] - [Picture 4] - [Picture 5]

Excuse me the poor quality and lighting. I think these may be Holocnemus pluchei.

[Matthew Baines]

I also found a zygiella x-notata in the hall way and moved it to my spider plant on our computer desk to live ( Well if its gonna be called a spider plant i might as well put spiders on it.) Its fun watching it on a night time spinning webs and climbing along threads to a different leaf. Beats television anyday!

[Lisa Baines]

I recently found out that I have some pictures on my camera of the long legged spiders I mentioned in my previous post.

Excuse me the poor quality and lighting. I think these may be Holocnemus pluchei.

Some nice egg sacks on those

[Zoltan Mihaly Lestyan]

Found this specimen a while back, it seems to live in the vents of one room in the house and occasionally ventures inside.



I think it also looks cool with a *little* photoshop