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Daddy Long-legs Spider
Unidentified Pholcidae
15.4561, 119.92
Field Notes
Description:
According to Wikipedia, there are1820 species in 94 genera of the family Pholcidae listed in the World Spider Catalog. The first genus on the list is Aetana Huber, 2005 and it has 21 species, all of which are in Southeast Asia and 12 of them are present in Philippines. When I scrolled down the long world-wide list, there was just an occasional additional mention of the Philippines, but not a single one of those present in Philippines had any picture or information. They were all printed in the dreaded Wiki "red'. So, the best I can do is Unidentified Pholcidae.
Habitat:
These spiders were spotted on the underside of a corrugated metal roof which covers the rice mill water cooling tanks. It seems to be a very unsuitable habitat. The metal roof is in the shade of the rice mill main building in the morning, but it is unshaded and in the full glare of the tropical sun in the afternoon and becomes very hot. Additionally, when the rice mill engine is running, the open-top cooling tanks give off considerable heat which which must add to the temperature of the metal roof. (The roof sits a few inches above the tanks to keep leaves and any other wind-borne detritus from getting into the coolant). Regarding the web constructed by these Pholcidae (I'm sure everyone has seen this kind of web in some difficult-to-reach, high corner of the House) it is three dimensional and, even when it is newly built, looks like it has sustained considerable damage. It is made from a very fine "wispy" silk and has no recognizable form to it. It looks rather as if it were just thrown there. As far as I know, spiders have been present on the underside of the roof for years.
Notes:
Pic # 1. The best view I have of the body. Pic # 2. This photo demonstrates just how long the front legs are, but by way of a "bonus", if you would like to see something interesting, zoom in to the upper area of the photo, between the two legs pointing upwards (which form a "V" shape). You should be able to see a hatchling spider and, in the background, numerous exuviae left behind by hatchlings which have moulted. Pic # 3. A complete spider, including legs, squeezed into one photo. Pics # 4 & 5. A female carrying around a cluster of eggs. It seems that they are doing well in that harsh habitat. Pic # 6. This spider was near the edge of the roof and was in the sunshine, hence the different colouring. This picture was included to show a little of the web.
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