Pale daddy long leg spiders | Smeringopus pallidus

Smeringopus pallidus (Blackwall, 1858) (Family: Pholcidae)

Common name: Pale daddy long leg spiders

Size: Female 6-8 mm, Male 4-6 mm

Distribution: Cosmopolitan

Description: Cephalothorax nearly circular, wider than long, indented near pedicel; light brown with a darker median stripe and lateral bands. Abdomen cylindrical shaped, about three times as long as cephalothorax, with a very marked pattern consisting of three wide longitudinal broken bands of brown patches on a light brown background. Legs uniformly brown with white annulations near joints.

Natural History: This spider builds a space web without sticky threads in abandoned places and dark room corners. Prey landing on the silk threads or moving below the web is caught with the extended front legs, lifted to the chelicerae and bitten while the third and fourth pair of legs cast silk over it. The prey is then held with the third pair of legs while the fourth pair continues to pull silk from spinnerets, winding it around the prey before it is transferred to the chelicerae for feeding. After mating, female kills and wraps her mate and carries in her chelicerae for feeding. Female carries her egg sacs in chelicerae. After emerging, the spiderlings swarm over the mother’s body where they can remain up to four days.

Contributed By : Sudhikumar A.V.