Look closerInsects
Daddy longlegs, or harvestmen: not spiders, and not venomous
When: August to October
The daddy longlegs stalking the shed wall is a harvestman, not a spider at all: one body piece, no silk, no fangs, no venom, and the famous most-venomous-spider story is pure urban legend.
Why this time of year
They are named for the season: harvestmen show up in their largest numbers around harvest time, from late August through fall.
How to notice it
- Check shady walls, wood piles, and tree trunks; count how many you find in ten minutes.
- Look at the body: one oval piece with eight stilt legs, where a spider has two body parts and a waist.
- The second pair of legs works like antennas; watch one tap-tap-tapping as it walks.
- Never pull a leg; a dropped leg keeps twitching as a decoy for predators, and it never grows back.
Try this with kids: Watch a harvestman walk: can you spot the two legs it uses like antennas?
a harvestman is an arachnid but not a spider; the name daddy longlegs also gets used for cellar spiders and crane flies
Sources
- burkemuseum.orgThe deadly-venom story is a full-fledged urban legend with no basis in fact whatever; harvestmen have no venom of any kind, none at all, and the body is all in one section, not a spider; the name daddy-longlegs also covers crane flies and cellar spiders, which do have weak venom.
- hgic.clemson.eduDaddy longlegs are not true spiders, lacking silk production and venom; they do not have venom glands or fangs, so they cannot and will not bite you; they are most often seen in large numbers in the fall around harvest time, active May through November; when threatened, legs readily detach and dislodged legs may continue to twitch, serving as a distraction to predators.
- uwm.eduDaddy longlegs are not true spiders; lacking the venomous fangs of true spiders, the harvestman hunts soft-bodied prey; they are numerous around harvest time, may congregate in large numbers in fall, and can shed legs to escape predators but cannot regenerate them.
- entomology.ucr.eduHarvestmen have a single body segment and only two eyes and do not have fangs or venom glands; when disturbed they coat themselves in a dark foul-smelling defensive chemical, which is not venom and certainly not the world's most toxic poison.
In the guide for August, September, October