[1] A member of the genus Pholcus in the family Pholcidae, P. phalangioides shares ancestry with roughly 1,340 similar cellar-spiders.

This is not to be confused with organisms with similar physical appearances, such as the crane fly - an insect - and harvestmen of the arachnid order Opiliones.

[8] The population sizes of P. phalangioides are influenced greatly by the presence of human-made buildings since these spiders prefer warmer habitats indoors.

The large number of buildings in the world has favoured P. phalangioides, though populations tend to be relatively small, widely dispersed, and greatly isolated from one another.

Although some gene flow does exist between populations, its importance has been insignificant when compared to that of geographical isolation-driven genetic drift.

As a result, most P. phalangioides individuals of the same population that live in the same geographical region will have a very low degree of genetic variation (intrapopulation differentiation).

During molting, the spider will produce certain enzymes that release the rest of its body from the underlying tissue of its exoskeleton.

[14][15] As a synanthropic species, Pholcus phalangioides has largely had its modern geographic distribution determined by the spread of humans around the world.

[2] P. phalangioides are not suited for survival in cold environments which is why they in these regions prefer the warmth of the indoors, specifically inside human dwellings.

In times of low prey availability, both the males and females of the species will turn to cannibalism to meet their nutritional needs.

During mimicry, the jumping spider produces certain specialized vibrations near the edge of the webs of P. phalangioides.

At this point, the jumping spider is in an optimal position to leap onto and attack P. phalangioides, thus subduing them in many instances.

The rapid gyrating associated with the whirling disturbs the vision of the Salticid spiders such that they can no longer rely on their acute eyesight to pinpoint the location of P. phalangioides.

This mimicry consists of creating specialized vibrations to trick the prey into thinking that it has caught an insect or another spider.

The prey then slowly approaches its supposed catch at which point the P. phalangioides spider raises up on its long legs.

According to researchers Greta Binford and Pamela Zobel-Thropp, the effects of P. phalangioides venom on humans and other mammals are negligible.

In humans, the P. phalangioides bite simply results in a mild stinging sensation that has no long-term health consequences.

In order to reach this stage with a fully formed male genital system, P. phalangioides must first go through two subadult phases.

In a similar manner to the adult genital system, the vas deferens in young males is connected to the distal, thin part of the testis.

The distal portion of the vas deferens is incredibly narrow and is not characterized by the presence of spermatozoa or other secretions.

[24] Instead, the posterior wall of uterus externus, or genital cavity, serves as the site of sperm storage.

These glands release a secretion into the uterus externus which functions as a matrix to hold the male spermatozoa and seminal fluid in place upon copulation.

[25][26] These accessory glands are composed of multiple glandular units, they themselves consisting of two secretory and envelope cells each.

At this point, receptive females will take on a specific position in which they are motionless with their opisthosoma turned horizontally and their legs extended outward.

[25] Copulation begins as the males use their chelicerae to rapidly move back and forth across the female's ventral body surface.

[29][7] Certain antimicrobial biomolecules found in the spider silk of P. phalangioides are able to elicit an inhibitory effect on drug-resistant human pathogens including gram-positive bacteria L. monocytogenes, gram-negative E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Dragline silk serves as the spider's attachment to its web should it need to retreat from predators or just go back in general.

By shining a laser onto this lens, researchers were able to generate high-quality photonic nanojets (PNJs), or high-intensity scattered beams of light.

These photonic nanojets could be adjusted by manipulating the amount of time that the silk spends in contact with the resin.

This adjustable spider silk-based lens could be used in the future for biological tissue imaging, highlighting the biomedical importance of P.