This is a Cellar Spider in family Pholcidae. It is most likely to be Pholcus phalangioides. I think we have only two Pholcus species in New England. These spiders are very safe to have around. My house has them in every room. They eat insects, other spiders, and possibly mites. They’re great at battling fruit flies and other insects that live in house plant soil. They might live around a kitchen sink too to drink the leftover water droplets. If you have any questions about living with them, I’m happy to answer them.
The easiest humane way is to use some kind of stick or broom handle. If you stick it in the web and roll it or move it in small circles the webs will wrap around the stick quite neatly. The spider will usually end up on top of the clump. Then you can take it outdoors and slide the web and spider off. Or you could slide the clumps and spiders into a plastic storage container as you work and release them together. That’s how I’ve done it. Releasing them into a shed or barrel, some form of shelter will… Read more »
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This is a Cellar Spider in family Pholcidae. It is most likely to be Pholcus phalangioides. I think we have only two Pholcus species in New England. These spiders are very safe to have around. My house has them in every room. They eat insects, other spiders, and possibly mites. They’re great at battling fruit flies and other insects that live in house plant soil. They might live around a kitchen sink too to drink the leftover water droplets. If you have any questions about living with them, I’m happy to answer them.
Thank you for your help, there is a lot of them in my room is there a way of removing them.
The easiest humane way is to use some kind of stick or broom handle. If you stick it in the web and roll it or move it in small circles the webs will wrap around the stick quite neatly. The spider will usually end up on top of the clump. Then you can take it outdoors and slide the web and spider off. Or you could slide the clumps and spiders into a plastic storage container as you work and release them together. That’s how I’ve done it. Releasing them into a shed or barrel, some form of shelter will… Read more »
Pholcus phalangioides, or the long-bodied cellar spider. They are very scary to look at (they freak me out), but they’re harmless.