Daddy Long Legs

Before we excavated a new basement, the basement was a dirt floor. The first time we entered our property, there were hundreds of these guys (no kidding). I am glad to know now what they are called.

As ugly and as messy as they are, this little guy is a #1 predator of hobo spiders, black widows and the likes when they invade your home. I am in an area of black widow habitat and prior to these little guys taking up residence under the crawl space had the occasional interaction with the widows. After noticing a large increase of this species i am now unable to locate black widows underneath. Amazingly enough, i saw one of these guys even manage to catch a hornet in a shed. Best thing is they are not a concern to humans venom-wise, they just seem to love invading and tossing webs all over the place ( until you move them outdoors) If your in an area of hobo spiders or black widows, these are a beneficial species to have as they will keep the numbers down.

This species, often called cellar spider or house spider but I called it Leggy House Spider is found both outside and inside a house. They seem to loves cooler moist places in the house and I have found them along my large rock collection. They also likes solid locations (manmade surface like crevices among walls, wooden wall, etc) that is dry and cool like small storage space for garden tools. I have found them frequently under lids that have space they can creep underneath. When found in a house, they often have tiny bodies and long legs compare to other house spider species in the Upper Midwest giving their close resemble to daddy long legs but they moves fast compare to those.