Cellar Spider

Cellar Spiders in Knoxville

Cellar spiders are unobtrusive, harmless, and dainty spiders with wildly long, thin legs. These spiders are sometimes also called “daddy longlegs” spiders, which are actually a different species of spider. Cellar spiders can be common in homes, especially in carports, cellars, basements, and garages, hence the common name. These pests can be found in corners and on ceilings, usually hanging belly-up. Cellar spiders are natural enemies of large house spiders that also dwell in houses. They feed on wasps, bees, flies, and even other cellar spiders when food is hard to come by.

Cellar Spider Habitat

In a more natural setting, cellar spiders can typically be found near openings in caves, crevices in cliffs, and other areas that provide protection from the elements and predators. Cellar spiders build messy webs with no particular shape and are extremely sensitive to movements and vibrations. They will approach an unsuspecting insect with great speed if it happens to get trapped in its web. Both genders of cellar spiders may be found in climate-controlled dwellings year-round.

Cellar Spider Behaviors, Threats, or Dangers

Although cellar spiders do have venom, that is no reason for alarm. Historically, cellar spiders are not known for biting humans and do not pose a health threat. Cellar spiders are nuisance pests, due to the large amounts of webbing they leave on and around homes and buildings. Other species of spiders will eat their old webs before making a new ones, but cellar spiders do not. They continuously add to their current webs, creating large amounts of webbing.  This makes them a nuisance to remove and an eyesore for the Knoxville community.

If you are noting a lot of webs around your home, it could be due to the cellar spider.  Contact your local spider exterminators to help eliminate these pests.