The spiders are also called "vibrating" spiders. This name points to a special behaviour: This Pholcus species begins vibrating its whole body when disturbed by a possible enemy. It moves the whole body quickly up and down, what makes the web around swinging in a rhythmical way. The spider's outlines go lost for a while, in which it seems to be completely invisible for its enemies.
The behaviour does not exist in all Pholcus species. It obviously can also be found in other spider-groups. It may have evolved several times convergently.
This Pholcus is characterized by conspicuously elongated legs.
Most species of the genus live in the warmer regions such as in China and Central- or South-East-Asia.
P. phalangioides has a cosmopolitan distribution and often live in human buildings, such as cellars of old houses.