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Apr 25, 2024 · daddy longlegs, (order Opiliones), any of more than 6,000 species of arachnids (class Arachnida) that are known for their extremely long and thin legs and for their compact bodies. Daddy longlegs are closely related to scorpions (order Scorpiones) but, because of their appearance, are often mistaken as spiders (order Araneida or Araneae).
- Kara Rogers
The Pholcidae are a family of araneomorph spiders. The family contains more than 1,800 individual species of pholcids, including those commonly known as cellar spider, daddy long-legs spider, carpenter spider, daddy long-legger, vibrating spider, gyrating spider, long daddy, and skull spider. The family, first described by Carl Ludwig Koch in ...
- Pholcidae, C. L. Koch, 1850
- Arthropoda
- Daddy Longlegs Aren't Spiders. First, daddy longlegs make up the order Opiliones and aren't spiders. They are arachnids, but so too are mites, ticks, and scorpions.
- They Aren't Venomous. A common urban myth is that daddy longlegs have the most toxic venom of all spiders, but their fangs are too small to bite. Even if they were spiders, they don't have venom glands or fangs.
- They Can't See Very Well. Daddy longlegs have simple eyes mounted on eye turrets attached to their bodies. These eyes act as light sensors and do not appear to provide more than blurry images.
- They Are Ancient. The Opiliones first appeared a long time ago and have barely changed at all over millions of years. Fossils dating back 400 million years, before dinosaurs roamed the earth, look very similar to today's daddy longlegs.
- Daddy longlegs aren’t spiders … Yes, they’re arachnids, but they’re actually more closely related to scorpions than they are to spiders. They don’t produce silk, have just one pair of eyes, and have a fused body (unlike spiders, which have a narrow “waist” between their front and rear).
- And they’re not venomous. That thing you heard at summer camp about daddy longlegs being the most poisonous creature in the world, but with fangs too weak to bite you?
- They’re very, very old. “We know from a very well preserved fossil of a daddy longlegs from Scotland that they are at least 400 million years old,” Clouse said.
- Daddy longlegs go by a few other names. In North America, the reason for at least part of their name is pretty obvious—the species we see most frequently have very long, thin legs.
Common names for this Order are 1) daddy-longlegs, 2) harvestmen and 3) opilionids. They are characterized by having one basic body segment which shows segmentation on the posterior portion, at most 2 eyes and all 8 legs attach to the pill-like body segment. They are usually found under logs and rocks, prefer moist habitat although they can be ...
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Dec 25, 2014 · The daddy longlegs’ characteristic long, skinny legs are several times the length of its small body. Daddy longlegs spiders can range from 2 to 10 mm long, but their legs can grow up to 50 mm ...
Pholcus phalangioides, commonly known as the cosmopolitan cellar spider, long-bodied cellar spider or one of various types called a daddy long-legs spider, is a spider of the family Pholcidae. It is also known as the skull spider, since its cephalothorax is said to resemble a human skull. This is the only spider species described by the Swiss ...
