The animal which most biologists call “daddy-long-legs”, is a spider, Pholcus phalangioides, which belongs to the spider family Pholcidae, order Araneida, class Arachnida. Pholcid spiders are araneomorph spiders which kill and digest their prey using venom. However there is no scientific basis for the urban myth that daddy-long-legs are the most venomous, poisonous or toxic spiders […]
Nursery Web Spider
Nursery Web spiders – (Pisaurina sp. Family Pisauridae) – These spiders resemble the wolf spiders (Lycosidae), but have a different eye pattern. Pisaurids have their eyes arranged in 2 rows, the posterior row slightly recurved, the median eyes in the second row slighly (if any) larger than the others. (Wolf spiders have eyes arranged in 3 rows). The […]
Daddy Long-legs
The name ‘Daddy-Long-Legs’ has been used for at least two different kinds of arachnids – spiders (Pholcus phalangioides) and harvestmen (Opoliones). Daddy Long Legs (Pholcus phalangioides) The animal which most biologists call “daddy-long-legs”, is a spider, Pholcus phalangioides, which belongs to the spider family Pholcidae, order Araneida, class Arachnida. Pholcid spiders are araneomorph spiders which kill and digest […]
White Tailed Spider
The White Tailed Spider (Lampona cylindrata) is about the size of a 50c piece when fully grown, with a leg diameter about the size of a pin. It has a grey cigar-shaped abdomen with a white spot on the end and sometimes the legs are banded with light traverse marks on the abdomen. These markings […]
Spitting Spider
The Spitting Spider (Latin name Scytodes thoricica) belongs to the family of six eyed spiders. (Haplogynae). It is called the “Spitting Spider” because it spits a poisonous sticky substance over its prey. Its body size ranges between 3 and 6 mm. They catch their prey by spitting a fluid that immobilizes it by congealing on contact into […]
Leaf Curling Spider
The full size of a Leaf Curling Spider is the size of a 50 cent piece. The size of one leg is like a pin. They have a brown body and a creamy yellow abdomen and pale markings. The scientific name for the Leaf Curling Spider is Phonognatha graeffei. Normally the female’s size is about 8mm and […]
Purseweb Spider
The Purse Web Spider (Atypus affinis) is a species of myglamorph. The spider lives inside a subterranean silken tube a small part of which lies on the surface of the soil. When an insect walks over the tube the spider rushes up the tube, upside down, sinks its fans into the prey, devours it and […]
Pirate Spider
The family Mimetidae, commonly called pirate spiders, are spiders which typically feed on other spiders. The family Mimetidae contains roughly 200 species divided among 12 genera, of which Mimetus and Ero are the most common. Mimetids are usually yellow and brown and are usually 3 to 7 mm long. Mimetids can be recognized by the rows of spine-like hairs on their long front legs; the rows […]
Wandering Spiders
Wandering Spiders are large, with bodies reaching up to 2 inches (5 centimeters) and leg spans reaching about 6 inches (15 cm). The species vary in color, though all are hairy, mostly brown and may have a black spot on their bellies. These arachnids “are called wandering spiders because they do not build webs but wander […]
Zoropsis Spinimana
Zoropsis spinimana is a spider species, belonging to the family Zoropsidae. It is distributed widely in the Mediterranean, but reaches into Russia, and was introduced to the United States, primarily in the San Francisco Bay Area. Males of the spider species Zoropsis spinimana reach a length of about 10–12 millimetres (0.39–0.47 in), while females are 15–18 millimetres (0.59–0.71 in) long. […]