Daddy Longlegs

~ By Kythera Ann ~

Beneficial insects (or good bugs) really are everything in creation, from an ecological perspective...although I have a hard time grasping that concept when it comes to mosquitoes, HA! But usually the idea refers to bugs that perform a function that helps humans with a desired outcome. Examples are better crops, more abundant flowers and fewer mosquitos (grin).

Spiders are one of the most beneficial bugs that everyone is familiar with, though many people don't like them. They do an amazing job of keeping unwanted insect populations down and even cleaning up the place by eating dead insects. They actually kill more insects than all the other bug predators combined!

I'm especially fond of Daddy Longlegs. Having lived for over 30 years in a Redwood forest, they were throughout my house (they love dim moist places). Of course, their housing we'd have ongoing disagreements about. But since they build a new web daily, they didn't seem overly put out with me taking down the old ones all the time (chuckle). Some people wondered why I'd put up with them. Well for one thing, wherever there are Daddy Longlegs, the Black Widow spider population goes way down! Now being a human, that put Daddy Longlegs smack dab in the "good bug" list in my book! There are tons of Black Widows in the Redwood forest. Now I can grasp how they can be good for ecology, but I don't want them in my house, they make nasty sticky nests, and their bite is poisonous.

That brings up another interesting thing about Daddy Longlegs, there is no record of a human ever being bit by one! Now there is a story running around, that I've certainly heard, probably many of you have, "Daddy Longlegs are the most poisonous spider in the world but have too small a mouth to bite people." Actually scientists don't know why Daddy Longlegs don't bite people; they just list them as non aggressive spiders. Also, I could not find a definitive scientific study of their venom...though there is tons of both pro and con hearsay, conjecture and opinion on the net (chortle). So again, hard to say, but for now it remains a myth.

I have moved to North Carolina Smoky Mountains, so I am again in a moist area. Since our property is heavily wooded, most of the year it is soft light in the house, so again the Daddy Longlegs have taken residence and I have my "weekly house hold take the spider webs down campaign." Daddy Longlegs in North Carolina, I'm happy to report, could also care less about my human machinations.

Something I noticed since living here which I did not see in the Redwood forest, is a slew of Daddy Longlegs, outside, often walking on the ground. They looked a touch different too, a round body. So in preparation for writing this, I found out some more very cool information!

Ta dah! There are Daddy Longlegs AND Daddy Longleg Spiders both of them are arachnids and therefore are distantly related arthropods (love keeping things in the family -smile-).

The Daddy Longlegs that are outside are also called Harvestmen. I'm going to use that term mostly, for the rest of the article, so it won't get too confusing.

Harvestmen aren't considered spiders because they are not segmented into two body areas like spiders or even three like insects. Everything is in one round compact body part, so they are a "bug."

Harvestmen are a little lazier than their distant cousin the Daddy Longleg Spider because they don't have a silk making mechanism to build cobwebs. No housekeeping for them! Instead they just troll about and munch whatever comes their way (bug beach-bum mentality). They are fond of a wide variety of foods, including: aphids, caterpillars, beetles, flies, mites, small slugs, snails, earthworms, spiders, other Harvestmen, (Daddy Longleg Spiders will eat each other too, I've watched) decaying plant and animal matter, bird droppings and fungi.

I found out that in a terrarium, Harvestmen will even survive on tidbits of bread, butter and fatty meat as well. After each meal a Harvestman draws its legs one at a time through its jaws, cleaning them. They prefer a moist habitat like their distant cousins which is why I see them around my flower gardens a lot.

Harvestmen secrete a small stinking odoriferous drop of moisture when feeling threatened which it hopes makes the predator believe it won't taste good...kind of like a skunk in a bug world. You can discover this yourself if you pick one up, as often it will release a drop and the moisture will be on your skin for you to smell (phew)!

Word of caution. Daddy Longleg Spiders and Daddy Longlegs (Harvestmen) are both extremely fragile. Their legs can come off very easily, so be really, really gentle with them if you decide to handle either one. It is believed that the legs come off easily so they can better escape predators. BUT, running around on seven legs or less is not fun for them and will very likely shorten their tiny lives.

For both Daddy Longlegs (Harvestmen) and Daddy Longleg Spiders, their legs are extremely important sensory organs. That's because the legs, especially the second pair, serve as ears, nose, tongue, and perhaps even as supplementary "eyes." The legs are loaded with nerves and literally thousands of tiny sense organs that lie inside microscopic slits in the legs.

So indoors or out, Daddy Longleg Spiders or Daddy Longleg Harvestmen, enjoy their beneficial presence in your world. They are great eight legged maids that love cleaning up many things you don't want in your home and your yard!

         

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