The Spiders in Your House - The Cellar Spider

Caught some good video of a cellar spider (pholcus phalangioides) webbing up some prey, and thought I'd do a video on the species since it is a very common spider in North American and European homes.
I'm an amateur, not a professional scientist, so if you're more knowledgeable than I am and I've made a mistake, let me know and I'll try to correct it!
All images and video (that aren't clearly from an external website) are my own.
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[@johnathangettlingen3727]

Had a cellar spider live above my shower for about six months, neither my brother and I are afraid of spiders so we named them Jeff. Loyal spider, killed hundreds of insects in that bathroom, had a vacation web under the toilet (getting a little too comfortable if you asked me). I grew fond of Jeff over the months and watching him spindle gnats, flies, and other pitiful creatures was a victory celebrated by us both and occasionally sparked conversation in the house, "Did you see the monster Jeff is eating in there? Nearly three times his size!". One fateful evening I arrived home and entered the bathroom seeking a shower only to immediately notice Jeff wasn't in the corner, apon pulling back the curtain there was a gruesome scene, a wolf spider laid against the wall a couple feet below Jeff's web. It didn't take an investigator to solve Jeff's disappearance, especially after closer inspection of the culprit... several long, spindly legs jetting from the perpetrators mouth. Horrible. Stricken with grief and anger I struck the wolf spider down with no remourse and the bathroom belonged to the pitiful insects once again.

[@Ethan-wr2os]

I followed this tale through to the end lol Rip Jeff 🙏

[@biruk316]

jeff needs his own movie. incredible storytelling

[@NFFCMod]

Rip Jeff 😢

[@stellarform-9440]

They seem to love showers, because I get one in mine up at the ceiling at least once a year. Maybe they love the warm, humid environment?

[@Dynamick007]

@@stellarform-9440 I have one in my shower and last week one more came. I think one is male and another female. I still haven't decided what names to give them.

[@kevinfidler6287]

I used to kill these spiders if I saw them crawling around. One day I was in my basement and saw one had trapped a rather large wolf spider. The cellar spider was quite large but the wolf spider was much, much bigger. From that day on, I decided to leave them alone as much as I possibly could. I did not want that wolf spider in my home.

[@kevindorn2508]

Same name, same story. Except it wasnt a wolf spider but a large Hauswinkelspinne (dont know the engl word for it)

[@cds3703]

Probably a Schizocosa/Trochosa wolf spider, they could probably never catch a large Tigrosa or Hogna

[@raziel4949]

But the wolf spider isn't dangerous, in fact they keep pest from growing and they are reluctant to bite humans

[@emergencyasmr]

Wolf spiders are also friends. All spiders are good spiders

[@aidanquinn2282]

I had similar thought but then I noticed that there's just too many. They won and I had to vacuum up some webs. I was afraid of the next gen hatching. I live in the basement so I noticed a lot of smaller one popping up in the corners of my ceilings. I may have been a bit paranoid. Haven't done it since. Seems to be under control. I used to feed a pretty big boy I called Wilson. Caught a fly with my cat and gave him a fresh one a few times and some I swatted. Idk wut type he was but he was fast and zig zagged right at me. My mine craft sword was within reach and I laid down the law. He never bothered me when I went to his web but he attacked while he was patrolling one day. ... Another odd encounter I had was with a tiny one. He was side stepping back and forth and raise two arms. He was like an angry crab. Anyone know something about a tiny angry crab spider?

[@William_Asston]

I like the idea that people keep spider portfolios and analyze/compare different species to consider adding to their house spider holdings

[@wavydavy9816]

I found a particularly interesting spider just outside my flat the other day so I brought it inside to live with all my cellar spiders. It made a web just up there ⬆ but within about a week it was looking seriously malnourished so I put it back outside 🤷‍♂

[@DarkWarriorZ710]

​@@wavydavy9816 You could have feed it with a nicely sized insect. 😅

[@tommyfanzfloppydisk]

it's just like pokemons

[@Dextronaut1]

More like spidermons

[@ZdraveBass]

I'm from Eastern Europe, and this is the most common house spider. I've been studying most of the spider species in my town since I was a kid, throwing ants into their webs, leaves and all sorts of experiments and have discovered interesting things about different spiders. The cellar spider is the most active indoor spider, they do like to travel around. They usually wait until the room is dark and calm and if they feel any humans close when they are moving they will make a panicky sprint for the closest hole or under the couch. They will sometimes cross over your bed, but if you are not an insomniac like me, you won’t notice. They do the weird shaking when you scare them while in their web. Sometimes a couple of webs will sort of combine into one super web of 3-4-5 spiders and if food is plentiful they are chill, but if not, once a bug gets caught in the web, usually the biggest one will get to it, even if it’s not on his/her web, they will go over to neighboring webs and try to slap the shit out of the other spider for the food.

[@Dan-yb4kc]

The way you described the spider slapping the shit outa of another spider had me rolling lol

[@zspider1778]

cool I thoght I was the only weirdo observing spiders and feeding them for fun ahahhahahhahah, I'm brasilian and this is the most common house spider here too. I read it somewhere they do the weird dance cause the poor eye sight of other spiders and insects, with their super thin legs its like they go "invisible" cause the rapid moviment

[@travismcenery2919]

That's more or less correct, I think. The rapid movement makes them almost impossible to track, and even if a predator manages to grab a leg, they've got eight of 'em, it's no big deal.

[@travismcenery2919]

Interesting. The ones I've lived with have been very stationary, but this might vary with environment.

[@The_OwO_Shogun]

I imagined this being read by david Attenborough, and it made this comment 10 times better

[@WayraHyena]

"You're not going to be up at night. Wondering where is it? Well probably right where you left it." I love the way you talk about spiders. It's a perfect combination of respect for the animal/facts, and humor.

[@SobrietyandSolace]

I poured myself a drink with a cellar spider half way down the room, looked at my phone for 10 seconds, picked up my drink and the spider was floating in it! Traumatised the hell out of me. Ick. Spider must have been thirsty.

[@Dreamscape195]

This is the main thing for me, with spiders. My sibling and I have woken up with enough bites of mysterious origin to make me paranoid of any spider that might end up in my bed and trapped against my skin. Cellar spiders are bros.

[@willz0452]

@@SobrietyandSolace hope you didnt let it drown :P

[@roux6715]

@@SobrietyandSolace robbed

[@GlassHalfEmpty66plus6]

I know he was joking but that is a serious concern of mine. Spiders terrify me. But, this video has convinced me to leave these dudes alone. I don't want to intentionally squash bugs if I don't have to.

[@AntiTheory]

These are my favorite house spiders. They know to stay out of the way and keep to their web in the corners of the room, and in return I let them be and they can stay in my warm dry house while they chow down on any pests that they can catch. It's a symbiotic relationship if there ever was one.

[@Xosidhe]

I never paid attention to them when I was little because they were always outside on the porch, but I started propagating houseplants and had an outbreak of gnats and a cellar spider moved in and made a web above the plants and she’s taking out the gnats like a champ. She’s permanently welcome in my plant room now.

[@jimkiklaeskah9740]

probably our ancestors did the same in caves lol.

[@t.b.cont.]

What I find so interesting about many common house pests like the cellar spider, house centipede, etc is that a majority of them first evolved to live in caves before we were around to build houses for them to live in instead. It’s an interesting thought that perhaps we’re still all cavemen in practice, even the spiders are fooled

[@sarahrosen4985]

[@derricklogan2058]

Many developers destroy the natural habitat of many different species of animals and insects. Then when we move in or shop, etc, we wonder 🤔 why those animals and insects are found in the same place as us. Where are they to go, but the area that they were in before "Civilization" intruded? This, I think 💬 as a people, is just one of the aspects that we tend to overlook. I like your comment though. It made me smile 😊 a little. Interesting thought. ✌️

[@animalmotherdk2649]

Not pests what so ever. They belong they more than you do.

[@orishaeshu1084]

Most humans didn’t live in caves. They were nomadic. When we settled down, we built houses out of dirt, clay and wood, and for the most part still do, but we have had advancements like concrete, glass, steel, etc.

[@orishaeshu1084]

@@remingtonsteele9431 they pay rent by eating pests. They’re working for free.

[@mournblade1066]

Funny story: At one point, my wife and I lived in a really crappy place that was absolutely infested with wolf spiders (or something very similar to them, maybe grass spiders). It got to the point that they wouldn't even bother us any more, because we were constantly exposed to them. Still, they could be annoying. Anyhoo, one day I saw one in our bathroom. I noticed a cellar spider had built a web next to the toilet. I sort of "wrangled" the wolf spider to see if it could get caught in the cellar spider's web. It did. And that cellar spider--lightning fast--dropped down and totally nailed the wolf spider, and wrapped it up immediately. I yelled, "No ****ing way!" I gained a ton of respect for cellar spiders on that day. We don't kill spiders in our house. I might evict a yellow sac spider (because their bites are painful), but we let the web builders go. We've never had an insect infestation.

[@OffGridInvestor]

I used to have 3 or 4 black house spiders on my main kitchen window here in Australia. I had to tolerate a fly for under a minute before the inevitable would occur. It was good until I cleaned the windows one day.

[@kirishima638]

They prefer to be called web developers now 😊

[@frogz]

you directly admitted to indirectly killing that wolf spider though!

[@mournblade1066]

@@frogz So I did!

[@dinogt8477]

no one asked

[@flurrydragonheart5162]

I love cellar spiders! They are everywhere at my work and they eat pests, sometimes I pick them up with my hands, or find them crawling on me. They're just little guys, and they make me happy.

[@Mattfreeman89]

We got like thousands of these dudes here at the shop. It's a big tall open building for mechanic stuff. They live on pretty much every wall. I am certain we have at least a thousand of em. They don't bother us at all but the building looks perpetually Halloween ready if you look at a wall in the garage up close.

[@PebbsBun]

I had a personal vendetta against them after I had three of them run over/chill in my bed. But now that I moved into a new place, there's one in the corner of my room, a very well behaved lad that caught several mosquitoes in their web. We have a mutual agreement to share this living space without interfering with each other's lives. So far, neither has broken this agreement.

[@ayounglivelysoulinanoldtir3512]

got loads of them in my bedroom, with cobwebs all over the ceiling. i get rid of them at the begining of december, when i give my bedroom a clean out, ready to put up christmas decorations. rest of the year, i just leave them there. they don't seem to get on my bed, & ive never known them to bite.

[@Veldazandtea]

We both know the spider didn't agree to anything just because you say it does. Personally I had a spider on the wall next to my bed. They're pretty passive. So I was fine with it. Keeps the bugs away. One time I had a spider dangle down in front of me when I'm on the computer. Then they went back up. Sometimes they want to check you out. Beats being ignored right?

[@AlexLopez-vm7uq]

​@Veldazandtea ..Beats getting bitten also lol 😂..

[@misha861]

​@@Veldazandteaexactly they keep the bugs away I had one that helped me kill ants

[@ATypiclaNPC]

She surely has at night times to hunt even more Mosquitos. Usually from what i could see they are most active in the night. But yeah u sleep then and they will most often stay away from u. And if they get close, i guess (its realy just a guess) its because they saw Pray around u. So probably they want to take care of another problem for u. For example mosquitos that aren´t in their web yet.

[@nunyabisness1941]

These are some of the hardest working house spiders from what I’ve observed. Compared to other common species they seem to do a better job catching tiny flying insects like fungus gnats-maybe because of their 3D web? These spiders should be viewed as friends, especially by anyone with houseplants. It’s interesting that they’re so fragile and easily lose legs, yet they expertly take down dangerous prey like wasps as you mentioned. They’ve clearly evolved a very successful strategy. In California these are what we call “daddy long legs”, and we also call crane flies “mosquito hawks”… in spite of the fact that they not only don’t hunt mosquitoes, but as adults, usually don’t eat at all-just mate and die. Common names probably do more harm than good, honestly. Also, thanks for spreading awareness of invasive species by highlighting H. axyridis.

[@travismcenery2919]

Yup, the cellar spiders do a lot of good. Thanks for the comment!

[@killsode4760]

We've got cellar spiders down here in Australia which we call daddy long legs as well, they were introduced by ship.

[@aaamogusthespiderever2566]

Cellar spider vs actual daddy longleg

[@GiskardRevenlov]

I'm from Cali and most people I know(norcal) call them skeeter eaters, referring to mosquitoes

[@jasonreed7522]

In NY we also call cellar spiders daddy longlegs and crane flys mosquito hawks. Maybe the mosquito hawk name comes from it looking like an overgrown mosquito and not a mistaken belief it easts them? (Although i remember my parents telling me that mosquito hawks eat mosquitoes so who know what the real reason is) For the most part i leave the daddy longlegs alone until cleaning day when all insects get evicted (vacuumed, except invasive stink bugs who get flushed on sight) from the main living areas, or if it runs across my bed that's an instant violation of the rent agreement.

[@ryankroeger3264]

I have mild arachaphobia and these videos calm me down alot. A cellar spider fell on my head when i was outside and ran inside of my chair when I went back inside. I know logically they are harmless they just really freak me out so I used this video to ground me. Thanks so much!

[@R0GU351GN4L]

Spiders are very misunderstood creatures. I get that they creep people out though with how they move.

[@eq2360]

same! these videos are weirdly calming lol. i totally get the rational thinking of “these guys are harmless and probably beneficial to have hang around my basement” but you still get the heebie jeebies walking thru a web or having one on you. cheers!

[@ODST_AT1]

yeah, i think it's just like a thing for some people, like a genetic memory. some peope are scared of small crawly things, others aren't.

[@deenanthekemoni5567]

I let a barn spider live in my room when I was in highschool, he grew from the size of a pinhead to the size of my hand in about a year, they grow so fast. I named Him Bob, he was a good Bob, I fed him house flies, etc. He vanished one day, no idea where he went, maybe he died, or just moved on. This was many years ago so I'm certain in one way or another Bob met his fate, RIP Bob, we had a good year. 😔

[@ominous-omnipresent-they]

Bob was most likely a she.

[@DzinkyDzink]

Hope you meet in the afterlife. ❤

[@idipped2521]

How did you get it to become so large?

[@banquetoftheleviathan1404]

Went off to spider college.

[@fuchsia5899]

Erggg i hate spiderss, tho i dont kill them im not horrible.

[@Scriblyn]

I can confirm they do occasionally leave to hunt. I had one in our room, named Giovanni, and he would move to every corner of the house every so often to have a look around. He'd always return to his web then

[@BilobateDrip]

😂, Giovanni, so cute

[@wwondertwin]

I've at least one of these in every room of the house and I kind of recognise them, so I know when a particular spider has moved. They do come down to drink at night, either from the sinks or from puddles on the bathroom floor. They seem to stay in the same web for a week if no prey is caught, but much longer if they do catch good prey. I just had a massive girl in the kitchen and I had to clear out her old webs, and I think she got a little offended. I saw her around the house for a week after, looking for a new spot for web. They all know where the water sources of the house are so I assume they've done much traveling at night.

[@Pathowatch]

We have a tons of these in New Zealand, one thing i have noticed is that we have a lot of whitetails (Lampona), Is very surprising Cellar spider punch way above their weight. Their web appears to exhaust the target.

[@poethewondercat7851]

I have a huge fear of spiders. But I've found your videos to be very easy to handle and they're slowly helping me deal with my phobia. Please keep making them, I really appreciate it.

[@BobbySteelanus]

You can't really feel spiders so there could be one on you right now

[@BrentMalice]

SAME. clints reptile room's jumping spider video helped a lot too. its so cute but then i see the legs and i freak out again.

[@silverseth7]

@@BrentMalice I like to think about their hydraulics. Their bones are on the outside, their squishy bits inside, and their muscles are hydraulic.

[@jennyanydots2389]

Sounds like somebody wants to git gRaped again!!

[@redtailarts101]

I should show you some of the pictures I have of these with captured giant house spiders. They always win. Always. If big nasty spiders keep coming in your house you need these. They will eat them whenever they get the chance to. And the big nasty ones are TERRIFIED of them. Actually it's really fun to watch them wrap up a bigger spider because the icky one that bites is always freaking the fuck out because they know they're gonna die and the cellar spiders are so calm and casual about it like they're not taking down somebody's worst fear.

[@L-guy]

I stayed in england for about a month a while ago -- the house I was in was absolutely infested with these guys. Every single corner of the house had two or three spiders, some big, some small. At first, I was really freaked out, and tried to kill as many as I possibly could. They just kept appearing. After learning more about them, I let them live, and even looked at them fondly. If there's ever a spider I want in my house, it's these guys. They're gentle, stay out of your way, and are even kind of cute. After finding out that they were taking care of the various gnats in the house (this place was kinda nasty looking back), the only time I was ever scared of one was at 4am. I got up to piss and walked face-first into a cellar spider dangling from his web, I assume to go hunt or move to another web in the house. It was the worst. I'm bald so I felt him crawl on my head. Nightmarish

[@Droneyard]

Please don't kill any more spiders, They are all good and this is their Planet.

[@L-guy]

@@Droneyard Don't worry, I don't : ] They're cool little guys

[@Laevaryl]

There are like 2 or 3 of these living in my room right now, I actually appreciate having them around because they just stay away up in the corners, and pretty much massacre all the other annoying pests (flies, moths, other types of spiders etc). As long as they keep to themselves, they're welcome to stay lmao.

[@ljones2087]

Countries are proper nouns so require capitalisation wherever they appear in a sentence.

[@Apostate_ofmind]

damn, by the sound of it they were working hard in that house! yeesh, makes me think back on a nasty place i have been to, it could have used some spiders too...

[@tenrecc]

For a while I lived in a cellar apartment where these guys were plentiful. I usually hate spiders but these guys are so small and chill that I could tolerate them, and after noticing that they were praying in other more repulsive spiders and other pests I really started to appreciate them. The only incident we had was when one decided to drop down from the ceiling right in front of my face while I was eating. Got a little nostalgic since I've moved to a spider-free apartment now, wouldn't mind having a few of these guys around again.

[@johnphamlore8073]

These were always my favorite spider as a kid because I knew they were not dangerous at all. I spent many hours watching them at work. Thanks for a great video!

[@travismcenery2919]

Glad you liked it! These are one of my favourites, too.

[@Nockgun]

@@travismcenery2919 jumping spiders?

[@umamifan]

@@Nockgun He definitely likes jumping spiders more. He did say they weren't as aesthetically pleasing as the jumping spiders in the vid

[@waltch5711]

yeah and they never looked imtimidating to me like others

[@Zikar]

In the UK these are probably the most common spider I see, followed closely (unfortunately) by the Giant House Spider (which, while also harmless, is big, fast and kinda scary looking.) Still, I let these little guys roam where they see fit, their webs usually have more that a few pest in them. Also, in UK we call the cranefly Daddy Long Legs... we ALSO called the cellar spider Daddy Long Legs too, just to be extra confusing.

[@travismcenery2919]

We had a lot of Giant House Spiders on the west coast. I actually like them, but yes, they are wickedly fast.

[@theturbogoose2600]

Same here in the states, at least on the east coast

[@addfoxy]

I HATE the Giant House Spider's we have in the UK, I always make sure to keep a few cellar spiders in my room for this exact reason. Cellar spiders are also just super chill and cool to watch on the rare occasion they come close to you.

[@TheLifeOfDan1]

I’m from the UK but I don’t call the Cellar Spider a Daddy Long Leg!

[@frogz]

THIS IS WHAT I NEEDED TO KNOW!!

[@primitivepathways]

I've got those spiders in my house too. They're really harmless. Their bodies are pretty fragile so I usually gently catch them and let them go outside.

[@BeelZeDemon]

I live in europe, and I often find cellar spiders dead in my bathroom, I don't know why though. But this has given me the chance to dissect some specimens and analyze them under the microscope, and they are quite fascinating. Despite appearing smooth to the naked eye, they're actually very hairy all over their bodies and legs. Their leg joints up close look extremely well reinforced, almost like modular knee armor, and the extremities of their legs end in a sharp fork-like appendage, slightly resembling a pair of open scissors.

[@travismcenery2919]

That's fascinating! I've actually got a stereoscope on the way, so I'm excited to look at some of these more closely. I've never had the chance to do that before.

[@marielcarey4288]

I have a feeling that's not dead spiders but their skin sheds

[@larry5068]

​@marielcarey4288 could be either, but I'd trust them that it was actually a spider carcass, just from the word choice of 'dissection'. Also under a microscope you would quickly notice if it was transparent or if its organs were present.

[@BeelZeDemon]

@@marielcarey4288 Many that I find may indeed be skin sheds. I don't really analyze every single one I come across, but I can tell you the ones I dissected thus far have definitely been actual corpses. One possible reason for so many dead spiders in my house may be that I keep poisoned cockroach traps around the house. This poison is slow acting, in hopes that the cockroach will return to its nest after eating and die there, where other cockroaches may feed on it and become poisoned as well and lead to taking out the entire nest. If a spider happens to intercept the recently poisoned cockroach and then feed on it, it could potentially lead to the spider getting poisoned as well and end up dying a while later. I have quite a folder full of pictures of insects I dissected before taken under the microscope, including a lot of cellar spiders.

[@marielcarey4288]

@@BeelZeDemon that is... very interesting and in depth 👁👄👁

[@TheRomnus]

Thanks for going over these Spiders. We had a small army of Box Elder bugs get into our basement, and about a dozen or so MASSIVE basement dwellers mobilized in key positions around the basement and had them taken care of within a week. Love these guys.

[@TheAutisticWerewolf]

Spiders: Commence Operation! Give your heart ! Defend the humans at all costs !!!! *Music by Hiroyuki Sawano blares in background*

[@Benzy670]

Really? Nothing seems to go for the box elder bugs around here, and we definitely have these spiders. I need some predators for those damn bugs!

[@mauricemakesmovies]

These guys are the G.O.A.T. I hate when I get asked to remove them (one way or another) since they're so vulnerable, I always tell people how useful they are and harmless, but alas.

[@awiewahh]

Just found your channel, I love it! I actually have two cellar spiders in my dorm room. They've been here since I moved in and, for whatever reason, I opted not to kill them. They seem pretty chill, and now they're one of the homies.

[@travismcenery2919]

They're great to have around. Welcome to the channel, and thanks for the sub!

[@neonmunky5422]

For once KZbin recommended a good vid 👍🏼

[@joniboi3699]

One of the homies 🤣

[@goose_dove]

These guys are very prevalent here in Australia. Always respected them, though. There are very few spiders I would be comfortable with letting them walk on my skin, but the long legs have managed to be one of them. Plus, when you compare these to the much scarier spiders we get out here, it's always preferred to see a web with one of these compared to anything else.

[@Cybella]

I bet by comparison these guys are tiny huh lol? You guys definitely have some of the scariest spiders on the planet.

[@goose_dove]

@@Cybella Yeah, we have a few large ones. I remember once we had a huntsman in our garage - it scared young me a lot, until I found out it was more scared of us. Put a whole new perspective on the small critters in general. I guess not that small. Nonetheless, I've still grown to appreciate spiders a lot. You kind of have to - they're everywhere.

[@kfiscal01]

I'm pretty sure every critter in Australia wants to kill you! 😆

[@derricklogan2058]

I've never been to Australia 🌏, but as I understand it, you guys have some of the deadliest arachnids and other animals and insects on the 🌎 planet, so I get exactly what you are saying. Any 🕷️ Spider you see 😉 in a 🕸️ Web has to be a huge relief! Spiders, I always tell people, are a blessed creature of God! What other animal can eat so many of the worst, disease carrying rats, mosquitos🦟 and flies that kill people and you can be bitten by any Spider 🕷️ on earth 🌎 and catch NO diseases communicable to Mankind? They are more beneficial to us than many people realize. Wasps, ants and centipedes will bite you quicker than the Spider will. They don't like human skin. Unnatural to them. Peace ✌️.

[@NeutralDrow]

I'm relieved to hear they can grow legs back. I've occasionally had to relocate cellar spiders for their own safety (when they're hanging out in a place with either high foot traffic or water spray; I guess shower rooms must just be good hunting grounds?), and always felt a tinge when I picked one up that had seven or six legs.

[@drawingdinokai]

These guys are all throughout England! We currently have 3 living in our bathroom. I own a juvenile tarantula and so now and again, if I notice them getting thin, I give them each a mealworm. A couple times I have had to save them from our cats but other than that, they're chill little buddies to have around!

[@travismcenery2919]

That's so kind of you, I'm sure they appreciate it!

[@SuzD0n]

​@travismcenery2919 Can confirm. Every single old house here has them. They are very good at nailing the tegenaria (which are huge, here). But it does freak me out when they bungee over my head. It feels personal!

[@SaxJockey]

I live in a modern house in England, close to lots of trees (and thus bugs) The house, garage and shed are full of these dudes! Every night I go around each room gathering them up into jars, and put them out at the bottom of the garden the next morning. The next evening...more come out of the woodwork 😂. Seems that they hide behind inaccessible voids behind kitchen cupboards, then come out at night when people have gone to bed. There will always be enough around to kill the occasional bug/gnat/mosquito.

[@thebusdrrivertohell]

I love these dudes. They just hang out in the high corners, build their long zip lines to other corners, and chill. They look cool when they molt. Kinda translucent and golden.

[@travismcenery2919]

Yup, watching a molt is amazing.

[@StarlitSwamp]

I love them too ! I usually catch the spiders I find indoors and release them outside, but these ones are so chill that I just leave them alone. I’ve had a few that stayed in their corner looking dead for several weeks before they moved again.

[@NachozMan]

To add more confusion, I always called these ones Banana spiders as a kid because the few times I caught a glimpse of them they where a vibrant yellow with their long abdomen

[@CursedImagesEveryday]

I always loved playing with those fellas as a kid at granma's place. We got a bunch of them and then we would do races with them or fights matches

[@ravenwolf7128]

Thank you for this! These spiders are so helpful catching gnats, flies, fruit fly swarms--one even killed a yellow jacket for me (allergic, so don't want them in my house). They never bother anyone, harmless and do a valuable service. So glad to see them get a little understanding.

[@Horible4]

I don't keep spiders in my house as they're incredibly inefficient. They can go weeks without eating anything and they often do because they understandably don't want to get hurt so they don't tend to stray from their web or will just cut their prey loose if it's too much work. I see them as freeloaders and I immediately forgo spiders in favor of house centipedes, which are far more effective hunters and keeping the insect population in your house down to a minimum than any spider could hope to accomplish.

[@ravenwolf7128]

@@Horible4 I have those too! And jumping spiders--they are pretty good hunters, often get flies way bigger than they are....basically if it eats pests and doesn't bother me it can stay.

[@Cj-xl3jv]

I work on aircraft and one of our old Piper Seneca’s has a long body cellar spider living in it. She’s a nice girl who keeps the other spiders out. We found a recluse in her web recently. They’re amazingly efficient.

[@airplanemaniacgaming7877]

Ooooh, Piper aircraft are nice planes...........I want to someday get myself a J-3 Cub.

[@tonyr.546]

Love these guys! I have them in my basement year round in Central NY state. I totally leave them alone and they never bother us. I saw one a few years ago wrestling with a fairly large centipede in my basement hallway and the next morning they were both still alive but the centipede was wrapped up and not going anywhere! I was shocked that the spider took down the larger centipede which I've been told will kill spiders regularly. Maybe it got lucky? I don't know, but I leave both predators alone unless they're in my face. Because of that, they're pretty much the only bugs in my basement.

[@ChrisSmith-xh9wb]

We have always have a few cellar spiders around the house here in the UK. Sometimes also the bigger, bulkier house spiders that scamper across the floor and hide under the furniture. We call crane flies daddy-long-legs here. Harvestmen are just harvestmen.

[@krymsynrayne]

I grew up calling cellar spiders daddy longlegs, and crane flies were skeeter eaters. I also grew up with the venom myth. I'm a new viewer and I'm big into science KZbin, and I appreciate when creators explain things in an easy, conversational way. This channel is a great example of that. Cool video, keep 'em coming!

[@travismcenery2919]

Thanks so much! I'm hoping for plenty more, so stay tuned!

[@ZenoUchiha]

SKEETER EATERS, that took me way back haha, haven't heard that since the mid 90s. How funny. Thanks for the nostalgia!

[@lordsofkobol7385]

@@travismcenery2919 I stumbled upon your channel today and loved the three videos that I see available to me here in the UK, where we do call crane fly daddy longlegs. Possibly cellar spiders too. Are there more videos up, which I am not finding because of my region? More on the black widow/fake widow and also the funnel web would be very interesting as I believe I have encountered this myself. I was a refuse collector around five years ago and regularly found funnel shaped webs in certain refuse bins. These always had a single spider inside but I never had any trouble reaching right in to remove the rubbish. I got very very close to the spider without much reaction from them.

[@travismcenery2919]

@@lordsofkobol7385 I only have three videos up at the moment, but more are on the way. And stay tuned for a discussion of the false widow (which has had a lot of bad press in the UK in recent years).

[@lordsofkobol7385]

@@travismcenery2919 Right, I have watched them all and although I have no fear of spiders I didn't realise how interesting and varied their behaviour is. Definitely looking forward to more.

[@hunde01]

These also live in Brazil, and believe me they are in every single house. I myself let some live in my room but i feel like the situation is starting to get out of hand... There is a specific "big one" that never ever leaves her spot... but the problem is that i saw many other smaller individuals that will soon grow and idk man... turn into a pest or something. I feel bad taking them out of their """home""" persay but i feel like that will need to happen soon.

[@donaldklopper]

This type of spider awakened several years of arachnophilia for me (so far). My specimen was migrating its egg sac to somewhere else in my daughter's room and we watched those eggs hatch a couple of hours later. I live in South Africa so they're here too. Very common spider. I'm hoping you'll continue posting more videos!

[@ROBERTJOHNSON020]

Acachnophobia or aracnophillia? Because mate, those are two very diffrent things.

[@donaldklopper]

@@ROBERTJOHNSON020 do you know the difference? Do you even read bro?

[@ROBERTJOHNSON020]

@@donaldklopper Arachno- Combining form denoting a spider, spider-like or resembling a spider's web. philia- denoting fondness, especially an abnormal love for a specified thing. You got some sort of abnormal love for spiders you want to tell us about?

[@Lightally16]

That is probably where I would draw the line, eggs. The spiders can take up residence in my home and eat all the other bugs they want that are mostly out of the way, but I don't want a huge population of spiders at home.

[@umamifan]

@@ROBERTJOHNSON020 That could mean that he got an extreme fascination for spiders. It doesn't mean he's exactly coco bananas for 'em. Idk why you're trying to paint him as some kind of spider freak when it's obvious he just likes spiders lol

[@marielledelaine]

I love my cellar spiders, we have so many of them of varying sizes. I love how delicate and spindly they are, like little living pieces of hair. I try my hardest to live in peace with them and not accidentally hurt them, but some of them are practically invisible. I've taught my son to love and appreciate them too. They are so busy, there are highways along my ceiling pretty much everywhere I look in my house lol. Free Halloween decorations!

[@Dagoth666Ur]

Most interesting thing i found about them is how damn hard working and sneaky they are, every time i paint my house i move most furniture to shed and when i finish and start bringing back furniture in the house there`s at least few of them already settled up in the corners, it`s like they are watching me and just rush in when i`m done with painting, funny little guys.

[@FrostedSapphire]

3:20 They do move around the room, or at least the ones in my home do. Usually just corner to corner or something every now and again. Definitely really good at catching pests so I tend to just leave them be unless their webs get messy, in which case I may or may not decide to clean a bit of it up. Having 1 or 2 or more per room makes a big difference. I've had times where a dozen of those beetles would wander into a single spider's web, and times where I've found dead spiders that I couldn't identify in a given web.

[@clairevoyantarachnea]

These little guys are responsible for my first steps in my journey away from arachnophobia. As a student, I once moved into a house and discovered that five or six lived in the little gap between my kitchen sink and my fridge when I dropped the dish soap down there and came face-to-face with them as I bent down to retrieve it. Terrified, I frantically took to the internet to find out what the hell those things were and if they were extremely venomous. After learning that they were in fact harmless and quite beneficial, I decided to leave them be and soon enough discovered quite a few more living in the other quite secluded corners of my home, now that I knew where to look for them. They were never interested in bothering me and were very happy to mind their own business; probably the best roommates I've ever had, actually. I began to find them quite cute, and through my experiences with them and my research into all the other spiders in my area, I began to appreciate and like all sorts of spiders, rather than treating them with reflexive fear. So thank you, cellar spiders, for helping me to realize that spiders are friends.

[@PH_INFO_101]

100% correct. spiders are our friends and just want to cuddle with us under our blankets to keep warm...Except for the damn Brown Recluse, I really hate those things.

[@idipped2521]

@@PH_INFO_101I am scared of spiders because of brown recluses and black widows but that’s about it, but another thing is the bite of a common house spider, the yellow sac spider can actually cause necrosis so it’s good to try to avoid getting bitten by that too

[@clairevoyantarachnea]

@@idipped2521 You should really watch the yellow sac spider and house spider video that the video creator has also put out, because he addresses those myths about necrosis.

[@idipped2521]

@@clairevoyantarachnea The yellow sac spider has been observed to crawl across human skin and bite unprovoked, it is a little beast and I’m not fond of it, nothing will change that

[@truth3263]

Mine was saving a jumping spider, idk but those lil bastards are cute and I love em w all my heart now. 💯❤️

[@NecroFlex]

I became afraid of spiders, especially the cellar spider, when i was around 6 or so years old, i was on the toilet (no t-shirt cause summer) and i felt something on my back. A huge cellar spider somehow decided to climb onto me and it freaked me out and i started running and screaming. From that day forward, whenever i see this spider, that memory surfaces. I do leave most of them alone if they are far enough in the corner, but if i see them lower down or under the table etc. it's vacuuming time.

[@zammmerjammer]

I used to live in a basement apartment for like a decade. The cellar spiders were my little buddies. Now I have a much nicer 5th floor apartment. But I miss my little spideys. I saw one a few months ago and I actually out loud went "heyyyyyy!!!" like I'd run into an old friend. 😄🕷

[@-_altex_-4632]

Bro that's cute asf🤣

[@solidagold115]

Cute 🥺

[@emilnemyl448]

These ones are ok, sometimes I spot nastier ones in our house.

[@sylvrwolflol]

Yeah these lil guys are the one non-pet creature that can live with me rent-free. I had one way up in the corner of my shower for a long time that was my buddy. Kept all the insects out of my business, did spider things, live and let live.

[@butterflyaffect4681]

I lived in a cold house on the east coast of the States and we had a bunch of these guys. They really like warmth and moisture it seems so the bathroom was a favorite spot for them. I had a sac of eggs hatch in my basement right near a light, and they all loved being next to the light because it was so warm. The little ones were a lot more active and really fun to watch.

[@wawaweewa8749]

Oh my god I saw a bunch of little ones too, they were so cute! I was looking at the big female, then I noticed her lil babies. I was scared of squishing them they were just so smol.

[@Neutercane]

The cellar spiders in my house tend to stay in one spot for a while, then move to another spot and stay there for a similar length of time before moving on again. As an experiment, I managed to get a small fly to stay in the web (their webs are horrible, messy things and tossed flies very often bounce back out again) and it was quickly subdued and the spider began to feed. I found another fly and threw that one in too wondering what the reaction would be. I was amazed to see that with the first fly still in its jaws, it quickly attacked the second and wrapped it up too!

[@hititmanify]

Ive seen them dragging it home too , like groceries.

[@mof5220]

I have these spiders in my shed here in Argentina, they always catch flies or mosquitoes and their dances make me have a good time (although I try not to stress them too much)

[@travismcenery2919]

I like the dance, too. Occasionally I tweak the web to see it, but not too often, so I don't stress them out.

[@HelplessTeno]

I've been an arachnophobe all my life, but I'm quite thankful to live in a state where there are few spiders that are actually dangerous. My grandmother's old house had a cellar, and these guys LOVED it. Every time we opened up the doors outside, there were dozens in view on the doors, stairs, walls, ceilings. They always bothered me as a kid but thankfully I see them as harmless as an adult. Most other species still scare the hell outta me.

[@miguelneves6118]

@@hexor9157 right? I get scared from fake spider toys even if i know they're not actual spiders because their whole appearence just freaks me out

[@omarosama155]

@@hexor9157cellar spiders and other small spiders are fine but the big ones are extremely scary

[@Parasitoid_Sentimentality]

do people really not understand that phobias can be mild moderate or severe??

[@miguelneves6118]

@@Parasitoid_Sentimentality no

[@omnizenn4559]

​@@Parasitoid_Sentimentality Wish people realized this. I'm scared of spiders but not piss my pants scared. Scared to the point I'm freaked out and cant react normally and might spend the next 5mins thinking what should I do, but not burn my house down scared. It varies, but people don't understand this for some reason.

[@Tingfyhod]

I have lived around these guys most of my life, I've found they tend to make multiple webs and also share or reuse other cobweb installations, but most curiously they tend to migrate between multiple web installations ranging from close to the floor to on the ceiling. I've witnessed multiple generations tend to follow the same pattern as well.

[@olofjansson9356]

As a once-upon-a-time bio major and reformed arachnophobe, I'm finding your newly discovered channel fascinating! The bays between the joists in the cellar of my late 18th cent. house are festooned with the mummified remains of Phocus (Phoci?). In the warmer months they set up shop above the kitchen and bathroom sinks in order to reap the harvest of drain flies and occasional mosquitos emanating from the antiquated grey-water system. I'm happy to let them go about their business!

[@Phoenix-ej2sh]

I love these spiders just for the dance they do. It's really captivating, especially when they start to slow down and you can see how graceful it really is.

[@denisestover2416]

At 7:41 if you pause the video and look at her face you can see her eyes. Her expression looks kind of sad /••\ you can see her eye shine and she does have a cute face. I'm from Biloxi, Mississippi on the Gulf Coast and our Daddy Long Legs had small round bodies and extremely long legs. They lived all bunched up together on boards of our roundpen and various places in our barn. We have Mosquito Hawks which are different. Thanks for the information!

[@ocelotMartinez]

Loved this video. Spiders are such complex organisms. Make more videos please. Do one about the spiders babies that eat the mother... talk about sacrificing for ones offsprings!

[@travismcenery2919]

I think you might be referring to amaurobious ferox, the black lace-weaver. I might have those here, but haven't found any in the house yet.

[@dkdevil3490]

I’ve got loads of these around the house. Usually in top corners of the rooms. They particularly like the bathrooms, probably easier for them to rehydrate when needed. I’ve caught them stringing down from the ceiling to my face a bunch of times. Had me rather alarmed until I realized what they were after! Moisture! I’ve also had one bite the tip of my finger defensively. Didn’t feel the bite or notice any kind of adverse effects at all. They can get quite big~

[@travismcenery2919]

Yes, up in the corners of rooms, or in corners under desks is where I tend to find them, too. Occasionally they go for a walk but most of the time they stay put in their web. Interesting to hear about the bite, that's rare, but they can and will do it if threatened, but it's harmless. Glad you liked the video!

[@chitlitlah]

I've had them walking around on the ceiling over me while I'm taking a shower on a few occasions. One time I watched one make its way over the shower head, descend to the plastic lining, and start drinking the moisture off of it. Poor little guy was thirsty. I hastened my shower hoping I wouldn't splash it into the drain.

[@gryphonennis1002]

yeah they live in my shower and are super wimpy with the water droplets. I have to give them warnings so they go to the ceiling before I start my shower. So annoying, but they do take care of gnats and mosquitoes.

[@maxten]

if you didn't feel the bite, then how do you know they bit you?

[@R0GU351GN4L]

My house is full of Cellar spiders, I leave them be, just clean up their old webs from time to time. They basically eat everything else, so I'm happy with that. Have very few other spiders in my house with them around.

[@hannahh.8422]

You got some amazing shots! I've never seen them in such detail before. I developed a great fondness for these spiders after one incident. Many years ago I had one living in my bathroom. I saw a huge giant house spider crawling towards my bathroom right where the cellar spider lived. I left and came back a couple hours later to find the giant house spider dead right next to the cellar spider. It amazes me that such a tiny little guy could take down something so massive.

[@travismcenery2919]

Thanks so much! I'd actually never seen them up close until I took those photos. I'm glad you're fond of them now, and yes, they punch way above their weight. Also, don't worry too much about giant house spiders, they're not dangerous - but they do surprise you sometimes.

[@hannahh.8422]

@@travismcenery2919 In my old apartment I had giant house spiders often. I would be laying in my bed and I'd see a huge black thing zoom by me on the wall. I'm not typically afraid of spiders but that suddenness had me leaping out of bed on several different occasions lol.

[@supremeghost7950]

Here in Germany they are very common. Normally I take them out to the balcony and never spend a thought about keeping them inside during winter times. Makes much more sense and will keep them in my apartment during winter so they don't freeze to death. Thanks for that informative video.

[@rayray2131]

@Permanent Marker tf

[@rayray2131]

I love how many Germans are here since these spiders are probably one of the most common spiders in Germany

[@unterhau1102]

@Permanent Marker chiki briki v damki

[@BerryBlue123]

What an amazing photo! These guys aren’t my favorite spider, but they’re very common to find in my house (midwest USA) and i’ve grown to have some affection for them. i’ll always prefer a jumping spider, orb weaver, or wolf spider, but these guys are good company. Cellar spiders literally just chill it’s all they do

[@user-fz3sz2dj4r]

I used to live in a basement suite and had a huge issue with massive spiders. Walked into my bathroom once at 3am and found one of these badboys had taken down a massive spider (wolf maybe). I let him stay there until i left. He never seemed to leave his spot (must of hunted at night).

[@iamjustkiwi]

I was amazed when I saw how small your sub count was but you've absolutely earned one from me! In my unfinished basement at the end of every summer, there will be dozens of these guys hanging dead from the ceiling, seemingly infected by some sort of fungus which causes them to be coated in a white fuzz as though it were covered in snow. Eerily beautiful, and I am always glad to see them around with how many houseplants I have fungus gnats are a constant nuisance. Their startle dance is also quite hilarious! Now off to watch your yellow sac spider video, not nearly as fond of those fellas!

[@travismcenery2919]

Well, the channel's new, I just started it about two months ago and this is only the third video (and only the second that I really researched and put a lot of effort into producing). But the count is growing quickly thanks to folks like you, so thank you for the sub! Also, I recall seeing a photo of a fuzzy fungus affecting spiders somewhere in Sarah Rose's book (Spiders of North America - it's fantastic, if you've never seen it).

[@jerryworshiper1587]

my cripling fear of crane flies made this video very, VERY difficult to watch. glad i did though.

[@lekhaclam87]

My old house was full of these guys. In a Vietnamese city house, they are practically the only house spider species around. While it is rare to see them crawling on the wall and ground, I noticed that webs tend to be left abandoned after sometime. Some other time though, the web owner was found dead in its own web and one or two new guys were found living in it.

[@ryan1111111555555555]

one of them probably molted

[@zippy2470]

I just got rid of one of these spiders and now a day later this comes up on my recommended somehow, without any search about them previously. KZbin works in mysterious ways.

[@travismcenery2919]

The algorithm is always listening, I swear...

[@ShadyAugur]

I live in the basement of an old house, and these little dudes are everywhere. I was horrified my first Summer there. I'd shine a flashlight on the baseboards and see up to a dozen in one sweep. I'm desensitized by now, but after some research I learned just how much they protect my house from unwanted pests. I prefer not to have any bugs in the house, but they're a much better alternative to weevils, other spiders, etc.

[@flareon1368]

Black widows do a dance very similar to this when wrapping prey, really fascinating to see the cellar spider doing the same. I keep black widows in jars to keep them from free roaming the house, and I use the jars as fly catchers or purchase crickets for them in winter months (it's okay because I also keep tarantulas) and the way they take down prey, hold them out at legs' length until the mandible of the prey cannot harm them before biting is such a genius invention of nature. The rapid way they move but with such coordination is also so incredible that they can navigate the mess of a web they make. It's so cool to see how actually similar cellar spiders are to widows.

[@laserpanda9553]

Daddy longlegs is a common name for crane flies (and cellar spiders) in England

[@kiki-drawer2669]

I have about 6 in My room! Watched them take out fake lady bugs, invasive stink bugs and any fungus gnat that wanders to high. I get really attached to these spiders because they never pester me. I even have one in my tortoise table and the stay in the top corner. They are sooooo cool! Edit: also when they finish their food they basicly drop them straight down and it's easy to vacume up after a week. Love it!

[@Bandrik]

I love spiders. These aren't my favorites though because of the webs they tend to make in the basement, around boxes, etc. But hey, at least they're doing their job keeping pests out. So I'm happy enough to have them around. Thanks for making this fun video, it was great to learn more about them!

[@miahan8988]

I always feel bad when I try to save them and they just… leave their leg in my hand, but they are easy to enclose in a fist, so I try to do that if I can.

[@ObservantPiratePlus]

I actually breed these when I can, in a special environment that I created. The Pholcus Phalangioides is most common indoors or in sheds, whereas its cousin, the Holocnemus Pluchei, or Marbled Cellar Spider, tends to be seen in the outdoors, here in California.

[@alligatorghost]

I used to work in at a summer camp in Florida and apart from bigger scarier wolf spiders and golden orb weavers, we saw these EVERYWHERE. Cabins, storage closets, corners, everywhere. I heard the same rumor about their venom for years and years. When I worked events off season, they'd collect in any place left dark and quiet for a day or two.

[@unfortunaterabbit5900]

0:01 The spiders I see are small brown ones with cute little violins on their little heads. Imma go touch'em.

[@travismcenery2919]

I recommend getting a good identification first... ;)

[@v1clips2]

Yea how about you don’t actually do that. 😂

[@PattonEggerichs]

Spider aids

[@unfortunaterabbit5900]

@@PattonEggerichs Sp'aids

[@russellkasprzyk4934]

Awwwww I love those ones!!!!

[@enieforth]

I've kept a female Cellar spider as a pet for 3 years now, shes about to be 4 in a couple months! They're beautiful fascinating little guys that have some great dance moves. I'm gonna be sad when she's gone! I really wish more people had respect and understanding for the lil guys

[@rayzersharpp]

they live that long????

[@enieforth]

@@rayzersharpp she actually died shortly after this message was posted, I think I jinxed her! 😬 3 whole years though, yup!

[@JuliusCaesar2005]

​@@enieforthholy, i did not realize they lived that long. Sorry for your loss, she's making webs in the corners of spider heaven now

[@OfficiallyFreehugs]

I had 2 of them that were big but unfortunately also died.

[@Halcyon_games]

The Daddy long legs is also very common here in New Zealand and they are wonderful for keeping white tail spiders out

[@LL-rb8wd]

We have these in Australia, and they're everywhere in my house that doesn't get regularly cleaned, like behind and under my fridge, unused bookshelves and on my extremely high ceilings. Their webs are really annoying as they collect dust and look gross. And they multiply like mad. I much prefer huntsman spiders.

[@lunarsma8446]

I've always thought these spiders to be sort of magical, allowing them to exist wherever I notice them, figuring they had a job to do. Looking forward to more of your videos! Thank you!

[@travismcenery2919]

Glad you enjoyed it! There will be more. Stay tuned, and click the bell!

[@Cfol-1989]

I used to keep them around a shop I worked at. We had some brown recluses and some giant cockroaches and these little guys helped cure the problem. They certainly helped with mosquitoes as well

[@yoink9]

brown recluses are dangerous yk? those cellar spiders probably saved some people

[@Owobi]

I love this guys grammar, it’s quite satisfying to see someone speak in such an exquisite way

[@reecerox2]

These spiders can also be found all throughout Australia and are one of the most commonly-encountered species

[@4saken404]

I'm in the southeastern US and they are very common here as well. If you look at their Wikipedia entry their range is pretty much worldwide anyplace that isn't in the Arctic or Antarctica. I'm curious what it would be without humans though. I've never seen one in the wild.

[@paintedwings74]

@@4saken404 you nailed it, they are a human-associated species in all but their original range, and there's no way for us to be sure what that original range was, because they've traveled with us for too long. (Well, I'm sure geneticists could pin down their original range by finding the place where the cellar spiders have the absolute greatest genetic variability, but you get the idea.) The temperature range they're good for is fairly mild, so they obviously hooked their fate to ours when we migrated to northern climates.

[@kindahonourablecanadian]

@@4saken404I’ve seen harvestmen (pretty sure harvestmen) in the wild. They might be cellar spiders tho

[@BigBoris]

Everything is found in Australia

[@craniifer]

Spiders are my favorite animals and its nice to see people standing up for them and educating others.

[@Katze822228]

I sometimes see them wandering around slowly but usually they stay in one place. A couple days ago I saw a cellar spider battle with a crane fly. The spider didn't manage to catch the crane fly and both fell down on my desk. The crane fly was still partially immobilized from the web but the spider gave up and after a couple minutes it went directly back to its web, it knew exactly where it was despite falling down 2m.

[@Ducatirati]

Aracnids do have a Web that they use like we use a safety harness , I've never seen such an efficient aracnid , Pholcus Phalangites , Celler spider a k a , Daddy /Dandy long legs , see how the Mondegreens(a mis heard word or line in a song ) how I got from a simple aside to linguistic evolution is so me , sorry Smile it's good for the soul , HA, I'm an egg honest ! R

[@TheSpeep]

In Dutch, these guys are called "trilspin", which essentially translates to "vibrate-spider" "shake-spider", because of their defense mechanism that you mentioned. Theyre very common around here.

[@Vortex1988]

I've definitely seen these before. They're usually in basements, garages, sheds, in windows, or under decks. I've always totally dismissed them thinking they were either dead and decaying or malnourished due to their small size. I've just never thought they were anything to worry about, since their legs are so thin and bodies are so small.

[@JennaBabe85]

I live in the UK 🇬🇧 and have lots of these guys in my cellar also see them up in the corners of my house... the bathroom seems to be favourite spot. I'm always having to catch them and relocate them, nice to learn a few things about them I never knew 👍🕷

[@Erinselysion]

I keep these little guys as house spiders :) they're very cute, some of them are quite curious about humans. I've had some walk across the couch or climb down from the ceiling to look at me before going back up. Most spiders are super shy and afraid of humans, so cellar spiders evolving to share dwellings with us must have also made them brave. Like you said, they have that grace to them, and I think it's cool that you can see the little jointed segments on their limbs. I know I'm eccentric so I don't expect anyone to let a bunch of spiders make families in their homes, but these spiderlings are really adorable! Their legs are transparent until their first molt 🥺❤️

[@travismcenery2919]

Yup! I just had one big female in my basement have a bunch of babies. I just let them be.

[@alexsalazar6245]

Pretty cool video! I'm getting my PhD studying this species, among some other closely related ones. I do have a small correction I'll throw out there. While it is true that these spiders can produce a new leg when they molt, after reaching adulthood they no longer molt. So had that adult female phalangioides lost a leg, she would have had to live the rest of her life without it. Despite that, she would have been fine. If you go out looking for these spiders you will find that it isn't rare to find some missing a leg or even a couple. That doesn't mean most of them are missing legs, but that it shouldn't surprise you to find one that does. However, missing a leg doesn't slow these guys down very much.

[@usakicksass]

PhD on this species. If I could buy them no I'd pay $5 per live spider. All my neighbors fell victim to the pest control guy's con and my philangeones all just disappeared. Wow, what a spider to study. Like wrote above I have many still and video of cellars some with magnification. If I could .....let me know.

[@Digspig]

If you could link me to your thesis when it’s done, I’d love to read it!!! I get it if ya think that would reveal personal info and don’t want to though. Just scientifically interested :)

[@RecorderEmily]

I just spent an hour practicing my photography skills on one of these. :) Thanks so much for making these videos! It's great to see so much attention being paid to such common and overlooked wildlife. I also particularly appreciate that your videos don't have obnoxious click-bait-y titles and thumbnail graphics like "MoSt DeAdLiEsT bAdDeSt SUPER SPIDER?!?" in acid green letters. I like learning about the little critters, and I find all that sensational stuff off-putting even if the video might otherwise be good.

[@Chris-or7it]

I love these spiders. When I lived in SoCal, every summer my home was inundated with hoards of ants. I tried so many sprays and traps but nothing worked. One summer I was gone for a month and when I came back I expected to see ants taking over. Instead, a dozen cellar spiders had moved in throughout my house and ate all the ants! Little ant carcasses are all that remained. So now, I welcome these little critters. I have lots of little messy webs in corners of my house but I don't care!

[@dangamer7551]

A very similar thing happened to me with woodlice. In my downstairs shower room there were loads of woodlice getting in under a crack beneath the shower floor, one holiday I came back to find there was a cellar spider in a Web right next to the crack and it had quite obviously been exploiting the flow of woodlice. Carcasses literally literring the entire shower room floor.

[@dr_stevious]

These are super common where I live in Australia, and can grow quite large. They are one of the few spider species I will tolerate in my house, although they do tend to roam about a bit more than I would like. They may be in search of water though - more then once I've had them scuttling across the ceiling of my bathroom and enter the shower while I am in there! They are BRUTAL towards other spiders. I've seen them bag larger spiders, including the white-tailed spider (which hunts other spiders) and I've seen a cellar spider (generally known as the daddy longlegs here) exit its web to unsuccessful attack a huge ogre-faced spider on my garage door (the ogre-faced spider flung it aside). I've seen them with bundled-up Redbacks in their webs in my garage, and I've heard they'll attack huntsman spiders too - although I'd imagine a large huntsman might be strong enough to break out of the web.

[@noneed4sleep64]

Can confirm, I’ve personally seen a daddy long legs catch a badge huntsman in its web and start wrapping it up

[@diesel_dawg]

Warehouse where I work is cellar spider heaven. Their webs are everywhere, and visible because of the dust that's on them. Most webs are really old and dense in a lot of places. In autumn and winter, lots of them "hibernate" in the store room where I put my bag, and I frequently count them. I've seen up to 40 all spaced out around the perimeter of the ceiling.

[@danvitty5442]

Just found your channel the other day. Very informative, great videos so far! Looking forward to more! Keep it up, you’ve earned a new sub. I hope to see your channel take off soon!

[@travismcenery2919]

Thanks so much! I'm working on the next one now. I've got a LOT to cover on the next species up. ;)

[@SomeOrdinaryJanitor]

As someone who wasn’t creeped out by insects and bugs in general, but Cellar Spiders had always unsettled me when i was younger. I think it was because of their long, slender appearance.

[@leugimx7315]

These spiders are homies forreal! They take care of all the other nasty ass bugs in the pad and they get to kick it rent free as long as they put in work.

[@stwg32]

I live in Belgium and these are the most common spider you find in homes around here. At this moment, I have four of them that I know of living in my house. You see them have a fly or mosquito in the web sometimes, but I once observed one that caught an earwig that in body size must have been at least 4 times bigger than the spider. I leave them alone and clean up the webs after they move someplace else in the room or house. They're good for the home, so let them live and don't be scared of them.

[@paintedwings74]

Because I have had such a fondness for orb weavers and 'house spiders' (the red ones who look just like garden spiders), I've spent a lot of time getting rid of cellar spiders. But in our current apartment, the only spiders who really succeed in the ceiling-realm seem to be the cellar spiders. I didn't want to like them, until a few weeks ago, when one of the screens came loose and a dozen or more insects all congregated around my reading lamp. My cellar spider went to WORK! She was amazing, she was like Tina Turner at her finest! She spun, she danced, she weaved around the dance-floor of my ceiling, catching and fixing each one after another of the insect intruders, until the mini-swarm of dipterids and beetles was frozen in place above the headboard of my bed. I was even more endeared to her ways when she cleaned up after herself. I thought I'd have a corpse's alley above my headboard for weeks, or until I got out the hand-vac and sucked them down. NOPE--she cleaned up after herself. The ceiling was completely emptied of exoskeletal remains within two days. Now the newly christened "Tina" is living across the room, very VERY quietly. I suspect her reign off terror over the invading swarm has filled her to the gills with enough surplus calories to pay for a litter of spoods. If that's how it goes, I'll welcome them to the house this time around. No more vacuuming up the cellar spiders to try to get a garden spider; I'll take the services of these polite homemakers with the Tina Turner moves.

[@travismcenery2919]

That's great to hear. These spiders provide a valuable service in that regard. Cheers to Tina!

[@rickstephens1130]

Yeah that's what I thought of them as? A cellar spider? Because of the way they looked. They look as though they haven't eaten for a long time? Or maybe they were the type that would automatically show up under the house or in a closet or a closed off space that was dry? But I kinda thought of them as cob-web spider? But they were never around when you see the 🕸️ web?

[@skele8rity]

man. ive had this on my "watch later" list since it wasnt even a week old and i finally got around to it truly a fantastic case of better late than never, absolutely love how you showcase and explain. these things always kind of weirded me out, always tried to leave them alone so long as they werent trying to make webs in doors or anything... glad i left them alone!!! theyre just little guys, how lovely

[@Mafuskas]

This was a very well done and informative video with great footage. It's the first time I've found your channel and I'm surprised you don't have more subscribers. I've seen these spiders my whole life and have usually let them keep the corners they claim if I can. Lately I get a few in my bathroom and try to remember to always check for them before I turn on the shower. I've ended up rescuing them quite a few times. They seem to live on quite a while too. I've heard the biggest trouble for indoor spiders is actually dehydration, and that it might be a good idea to lightly mist their webs once in a while, though I'm not sure how necessary it really is; perhaps that is why they like my bathroom so well for a home.

[@travismcenery2919]

Well, the channel is new, I'm just starting out, but thanks to folks like you it is growing fast. And yes, the cellar spiders can live about three years.

[@krashd]

I've never understood how spiders regenerate legs since their new legs are constructed inside the old leg, if the old leg is missing how do they build the new one?

[@Nekonokitikiti]

We used to live in a very old house that had many, many cracks, and these guys came in constantly. I always had at least a couple between the side of my bed and the nightstand, usually just under the bedside lamp. Every now and then, one would decide to climb up to between the headboard and the top surface of the bed, where my pillow was, to build their web. I’d watch them for a short time, and before they could really get their web built, shoo them back into the side or behind the bed. The dance they do is hilarious. They have a lot of personality if you have the patience to watch them!

[@asaasa7900]

My arachnophobic self could NEVER

[@BornRemaining]

I love those little guys. In the last place I lived, I got worried about the one over my front door and tried to give him some water. As I approached with the wet q-tip, he started gyrating in his web, flailing like a crackhead and I couldn't stop laughing. I ended up flicking some water droplets at his web until a few caught in it, so he still got something to drink.