Appearance:
Daddy Long Legs spiders are gray to light brown in color. They have a rectangular, elongated abdomen and four pairs of long, slender legs that may be up to 30 times as long as its body, causing them to appear much larger than they actually are.

Size:
The body ranges from 1/10 to ½-inch in length, but with the legs extended it may be up to 2-inches long.

Behavior:
Adults tend to hide during the day and become active at night when they search for food such as plant juices, dead and sometimes living insects. When they move the second pair of legs, the longest, touch the surface in search of food. If something edible is found, it begins a teetering motion and tilts its body forward ands grabs its prey.

When a daddy long legs web is disturbed or when large prey gets entangled in their web, it vibrates rapidly in a gyrating motion, becoming blurred and making it difficult for a predator to see where the spider is. It is also helpful for capturing insects that have brushed their web and may still be nearby. Because of this behavior it is sometimes referred to as a “vibrating spider”.

Habitat:
Daddy long legs spiders hang inverted in messy, irregular, tangled webs. These webs are constructed in dark and damp recesses, in caves, under rocks and loose bark, abandoned rodent burrows, and undisturbed areas in buildings and cellars, hence the common name "cellar spiders".

Certain species of daddy long legs invade webs of other spiders and eat the host, eggs, or prey. In some cases the spider vibrates the web of other spiders, mimicking the feel of struggling prey, to lure the web’s host out in the open. They are known to attack and eat Redback and Huntsman spiders.

Interesting Fact:
If the daddy long-legs is in danger of being caught, it can break off a portion of its legs and then escape while the detached legs continue to quiver in front of a confounded predator. Daddy long-legs can grow new legs to replace the broken ones. Also, it should be noted that the name “daddy long legs” is also applied to two distantly related arthropod groups: harvestmen-which are arachnids and not spiders-and crane flies, which are insects.

Control:
These spiders are harmless to man as their jaws are unable to penetrate human skin, and the venom dose is also too minute. Their venom is neurotoxic but is only deadly to its prey. They are sometimes left alone in the home as they control various insect pests such as mosquitoes, flies, ants and moths.

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