Marbled cellar spider
Know more?
If you disturb a Cellar spider, it starts shaking with such speed that the spider image becomes blurry. This makes it very hard for a predator to grab hold of the spider. If a predator does succeed in taking hold of a leg, it will dislodge and keeps on moving on its own! This allows the spider to flee! The Marbled cellar spider is one of our most successful exotic spider species. It originates from the Mediterranean, but is sometimes imported from North-America where it has established populations already in the seventies. Talk about a detour!
Cellar spiders (Pholcidae)
Marbled cellar spider (Holocnemus pluchei)
Web: an open, messy, 3D web, often with a dome like structure.
Habitat: almost always in (non)heated industrial buildings such as warehouses, hangars or garden centres. Often in corners.
How to recognize:
- spider with elongated abdomen and long, thin legs
- abdomen with light brown/grey colour and a clear, white, marbled drawing.
Looks similar to:
- can be confused with the Long-bodied cellar spider. However, the Marbled cellar spider has a clear, black band on the underside of the abdomen. The abdomen als has much more explicit drawing.
Size
♀: 5-7,5 mm
♂: 5-7 mm
When?
♀: throughout the year
♂: throughout the year
