Arachnophobia, the fear of spiders, affects approximately 1 in 5 women and 1 in 10 men.
So I’m sure you’re not alone if you feel like something out of a horror movie.
That is, when your eyes catch sight of those eight legs, or worse, if one suddenly jumps at you!
While spiders are the only creatures with multiple pairs of legs, the way they use their eight appendages varies considerably between species.
Here are the types of spiders with long legs!
1. Giant Daddy-Long-Legs Spider
The Giant Daddy-Long-Legs Spider is one of the types of spiders with long legs. It is a brown spider with a leg span of about 3.2 in (8.3 cm) for females. And up to 5 in (13 cm) for males.
However, the egg sac is attached to the mother’s abdomen, with an outer surface ribbed like the outside of an orange peel. There is also silk lining inside, with the eggs packed tightly against each other.
Therefore, What makes this spider dangerous? Despite its name, it hasn’t been shown to prey on humans or animals larger than insects or small spiders.
2. Harvestman Cellar Spider
There are many types of spiders with long legs; the harvestman cellar spider is one example. This spider has very long, thin legs and lives inside home cellars.
However, the females can grow up to 6 inches in size. They are typically brown or orange with a yellow or light brown stripe on the abdomen.
Females typically stay within home cellars while males travel outside looking for a mate during warmer months of the year.
Moreover, Harvestmen’s cellar spiders do not create webs. Instead, scavenge prey items unfortunate enough to get caught in their homes.
3. Pale Daddy Longlegs Spider
The Pale Daddy Longlegs Spider is the largest spider in North America, with a leg span of up to five inches. It’s also known as the harvestman and is one of the types of spiders with long legs.
Moreover, the hatchling grows up to one inch long before molting for the first time. It also sheds its outer skeleton and becomes about two or three times larger.
4. Cellar Spider
The cellar spider, for example, is one of the specific types of spiders with long legs. This harmless arachnid has a venomous bite, but other than that, it’s harmless.
Moreover, Cellar spiders are named so because they live in dark places. And generally, crawl out to find prey at night when they are most active.
These types of spiders with long legs have eight sets of eyes, and their eyesight is acute in low-light conditions.
Moreover, these spiders eat whatever small bugs they can handle – including insects. The cellar spider is also known as the long-bodied cellar spider (Pholcus phalangioides). It is a non-aggressive type of arachnid with elongated bodies.
However, they’re easy to find and are fairly harmless–mostly just annoying pests that lurk in dark, cool areas. And can sometimes fall prey to poisonous predators.
The adults have an average body length between 10-20 millimeters (mm), which might not seem scary on its own.
But these critters have abnormally long legs stretching up to 25 mm. Their eyes are located at the front, next to their head.
This gives them an advantageous point from where they scan for danger as they slowly spin webs near the ground.
5. Tailed Cellar Spider
The tailed cellar spider belongs to a family that has undergone many name changes. But they are now known as the Nesticidae and are one of the types of spiders with long legs.
Their length usually ranges from 15-30 mm, with an abdomen length anywhere from 3 to 10 mm.
However, Tailed cellar spiders live in small, dark areas such as corners and ceilings. They hang upside down with their front two legs resting like bulldogs on the floor. And their other six appendages clinging to the ceiling or walls.
6. Short-Bodied Cellar Spider
The cellar spider, Pholcus phalangioides is one of the spiders with long legs. It is a species of spider that grows to around 1 cm in body length. And also lives as an intertidal creature.
The short-bodied cellar spider is often confused with daddy longlegs. But it belongs to the same family as orb weavers. That is, like the golden silk spider and the common house spider.
Moreover, the short-bodied cellar spiders are among the oldest known arthropods on Earth. And they go all the way back to ancient Pompeii.
Nevertheless, they’re found in many old buildings because they prefer damp areas that may be too dark for humans. But they are perfect habitats for them.
7. Long-Bodied Cellar Spider
If you’re concerned about a spider in your home, this is the one to look for. The cellar spider’s favorite place to lurk is cornered under furniture, cracks, and crevices. It’s easy to identify by its elongated body and furry front legs.
Although they’re often feared, these little guys are relatively harmless and don’t bite humans. But their bites may result in painful swelling. They feed on insects like flies and cockroaches, which have some benefits!
8. Six-Eyed Sand Spider
When sand spiders emerge from their silken retreats during mating season, they have six eyes instead of eight. And unlike many other arachnids, they also have moveable jaws. When provoked, sand spiders can give off an unpleasant odor similar to urine or rotting flesh as a defense mechanism.
9. Black Widow
These spiders earn their name because females kill males after mating with them! Black widows are found all over North America–even in people’s homes–and prefer moist environments. Such as outdoors around ponds or indoor areas where water leaks might occur.
10. Marbled Cellar Spider
Most arachnids have eight legs; some species have fewer. The marbled cellar spider is a creature that has seven legs instead of the typical eight found on most spiders. These long-legged creatures look like a dusty green shade with light gray stripes.
Also, they’re known for having a long, thin abdomen that gives them a banded appearance when relaxed.
The leg span for this particular spider can grow up to 2 inches in length. Making it significantly larger than your typical spider.
While the marbled cellar spider can be venomous like other types of spiders with long legs, it typically won’t bite humans unless it feels like other outside forces are assaulting it.
11. The Goliath Birdeater
Don’t be fooled by its cute name. The Goliath Birdeater is a real-life nightmare. This species is one of the world’s biggest and most poisonous spiders in Venezuela, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Brazil.
Although it’s been spotted as far north as Florida and as far south as Paraguay, that’s right: down to Paraguay.
12. Colombian Giant Red Tarantula
This one is first because it is the only spider that can catch birds and bats. Colombian Giant Red Tarantulas are also known as the rainforest Goliath bird-eating spider or just red mygale.
Moreover, these spiders have the largest leg span on average and the longest leg span at up to 12 inches. They are mainly found in humid forests in Colombia and Venezuela.
They are parthenogenic, which means they can give birth without any males, and their venom isn’t dangerous to humans.
But it’s fatal to lizards, snakes, frogs, and small birds. Their nickname might sound frightening, but they’re a docile species.
They become aggressive when attacked but usually remain very calm, even when handled for long periods by humans.
13. Mouse Spider
The long-bodied cellar spider is commonly found in North America, typically inhabiting dark, moist areas like cellars. The spider has several physical characteristics that distinguish it from other spiders.
It is also easy to identify if you are ever lucky enough to come across one: Its body is typically 5/8 long.
However, it has light-colored, transverse bars on the abdomen and stripes on the cephalothorax. The eyes are light-colored, and there are six fairly large eyes with two pairs on either side of their heads. There is a dark mark under each eye in adults.
14. Ornamental Tarantulas
The ornamental tarantulas are a group of spiders that come from the genus Brachypelma. Some think the word tarantula is synonymous with these types of spiders with long legs.
But in actuality, the only thing these two groups have in common is that they both contain hairy arachnids.
However, the long-legged variety also has short, thick bodies and small heads. One expert thinks that the word spider could be interchangeable for an arthropod. These particular ones hail from Mexico.
15. Huntsman Spider
Huntsman spiders are large, fast-running spiders found in forests and dry bush countries. They grow to be about one foot (30 centimeters) long. Huntsman spiders live near the ground, but sometimes they can be seen high up in trees.
However, huntsmen don’t build webs; instead, they ambush prey on the ground or in bushes by chasing it down. And using its strong front legs to grab the prey before biting it with its fangs.
Moreover, the Huntsmans have small jaws, so they don’t inject as much venom into their victim. That is, as much as other types of spiders with long legs.
However, they’re fast, and people usually get bitten by mistake when trying to kick one off their leg or hand.
