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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Chelicerates (Chelicerata) » Arachnids (Arachnida) » Spiders (Araneae) » True Spiders (Araneomorphae) » Entelegynae » Cheiracanthiidae » Long-legged Sac Spiders (Cheiracanthium) » Cheiracanthium mildei

Species Cheiracanthium mildei

Classification · Other Common Names · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Season · Food · Life Cycle · Remarks · Works Cited
green spider - Cheiracanthium mildei - male Unidentified Spider - Cheiracanthium mildei Brown spider - Cheiracanthium mildei yellow sac spider - Cheiracanthium mildei - female is this??? - Cheiracanthium mildei - female Pale yellow spider - Cheiracanthium mildei spider at porch light - Cheiracanthium mildei Unknown spider found in Cambridge, MA - Cheiracanthium mildei
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Chelicerata (Chelicerates)
Class Arachnida (Arachnids)
Order Araneae (Spiders)
Infraorder Araneomorphae (True Spiders)
No Taxon (Entelegynae)
Family Cheiracanthiidae
Genus Cheiracanthium (Long-legged Sac Spiders)
Species mildei (Cheiracanthium mildei)
Other Common Names
Yellow Sac Spider, Black-footed Spider
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
See the World Spider Catalog.
Explanation of Names
Author: C. L. Koch, 1839
Size
7-10 mm
Identification
C. mildei is a relatively small, pale greenish, tan or straw-colored spider. Its front pair of legs is longer than the others, and all four pairs end in double claws.

Male:
The male can be recognized by having a pedipalp with 2 equally long tibial apophyses. (C. inclusum appears to have one short apophysis and one long apophysis.)


Female:
epigyne
Range
Holarctic distribution as well as southern South America (Argentina).
Habitat
They make a resting tube in a rolled leaf or under bark or stones. (1)
More often found inside man-made structures (as opposed to C. inclusum which is found more often outdoors). Habitat is not the best way to separate them, though, as BugGuide does have photos of C. mildei found outdoors. Genitalia needs to be examined for a conclusive ID.
Season
Indoor populations of C. mildei are non-seasonal and can be adult at any time.
Food
Any small invertebrate (e.g. insects).
Life Cycle
After mating, females lay 30-48 eggs, cover them in a thin, white silken sac and guard them. The egg sacs may be found in protected areas, or even wrapped in a folded leaf. All stages of sac spiders make a silken cell (the "sac"), in which they rest when not active.
Remarks
Being Bitten:
Yellow sac spider bites occur most frequently when the very defensive spider is trapped in clothing.

As Rod Crawford points out, "It turned out that the association of this spider with blisters and lesions was wrong, though accepted by everyone until recently. See the attached paper. I'd say this species ought to be taken off the medical concern list." See full article here.

Sac spiders are classified as hunting spiders. These spiders are very active at night and will emerge from their day resting sacs to run along walls and ceilings in pursuit of prey. If startled, they drop down on draglines and scurry away!

Imported from Europe in the 1940s.
Works Cited
1.Spiders and Their Kin: A Golden Guide from St. Martin's Press
Herbert W. Levi, Lorna R. Levi, Nicholas Strekalovsky. 2001. St. Martin's Press.
Contributed by Troy Bartlett on 13 April, 2004 - 6:01pm
Additional contributions by Lynette Elliott, Christopher Hunt, cheins, dragonfly12, jsloan, Mandy Howe, Laura P., chuuuuung
Last updated 6 March, 2023 - 4:29pm

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