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Upside down
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| [Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note |
I'm not sure but I think this might be a daddy-long-legs or the long-legged cellar spider
I've found on this web site that it might be a Holocnemus pluchei instead of a Pholcus.
From http://caliban.mpiz-koeln.mpg.de/~stueber/essays/pholcus/pholcus_phalangioides.html
Long legged cellar spiders are one of the most common spiders in households and have a worldwide distribution. They have been reported from American, European, Asian and Australian houses, Italian caves and Korean volcanoes. Their scentific name is Pholcus phalangioides (Fuesslin, 1775). Pholcus are fragile spiders with very long legs and an elongated body. Body and legs are almost translucent and with a microscope the movement of blood cells in legs and other body parts can be followed in a live animal.
Net
The nets of Pholcidae are irregular arched constructions forming a kind of baldachin, where the spider resides on the lower side hanging downwards! Anything that touches the net is attacked and taken for prey if its not too big.
Feeding
Cellar spiders feed on any insects that is unfortuante enough to stumble over their net silk. But Pholcus phalangioides is also known to invade other spider's nets and attack the original inhabitants. They then use the foreign to net to catch prey. If the old inhabitant left an enwrapped prey, this too will be taken by the invader.
A prey is swiftly wrapped with new silk. This may well be several meters of silk which is spun around and around using the legs number 4 (i.e. the 4th pair of legs). Then the prey is bitten and digesting fluid injected. The sucking and emtying may take a whole day. The spider is able to empty a fly by sucking at the tip of a leg, an display of an enormous sucking power! |
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| To Comandante: Thanks | jloup |
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07-22 05:24 |
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- Lapii (68)
- [2005-07-20 7:59]
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Hello it is a very good picture. We can see very small details. It is impressive. Unfortunately I don't like spiders.
Hello Jean!
Wonderful shot and presentation.POV,DOF and composition are perfect.Thanks for sharing.
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