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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 it is rare for human to be bitten as their jaws
do not open very wide. 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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Reply: This looks like a daddy long legs- glen
31 July, 2010:
Hey we were trying to clean out a cabinet to move so we could paint the wall behind it and this spider stumbled out when we opened the doors...very disoriented and drunk looking lol Could you tell us what it is?
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Reply: This is some sort of fungus that the spider has
decided to make its home near - glen
10 June, 2010:
What kind of spider makes this type of web/home? It looks like a Daddy Long Legs, but I’ve never seen a home like this one. It was found at a baseboard in a rarely used bathroom beside the sink.
We live in Western Pennsylvania, USA.
Sincerely,
Shawn
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16 November, 2009:
I HOPE YOU CAN USE SOME OF MY PICTURES ON YOUR WEBSITE!
MC
Click for a larger view |
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Reply: Not sure what this one is
with its 6 legs and the photo not too clear. Looks a bit like a
daddy long legs, it's definitely not a brown recluse - glen
14 October, 2009:
Hi Glen,
Yet here is another that has fascinated me all summer long and continues
to thrive in the ceiling corner of our bathroom. I see in the photo
what looks to be six clear pairs of eyes above the wide violin shape,
yet this one has only six legs... Were two lost?
What ere it????? Please.. Thanks very much.
Jim
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9 September, 2009:
Hello! Wondering if you could identify this spider for me. It's been hanging out in my basement in Boise, Idaho, U.S.A. I'm sure it's harmless. Just curious. Should be a simple one for you.
Thanks,
Phil
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5 September, 2009:
Hello, I love your site! I started taking pictures of spiders in my
house after my one year old son started getting what I think are yellow
sac spider bites. (Lymph filled blisters that rupture and take months to
heal.) So far your site has helped me identify 5 out of 6 of the spiders
I've found (including what I think is a yellow sac), and now I know
which are safe enough to catch and release, and which aren't worth the
risk (lest they escape and bite my son again). Except for the nursery
web spider who's picture was taken a few years ago (the most photogenic
of them all, and thanks to your site I know they're not dangerous), all
the spiders I caught were no bigger than a 1/3 of an inch... All the spiders I've photographed are from southern New Jersey. Please let me know if I've grossly misidentified any of my spiders. Feel free to post any pictures you like and thanks for making such a great site!
-Laura Lee
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30 September, 2008:
Here's a Daddy Long Legs I discovered in my house in Aliso Viejo (south of Los Angeles) two years ago. A tiny little spider with a Napoleonic complex! You can use my picture.
Jim
Click for a larger view. |
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30 August, 2008:
hello, i was visiting you site looking for the answer to how long the incubation period for spiders is.
i have had this spider sitting on my wall for over a week now.... and was wondering when the eggs may hatch.
i'm in the UK
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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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10 June, 2010:
You might have read that we seem determined to kill every living thing in the Gulf of Mexico by drowing it and its larva or eggs or embryos with crude oil. The diversity of life and the astonishing forms life pursues continues to fascinate me--just exactly does this silly thing get on down the road is problematic, but it does. Best always, use in any way you wish for teaching or loaning out to others, Ellen |
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Reply: This is one is an opilione
- glen
3 January, 2010:
Hi Glen,
Great website -- thanks. Here's a couple of spiders that I can't identify from my yard.
I live in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I apologize for the lack of clarity in my pictures, I'm still learning to use the macro setting on my camera.
The other one was in my garden, and the body is not very big -- maybe about the diameter of a pea, or a little smaller.
And.. I believe I've identified the last spider correctly, as a grass spider, thanks to your website. Let me know if I'm wrong!
Thanks for your help.
--
Sue |
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Reply: This is also an opilione
- glen
24 October, 2009:
My dad and I were walking through the woods yesterday in central Illinois and when we picked up and old brick, we discovered this odd looking spider. We have been unable to identify it even though we looked at all your pictures. We were wondering if you had any clue as to what spider this could be. There is a picture attached. Thank you for your help.
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Reply: This is also an opilione
-harvestman or the other daddy long legs.
6 August, 2009:
Hi Glen,
I have looked all over the web for anything that looks like this and haven't been able to find anything. I visited your site and still didn't see anything else like it. I hope you can help. I've only seen this one time, I was moving my coconut palm inside from outdoors and this may have dropped off the bottom of the pot and started crawling back outside (not quickly though). It was about an inch long total. Is it even a spider? I live in NE oklahoma. |
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Reply: Looks like an opilione
-harvestman or the other daddy long legs.
6 August, 2009:
Here is a photo I took today of a corn “spider condo”. It is a daddy long legs that has been residing in my corn growing in a container pot on the patio. He’s been living in it for about 2 weeks now and comes out regularly to get in the sun so took a photo with my digital camera. It turned out clear and good of him. Credit {if used} Susan Lauraine. |
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16 February, 2009:
Hi Glen,
I live in London, England and when I was in Cornwall, England I found this guy in my boyfriends back garden. from our wildlife's point of view, this is totally bizaar! could you please identify it?
many thanks, Louise |
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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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