Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
Clickable Guide
Moths Butterflies Flies Caterpillars Flies Dragonflies Flies Mantids Cockroaches Bees and Wasps Walkingsticks Earwigs Ants Termites Hoppers and Kin Hoppers and Kin Beetles True Bugs Fleas Grasshoppers and Kin Ticks Spiders Scorpions Centipedes Millipedes

Calendar

TaxonomyBrowseInfoImagesLinksBooksData
Photo#384538
Attack of the Pseuton Spiders! Captured Grasshopper! - Holocnemus pluchei

Attack of the Pseuton Spiders! Captured Grasshopper! - Holocnemus pluchei
Fullerton Arboretum, Fullerton, Orange County, California, USA
April 8, 2010
Hunched over the computer, I'm puzzling over the ID of several spiders. Grandson Owen peers over my shoulder and volunteers: "Oh, those are Pseuton spiders." Before posting, I verify spelling with him, but am a bit skeptical as to the result since, at age four, he isn't that great a speller. (Personally, I have a hunch this is the marbled cellar spider Holocnemus pluchei, but what do I know?)

Images of this individual: tag all
Attack of the Pseuton Spiders! Captured Grasshopper! - Holocnemus pluchei Attack of the Pseuton Spiders! Captured Grasshopper! - Holocnemus pluchei

Moved
Moved from Cellar Spiders.

 
This is H. pluchei, the Marbl
This is H. pluchei, the Marbled Cellar Spider, easily identified by its diagnostic wide, black ventral stripe (visible in this photo). Among California's pholcids, only H. pluchei has this unique "marbled" appearance. It was introduced from the Mediterranean region and is now widespread throughout the southwestern United States. This individual appears especially contrastingly marked, and based on its coloration (light brown instead of dark) and size, this spider is likely a juvenile.

The panel of judges...
...gives the senior Hemberger 5 points for coming up with a plausible species match, but young Owen receives a whopping 20 points for unparalleled creativity... thus wiping the floor with his grandpa in this title match.

 
He's always a couple steps ahead of me.
But he often steps into things he shouldn't, so I pull him out.

Moved
Moved from Spiders.

Comment viewing options
Select your preferred way to display the comments and click 'Save settings' to activate your changes.