Holocnemus pluchei (Marbled cellar spider)
Holocnemus pluchei (Marbled cellar spider)
Written by Friday, 03 April 2009 00:00
“I dread success. To have succeeded is to have finished one's business on earth, like the male spider, who is killed by the female the moment he has succeeded in his courtship. I like a state of continual becoming with a goal in front and not behind.” George Bernard Shaw
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Holocnemus pluchei (Family: Pholcidae; common name: Marbled cellar spider; Daddy Long Legs; Vibrating spider) The most common spider to be found indoors is probably the Daddy Long Legs (not to be mistaken for the Harvestman arachnid) or Cellar spider, both belonging to the family Pholcidae. They can be identified by the cobwebby, hammock-like webs they commonly spin in houses. Contrary to urban myth, these spiders are completely harmless to humans, whether alive or ground up into a powder (1). They make their untidy webs in the corner of a wall or a ceiling. They are also often found in the basement or the cellar, which explains one of their common names (cellar spiders). When they are disturbed or under a threat of attack they start vibrating in their web violently to scare off and discourage their enemy; hence another of their common names, vibrating spiders. Predators are always fascinating and interesting photographic subjects, especially when aspects of their skills are revealed due to the macro capability of the lens. This spider had placed its web in a corner of the wall, about 1 m off the floor. A large fly was trapped in it and after many attempts to escape it was so tightly bound that the web looked almost like a cocoon. The spider waited till no more vibrations were sensed and then moved in. The first photo of the spider – fly complex shows them as floating in the air due to the light coloured background (the wall). Having seen this we kept the flash output to a minimum. In the first photo one of the legs of the spider is shown to get hold of the web, revealing the mystery. In the second and third photos, the spider and its pray are shown floating in the air with the web totally invisible. The third photo in particular shows the spider hidden by its pray since it was shot from a very low angle (from the side), putting the fly in the foreground but the focus was still on the spider. We changed the aperture from f/16 to f/8 in order to blur the fly and kind of isolate the spider. In the last photo, we decided to use the darker floor as the background which would result in more light from the flash and a detailed recording of the web around the fly. Thanks to Michael Negrini for identifying this spider. Photos by Marina Parha and George J. Reclos Camera: Nikon D300 1. Shutter speed - aperture: 1/60 sec - f/16, Aperture priority mode 2. Shutter speed - aperture: 1/60 sec - f/16, Aperture priority mode 3. Shutter speed - aperture: 1/60 sec - f/8, Aperture priority mode 4. Shutter speed - aperture: 1/60 sec - f/16, Aperture priority mode
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These photographs are the property of MCH Portal and cannot be reproduced without the written permission of the This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
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