Coming Soon to a Cellar Near You: Novel Range Expansion of a Short-Bodied Cellar Spider, Physocyclus enaulus (Araneae: Pholcidae), in a Building in Central Illinois, USA

Authors

• Ricky Gieser, Illinois Natural History Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois Urbana-ChampaignFollow
• Mark Davis, Illinois Natural History Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois Urbana-ChampaignFollow

Document Type

Entomological Note

Abstract

A reproductive population of Physocyclus enaulus Crosby, 1926 (Pholcidae: Araneae), a short-bodied cellar spider native to the American southwest and Mexico, is documented for the first time in a single building in Illinois, far outside of their known native range. The means of introduction is unknown but is likely influenced by either accidental hitchhiking spiders or a deliberate introduction to control brown recluse populations. Cellar spiders were purchased and released in the same building to predate on brown recluse spiders, but the first P. enaulus individual was found a year prior to the release. These cellar spiders have a wide-ranging diet and eat both native and other introduced species, and P. enaulus may pose a threat to native ecosystems if they spread beyond their current location.

Recommended Citation

Gieser, Ricky and Davis, Mark 2026. "Coming Soon to a Cellar Near You: Novel Range Expansion of a Short-Bodied Cellar Spider, Physocyclus enaulus (Araneae: Pholcidae), in a Building in Central Illinois, USA," The Great Lakes Entomologist, vol 59 (1)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.22543/0090-0222.2623
Available at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle/vol59/iss1/14