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Phalangium opilio. (Arachnida: Opiliones, Phalangiidae) Harvestman, Daddy longlegs, Harvest spider. by Mark Schmaedick, Land Grant Program, American Samoa Community College, Pago Pago, AS. Of the many species of harvestmen known, P. opilio tends to be the most common in relatively disturbed habitats such as most crops in temperate regions.
The Phalangiidae are a family of harvestmen with about 380 known species. The best known is Phalangium opilio. Dicranopalpus ramosus is an invasive species in Europe. It is not to be confused with the harvestman family Phalangodidae, which belongs to the suborder Laniatores.
- Phalangiidae, Latreille, 1802
- Arthropoda
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Phalangium. Linnaeus, 1758. Type species. Phalangium iberica. Schenkel, 1939. Synonyms. Cerastoma. Phalangium is a genus of harvestmen that occur mostly in the Old World. The best known species is Phalangium opilio, which is so common in many temperate regions that it is simply called "harvestman".
The best known is Phalangium opilio. Dicranopalpus ramosus is an invasive species in Europe . It is not to be confused with the harvestman family Phalangodidae , which belongs to the suborder Laniatores.
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P. opilio has a mostly Holarctic distribution and is the most widespread harvestman species worldwide, occurring natively in Europe, North and Central Asia, and Asia Minor. The species has been introduced to North America, North Africa and New Zealand from Europe. In North America, it occurs in non-desert regions of southern Canada and the United S...
Like other harvestmen, P. opilio have long, slender legs and a short, round body. Adult P. opilio have a body length of 3.5–9 mm (1⁄8–3⁄8in). Males tend to have smaller bodies than females, but have noticeably larger pedipalps and chelicerae with prominent outgrowths (horns) on the dorsal side of the second segment. Both sexes are similarly coloure...
Most of their time is spent stationary, but P. opilio have also been observed walking and leg palpating—making tapping movements with their sensory legs—as well as drinking, feeding, and grooming. As is typical of opilionids, the species is nocturnal, observed to exhibit 90% of their total activity between 18:00 and 06:00. Adults of both sexes have...
Embryonic development
In 2022, an embryogenesis staging system, with description of stages of embryonic development, was presented for P. opilio by Guilherme Gainett et al. This was the first modern embryonic staging developed for a species of the order Opiliones, and used as a reference the P. opilio embryo descriptions by Manfred Moritz and Dietrich Winkler, as well as the embryonic staging that they had based their descriptions on, developed by Christian Juberthie for the species Odiellus gallicus, another spec...
Developmental genetics
P. opilio serves as a model system for the study of developmental biology of arachnids, and the sole model species for the order Opiliones. Foundational work on the developmental biology of this species was established by Manfred Moritz and Dietrich Winkler in the 20th century, and resurrected by Prashant Sharma. Modern genetic studies of P. opilio comprised surveys of Hox genes and leg axis patterning genes. The establishment of gene silencing (RNA interference) in this species made it possi...
"Daddy short legs"
On August 4, 2021, a journal article was published by Guilherme Gainett et al. regarding their assembly of the first draft genome of P. opilio, created from a colony established from specimens collected in Madison, Wisconsin—the first draft genome ever assembled for a harvestman species. Guilherme Gainett et al. identified and examined the function of the genes Deformed (Dfd) and Sex combs reduced (Scr). These genes are also known as Hox genes, which control development in regions along an em...
Research
Due to its broad, synanthropic distribution, P. opiliois considered an opportune representative of the order Opiliones. As such, it is actively used to study its embryonic development to examine arachnid development and evolution.
Biological pest control in agriculture
P. opilio feeds on many insect species considered pests, such that it can provide biological pest controlin agricultural settings. It is not solely able to suppress any populations of a pest species, but its existence alongside other generalist predators contributes overall to controlling pest populations. Their value to human agriculture varies due to their generalist feeding habits and consumption of other members of its species, but this may in turn allow their populations to persist even...
Male showing the "horns" on the cheliceraeMale side viewFemaleFemale side view- P. opilio
- Phalangium
Feb 22, 2017 · However, the ‘caddoid’ gestalt is now known from Caddoidea, Phalangioidea (in the members of the genus Hesperopilio; see ) and Acropsopilionoidea, and enlarged eyes are thus best optimized as a symplesiomorphy of Palpatores.
The Phalangiidae are a family of harvestmen with about 380 known species. The best known is Phalangium opilio. Dicranopalpus ramosus is an invasive species in Europe.
