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DADDY-LONG-LEGS
The animal which most biologists call "daddy-long-legs", is a spider,
Pholcus phalangioides, which belongs to the spider family Pholcidae, order
Araneida, class Arachnida. Pholcid spiders are araneomorph spiders which kill and digest their prey
using venom. However
there is no scientific basis for the urban myth that daddy-long-legs are the
most venomous, poisonous or toxic spiders in the world. Daddy-long-legs spiders have venom glands and fangs but their tiny
fangs are fused at the base and they cannot open their jaws wide enough to
bite humans. As they supposedly cannot bite humans, their venom has not been studied in
detail. As far as Dr Mike Gray (senior arachnologist
at the Australian Museum) knows, there is no evidence in the scientific
literature to suggest that the venom of daddy-long-legs could harm humans.
There is also not much scientific evidence to suggest whether or not they
can bite humans, this seems to be part of the myth as well!! However daddy-long-legs kill and eat other spiders, including Redback
Spiders whose venom CAN be fatal to humans. Perhaps this is the origin of
the rumour that daddy-long-legs are the most venomous spiders in the world.
It might be argued that if they can kill a deadly spider, they must be even
more deadly themselves, but daddy-long-legs only need to be quicker to bite,
not more venomous. |
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8 June, 2008:
Hi, I was helping my sister clean out her closet and when I reached up to get the shelf items, I was horrified to find a clan of spiders. They look like Daddy Long Legs but with a different body. They're at least 3 inches with legs. I have got a picture of one, can you help me?
We live in Chesapeake, Virginia right on the NC/VA line.
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2005:
Hey I've visited your site a lot and used to be very scared of
spiders but now its almost like I've got used to them as we get
a lot in this house. I find them fascinating and the other day I
noticed a daddy long legs was sitting in my wardrobe with some
eggs in its mouth. This morning I looked and they had all
hatched! David
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HARVESTMEN - OPILIONES |
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HARVESTMEN
The other eight-legged invertebrates
which are sometimes called "daddy-long-legs", are members of the order
Opiliones or Opilionida in the class Arachnida. Biologists generally call
these animals 'harvestmen' (e.g. the CSIRO Handbook (ed. Ian Naumann) cited
above). Unlike spiders, they only have one part to their bodies and their bodies do not have a 'waist' and they do not
produce silk; they normally have only one pair of eyes. They do not have
venom glands or fangs, although they may
produce noxious defence secretions. Most harvestmen eat smaller
invertebrates but some eat plant material and others feed on carcasses of
dead mammals and birds. |
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Reply: Looks like an opilione
-hravestman or the other daddy long legs
and possibly a male.
9 August, 2008:
Glen could you possibly tell me what spider this
is. It came out of a drum which came from the China area Dave |
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29 July, 2008:
This other spider that looks like a daddy long legs. |
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4 March, 2008:
Hello again....
I'd love to know what the spider is in the attached photo, and hope that you can help me once again. Hopefully it's among the harmless here in SW Florida. :)
I've reduced the picture down to 50%, but I think it's still pretty clear.
Thanks so much for sharing your time and knowledge....
Kimberly |
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4 March, 2008:
Hi Glen, I had fogotten about this little fella that was
stretching out inside of a mortor join the other night.
Saw his picture and thought you might like to see it.
Feel free to use it if you want - Damy
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Hello Glen, I was hiking along side a creek bed and I saw this cave
structure and I happened to spot a Orchard spider around the rocks in
the entrence of this cave-like openeing. I happened to also see some
Harvestman by the area as well. I kept trying to look inside the opening to see if
I could see anything. A minute or two latter I heard this ruffling
inside the cave and I thought it was some sort of
mammal (i.e. a skunk or
snake maybe). Then I heard this low frequency high pitch streetching noise
coming and some sort of whistling
of grass noise as well. Instantly after, 200+ harvestman spiders
were rushing out of the cave. It was an amazing sight to see.
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