Some harvestmen are poisonous though.Ī general rule of thumb for whether something is poisonous or venomous is that if it bites you, it’s venomous and if you bite it, it’s poisonous. For harvestmen these arachnids don’t have venom glands, fangs or any other ability to chemically vanquish their prey. Without a mouth, crane flies are definitely out of the picture. Now that we know what animals' daddy long-legs could be referring to, let's go back to their venom. The stage you see crawling and flying around is their adult stage of life which only lasts a few days. They look like large mosquitoes but can't actually bite you because they lack a mouth. These are insects in the family Tipulidae. There are also crane flies which is another creature that shares the well-used daddy long-legs name. Since they are most commonly found in cellars, hence their name. This is most likely the animal you call daddy long-legs when you see them. This is a true spider with two body segments, and eight eyes, and makes webs with silk. Since they are typically found under rocks and such, most people actually don’t see them.Īnother critter often called daddy long-legs is a true spider referred to as cellar spiders in the family Pholcidae. They don’t make silk, so you’d never see one in a web - unless a different spider was eating them. They can be found in damp areas under rocks and logs. These are not “true spiders” and have only one basic body segment with all eight legs attached, and at most two eyes. The creature most correctly called daddy long-legs are harvestmen. To this day no one is quite sure where it all started. The name daddy long-legs came about because of their small oval body and long legs, however, it’s still a great mystery where the “daddy" part of the nickname came from. When people run into the creepy crawlies, the name daddy long-legs is used but this name can refer to at least three different animals. You may have heard this before, “daddy-longlegs are one of the most venomous spiders, but their fangs are too short to bite people." But it is not true, so let’s set some things straight. We take a look at why daddy long-legs aren’t the most venomous spider in the world. MISSOULA - The tale of daddy long-legs in popular culture having venom with the highest mammalian potency of all spiders is a stark example of a disconnect in scientific understanding.
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