Summary
Cellar spiders have extremely long, thin legs (3–4× body length), a small pale body, and build messy webs in ceiling corners. Brown recluses have legs only 2× body length and do not build prey webs.
Diagnostic traits
| Trait | Brown Recluse | Cellar Spider |
|---|---|---|
| Body shape | Oval, flat | Small body, peanut-shaped |
| Leg length | ≈ 2× body length | ≈ 4× body length |
| Web | Loose silk retreat, no prey web | Tangled web in ceiling corner |
| Eyes | 6 eyes in 3 pairs | 8 eyes |
| Location | Closets, basements, attics, boxes | High ceiling corners, garages |
The bottom line
At-a-glance comparison
| Brown Recluse | Cellar Spider | |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific | Loxosceles reclusa | Pholcus phalangioides |
| Family | Sicariidae | Pholcidae |
| ♀ body | 7–12 mm | 7–10 mm |
| Leg span | 20–30 mm | 40–70 mm |
| Range | 16 U.S. states | 1 U.S. states |
| Medical | Medically significant | Not medically significant |