![]() ![]() In the fall, they can become a nuisance when they congregate in large clusters on trees and homes, usually around eves and windows. Daddy-longlegs also scavenge for dead insects and will eat bird droppings. They have a very broad diet that includes spiders and insects, including plant pests such as aphids. In South Carolina and the rest of the southeast, daddy-longlegs can overwinter as adults and live for up to two years.ĭaddy-longlegs are generally beneficial. ![]() In the northern areas of the United States, daddy-longlegs live for only one year. The eggs are laid in the autumn and hatch in the spring. The second pair of legs are the longest and are used as a sensory structure similar to the way insects use their antennae.įemale daddy-longlegs lay their eggs in soil, under stones, or cracks in wood. The ability to break off legs is similar to the ability of lizards to break off a portion of their tail if being attacked by a predator. Males tend to have smaller bodies than females but they have longer legs. The body of most adult daddy-longlegs is about 1/16-1/2 inch long, oval with very long legs. To protect themselves, daddy-longlegs produce a pungent odor most predators find distasteful. Daddy-longlegs have mouthparts similar to those of crabs or scorpions that they use to hold prey while they eat. A very popular urban legend states that the daddy-longlegs are the most poisonous spiders in the world, but their fangs are too small to penetrate human skin. Daddy-longlegs do not produce venom, nor do they have fangs. Spiders also produce venom they inject through fangs to quickly kill and digest prey. Daddy-longlegs do not have spinnerets that spiders have to produce silk and make webs. While they have eight legs and an outward appearance of a spider, daddy-longlegs lack two of the most important features that make a spider a spider: silk production and venom. The common name, daddy-longlegs, likely came about because of their small oval body and long legs, and the name harvestman because they are most often seen in large numbers in the fall around harvest time. They are not spiders, but belong to a group with many different species, called Opiliones. You see them almost every day, but very little is known about daddy-longlegs, also called harvestmen. ![]()
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