Daddy-longlegs Opiliones - these arachnids make their living by eating decomposing vegetative and animal matter although are opportunist predators if they can get away with it. They do not have venom glands, fangs or any other mechanism for chemically subduing their food. Therefore, they do not have injectable toxins. Some have defensive secretions that might be toxic to small animals if ingested. So, for these daddy-long-legs, the tale is clearly false.
Daddy-longlegs spiders Pholcidae - Here, the myth is incorrect at least in making claims that have no basis in known facts. There is no reference to any pholcid spider biting a human and causing any detrimental reaction. If these spiders were indeed deadly but couldn't bite humans, then the only way we would know that they are toxic is by milking them and injecting the venom into humans.
For a variety of reasons including Amnesty International and a humanitarian code of ethics, this research has never been done. Furthermore, there are no toxicological studies testing the lethality of pholcid venom on any mammalian system this is usually done with mice. Therefore, no information is available on the likely toxic effects of their venom in humans, so the part of the myth about their being especially dangerous is just that: a myth.
There is no scientific basis for the supposition that they are deadly and there is no reason to assume that it is true. What about their fangs being too short to penetrate human skin? Pholcids do indeed have short fangs, which in arachnological terms is called "uncate" because they have a secondary tooth which meets the fang like the way the two grabbing parts of a pair of tongs come together. Brown recluse spiders similarly have uncate fang structure and they obviously are able to bite humans.
There may be a difference in the musculature that houses the fang such that recluses have stronger muscles for penetration because they are hunting spiders needing to subdue wandering prey whereas pholcid spiders are able to wrap their prey and don't need as strong a musculature.
So, again, the myth states as fact something about which there is no scientific basis. Preventing the Top Three Summer Pests. Orb Weaver Spiders: Dangerous or Not? Fill out my online form.
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Pin It on Pinterest. Harvestmen belong to the order Opiliones, which is part of the arachnid class that also includes spiders, scorpions and mites. Spiders sport six to eight eyes, but harvestmen rely on a single pair.
Harvestmen also lack the ability to spin silk and weave webs. Instead, they are ambush predators. Harvestmen eat spiders, earthworms and other insects. If no live prey is readily available, they will scavenge, meaning their diet can also include dead insects, decaying plant material and insect eggs. Because they have a taste for garden pests like aphids and house pests like spiders, harvestmen are considered beneficial insects.
Female harvestmen lay hundreds of eggs in moist soil. The eggs are laid in the fall and hatch in the spring. In northern areas of the United States, their lifespan is only one year. In the southeast, they can survive most mild winters, increasing their lifespan to two years.
Yes and no. As noted, harvestmen are omnivores and are classified as both predators and scavengers. However, harvestmen aren't known to bite humans and are not considered a danger to households.
Of course, it's easy to see why harvestmen are often called "daddy long legs. Harvestmen are quickly separated from their legs, which seem designed to fall off. This is called autotomy. Once detached, the leg can continue to twitch for up to an hour, effectively tricking predators into believing they've hauled in a big catch.
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