Two spiders in the bath - only one came out alive

Cellar spiders Pholcus phalangioides look fragile, with those long, slender legs, but they are formidable hunters. This is what happened when a house spider climbed down into our bath, to drink from a dripping tap, and became trapped. The cellar spider climbed down after it, snared it with silk, bit and paralysed it, then wrapped up its prey in a silken shroud.

The cellar spider had little difficulty in climbing out, with its prey slung under its body, then spent the rest of the day clinging to the skirting board, guarding its meal from rival spiders.

These lanky, harmless arachnids need warmth and are confined to human dwellings in Britain. In 1958 the eminent arachnologist W.S. Bristowe, in his book The World of Spiders, described how he zig-zagged across England on his motorcycle, requesting to see hotel rooms on the pretext that he might rent them, so that he could check for the presence of Pholcus and map its distribution. He only found it along a narrow corridor in southern England.

Since then this synanthropic spider has moved north – perhaps in furniture removal lorries, because it seems to have a predilection for living behind settees and under tables – and has even reached the Shetland islands.

The spider season

 There are some fascinating spiders around at this time of the year. This little beauty is a zebra spider, that lives in my greenhouse. It doesn't make a web, it leaps on its prey. The forward-facing pair of its eight eyes are especially large, giving it binocular forward vision and the ability to judge distance accurately.

The garden spider below has spun its web in my greenhouse, across the doorway: I have to duck under it to get in and out. I watched as it caught this wasp and wrapped it in a silken shroud in less that 20 seconds. In the second picture you can see the prey's jaws protruding through the silk, as it tried to bite its way out - unsuccessfully.

This house spider, below, had fallen into our bath - probably entering the bathroom through an open window after climbing up the outside wall. It most likely fell in when it tried to drink from the dripping tap. It's now re-housed in the greenhouse.

House spiders look fearsome but they are easy prey for cellar spiders that trap them in their silken threads, using their long legs to drape the thread around their prey, then paralysing it with venom. They guard their captured prey, usually taking a couple of days to eat them, leaving only a few pieces of its exoskeleton. 

Both cellar spiders and crane flies are commonly known as daddy-long-legs but when the two meet (below) the outcome is never in doubt. Most crane flies that find their way into our house end up in a cellar spider's web.

Our two year-old granddaughter's favourite spider

Our two year-old grand daughter was fascinated by this magnificent house spider Tegenaria domestica that's living it its web in a corner of  a window in our house.

It's not often that you get this unusual underside view of the body, revealing the prey's-eye view of the jaws, and all the leg joints. Usually you just see them dashing across the floor late in the evening, or trapped in the bath when they search for a drink from a dripping tap.

Though large, they are harmless and do a very good job of catching those annoying flies that find their way into the house in autumn. These spiders in turn are preyed upon by cellar spiders (daddy-long-legs spiders) and, since there are two of these living behind the settee, this house spider's days may be numbered.