Cobweb Spider

• When it feels threatened it grips its web and vibrates at speed until it becomes a blur no predator can focus on.
• It attacks and devours other spiders, including far larger and more dangerous species, by invading their webs and mimicking the vibrations of trapped prey.
• The legend that it has the most potent venom in the world but cannot bite people is false: its venom is weak and its fangs can indeed pierce human skin, to no ill effect.
• It hunts other spiders. It leaves its own web, finds a neighbour's and plucks it to mimic trapped prey; when the owner comes, it eats her. It can kill spiders far larger than itself.
• Its defence is curious: when threatened it shakes its web violently until its own outline blurs.
• The female holds her eggs in her chelicerae until they hatch and barely eats in the meantime.
• Its legs are five or six times the length of its body.
• It is harmless: although its fangs can pierce human skin, its bite causes no more than a mild sting, and it is in fact beneficial, since it eats flies, mosquitoes and other household spiders.

Skeleton type

Invertebrate - chitin exoskeleton (arachnid)

Habitat and environment

Ceilings, corners and cellars of buildings worldwide

Gestation / incubation

The eggs hatch in two or three weeks

Litter / clutch size

From 20 to 30 eggs per clutch, up to three clutches per female

Sources consulted: Wikipedia (es): Pholcus phalangioides

The pins mark the parks where its presence is documented.