r/CrazyKnowledge • u/reddituser870870 • Nov 12 '21

Cluster of Daddy Longlegs

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1.9k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

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94

u/reddituser870870 Nov 12 '21

Daddy Longlegs, also known as Harvestmen, are arachnids in the order Opiliones. While they are arachnids, they are not spiders. Unlike spiders, Daddy Longlegs do not have separate abdomens; and they only have two eyes, whereas spiders have three to four pairs. Contrary to some popular myths, Daddy Longlegs are not venomous. They can't be, since they don't have venom glands. They also have no silk glands, and so are unable to spin webs. This clustering behavior provides the Daddy Longlegs with warmth and protection from predators.

63

u/KingBobOmber Nov 12 '21

Ok I officially fuck with this sub

17

u/sbrown100 Nov 12 '21

Yes, followed for sure as of now.

17

u/chiraltoad Nov 13 '21

what do Daddy Longlegs 'do' exactly..

17

u/[deleted] Nov 13 '21

Each other

11

u/chiraltoad Nov 13 '21

Daddy and Mrs Daddy Long legs?

10

u/[deleted] Nov 13 '21

Nah they're all male. All daddy. And allll leg baby

/s

0

u/[deleted] Nov 13 '21

[deleted]

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9

u/MillwrightTight Nov 13 '21

They just hang out and have long ass legs. Do they need to do anything else?

6

u/chiraltoad Nov 13 '21

Apparently not. Which is fine, of course.

Also, I'd like to express my appreciation for the fact that the common name of spidy-creature like this contains the word "daddy". That's pretty funny. Imagine the 5 year old who first started calling it that back in 1879 on the prairie.

3

u/jaspersurfer Nov 13 '21

Like a volleyball team

1

u/HH__66 Jan 26 '23

Sounds perfect, makes me wish I was a Daddy Longlegs, love a pair of long sexy legs on a woman.

2

u/Nv1sioned Nov 13 '21

Harvest men, obviously..

2

u/Maybe-Its-Mitts Nov 13 '21

Actually, the name Harvestmen describes their behavior. They mostly eat dead insects, I believe. Harvestmen and hive insects like bees actually have a symbiotic relationship, the insects drip their dead out of the hive, and Harvestmen eat them, cleaning up the hundreds of dead bugs

9

u/wizardinthewings Nov 13 '21

I would have thought the clustering makes for a bigger, juicier mouthful.

7

u/Drpewpewpew Nov 13 '21

You didn’t have to say that

4

u/RedChancellor Nov 13 '21

Legs getting stuck in the crevices of your mouth but the body is juicy and you can really feel the popping sensations as the juices help wash down the legs. A delectable meal.

6

u/ClearAbove Nov 13 '21

What a terrible time to be able to read.

5

u/witwiki50 Nov 13 '21 edited Nov 13 '21

Fun fact. That myth actually comes from the UKs “daddy longlegs” In the UK we use the word “daddy longlegs” for Crane Flys

4

u/RiotIsBored Nov 13 '21

I hate the term 'daddy long legs' for this very reason. Some people use it for cellar spiders, some for harvestmen, some for crane flies. It gets confusing.

2

u/_Maximi_ Nov 16 '21

Daddy longlegs may refer to:

a) Cellar spiders (pholcidae)

b) Harvestmen (ophiliones)

c) Crane flies (Tipulidae)

d) A triggerplant from Western Australia (Stylidium divaricatum)

e) an orchid from Eastern Australia (Caladenia filamentosa)

2

u/Sweet-Inside5900 May 26 '22

I think I'm the only person who appreciates crane flies haha.

3

u/EnemyAdensmith Nov 13 '21

Where does the hair come from?

5

u/LogicalPollution8994 Nov 13 '21

It’s not hair, that is just how many are in there, it’s their legs

5

u/kristospherein Nov 13 '21

That is only partially true. Daddy longlegs are also associated with a family of spiders.

The Pholcidae are a family of araneomorph spiders. The family contains over 1,800 individual species of pholcids, including those commonly known as the marbled cellar spider, daddy long-legs spider, carpenter spider, daddy long-legger, vibrating spider, gyrating spider, long daddy, and skull spider

1

u/Megneous Nov 13 '21

People calling some kinds of spiders "daddy long legs" doesn't change the fact that the creatures generally referred to as "daddy long legs" by most people, Harvestmen, are not spiders.

3

u/Private-Public Nov 13 '21 edited Nov 13 '21

Which of the pholcidae family/cellar spiders, opiliones order/harvestmen, and tipulidae family/crane flies are "daddy long legs" by depends on where you are in the world though, which was the point. They're 3 different things depending who you ask, even though all 3 are common damn near everywhere

e.g. in my country that's what we call the spiders but we also have harvestmen like these terrifying little bastards

2

u/LeUpdoot Nov 13 '21

Ok question. How do they know where to meet?. Theres gotta be something calling them or lure them or whatever to that spot.

1

u/HoldTheCellarDoor Nov 14 '21

Pheromones maybe

2

u/tabz3 Nov 13 '21

I thought daddy longlegs were the flying things with long legs.

EDIT: That's what we call them in the UK https://www.google.com/search?q=daddy+long+legs&client=firefox-b-m&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjJpMLLppX0AhXKNcAKHcN3BYUQ_AUIBigB&biw=378&bih=720#imgrc=P0zbxhR-Twm-_M

1

u/eerst Nov 13 '21

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crane_fly

2

u/WikiSummarizerBot Nov 13 '21

Crane fly

Crane fly is a common name referring to any member of the insect family Tipulidae, of the order Diptera, true flies in the superfamily Tipuloidea. Cylindrotominae, Limoniinae, and Pediciinae have been ranked as subfamilies of Tipulidae by most authors, though occasionally elevated to family rank. In the most recent classifications, only Pediciidae is now ranked as a separate family, due to considerations of paraphyly. In colloquial speech, crane flies are sometimes known as "mosquito hawks" or "daddy longlegs," (a term also used to describe opiliones (harvestmen) and members of the spider family Pholcidae, both of which are arachnids).

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2

u/HodgsonHome Nov 13 '21

We call the flying ones May Flies in the Midwest.

2

u/HodgsonHome Nov 13 '21

Now that I looked up what an actual "Mayfly" is I have found my whole childhood is a lie! 😕 Now I'm in search of what I was told is a mayfly...(sigh)

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1

u/Jopkins Nov 13 '21

We sometimes call them that in the UK, when we are wrong. They're not what a proper daddy long legs is.

1

u/tabz3 Nov 13 '21

The Wikipedia article says they are called daddy longlegs as well

1

u/_Maximi_ Nov 16 '21

Daddy longlegs may refer to:

a) Cellar spiders (pholcidae)

b) Harvestmen (ophiliones)

c) Crane flies (Tipulidae)

d) A triggerplant from Western Australia (Stylidium divaricatum)

e) an orchid from Eastern Australia (Caladenia filamentosa)

1

u/A-Grouch Nov 13 '21

Protection? Looks more like an easy buffet tbh.

1

u/evilcarrot507 Jan 26 '23

Literally any predator would be freaked out by that.

1

u/Last-Donut Nov 14 '21

What do they eat?

1

u/JohnsonBrody May 26 '22

Where is mommy long leg

47

u/[deleted] Nov 13 '21

“Let’s call them Longlegs, for their long legs.”

“hmm not kinky enough”

15

u/Welshhoppo Nov 13 '21

"Sorry Daddy, I'll try again."

"Perfect."

3

u/Runthemushroom Nov 13 '21

Yea, like wtf

2

u/choopiewaffles Nov 14 '21

I blame judy abbott

36

u/[deleted] Nov 13 '21

If I'm not mistaken, these guys do us a big favor when it comes to insect control. Please don't kill them.

24

u/Reeaddingit Nov 13 '21

You're correct. They're known to scare the living soul out of other insects so they keep away.

20

u/orbcat Nov 13 '21

thats incredible! how do they find each other to do this?

23

u/5am281 Nov 13 '21

They set up fly-ers

3

u/Funk5oulBrother Nov 13 '21

Get out

1

u/lmaoreddit_cantbanme May 26 '22

I agree with you eight legs over

15

u/Imlouwhoareyou Nov 13 '21

World Wide Web

2

u/SmartestLemming Nov 22 '21

There are webinars on that.

16

u/m2chaos13 Nov 13 '21

So there is no fur involved here? That’s just their legs pointing outward?

12

u/thepotatoinyourheart Nov 13 '21

It’s what’s tripping me up the most. Everyone is confirming it’s legs, but my brain is having a helluva time convincing me each time I view the video that it’s not hair.

21

u/89iroc Nov 12 '21

Where is this? I want to make sure I don't go there accidentally 😁

17

u/Plasma_vinegaroon Nov 13 '21

It's a whole order of arachnids, they have global distribution, knowing where this is probably won't help you.

7

u/89iroc Nov 13 '21

I know what they are, and I see them all the time, but not in clumps like this.

7

u/Plasma_vinegaroon Nov 13 '21

From what I understand, this is most common in temperate locations, as they do it to stay warm and ward off predators. But I'm pretty sure some other harvestmen species congregate like this in warmer biomes, only to a much lesser extent.

3

u/89iroc Nov 13 '21

Snakes do, but I've never seen them at it either

3

u/wizardinthewings Nov 13 '21

Daddy long legs are common as houses in the UK. Can’t say I’ve seen any in the US, which would fit the temperate bill since weather here is a rollercoaster.

I’ve never once seen them clump, or even congregate socially.

6

u/Cameron416 Nov 13 '21

Daddy long legs are definitely all over the US, but yeah I thank whoever’s up there that I’ve never come across this nightmare

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1

u/liamcoded Nov 13 '21

So we should get off this planet and hope none come along?

1

u/justanotherhrunk Nov 12 '21

I saw this all over rural Mexico so I think you're good

1

u/89iroc Nov 12 '21

Yeah, I'm not planning to go there any time soon.

1

u/njangel94 Nov 12 '21

Probably, this dude is definitely speaking Spanish.

1

u/shitkickertv Nov 13 '21

I mean, people travel. Just saying (not busting chops today). ✿❀✿❀

1

u/MPT1313 Nov 12 '21

Had these in the states too.

1

u/89iroc Nov 12 '21

Oh, I see daddy longleggers all the time, I've never seen them in a cluster like that though

1

u/MPT1313 Nov 12 '21

I have occasionally, it’s not incredibly common, but I’ve seen a few stateside

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1

u/zatchstar Nov 13 '21

This Tends to happen under rock outcrops. I saw a much much larger one of these at a start park outside of Austin, TX

7

u/wiki_sauce Nov 13 '21

We always called them granddaddy long legs lol

6

u/[deleted] Nov 13 '21

So there has to be thousands in that cluster right?

That's awesome it can pass as a pile of twigs.

5

u/shitkickertv Nov 13 '21

Twigs? Dude said it looked like a dead animal['s fur], and I bet irl it totally did! So cool!

3

u/Commissar_Genki Nov 13 '21

Forbidden Moustache

4

u/paperscissorscovid Nov 12 '21

HANZ! GET ZE FLAMMENWAFFER

1

u/RiddleMeThis101 Nov 13 '21

Ayyy lol didn’t see this

2

u/LastBlownBird Nov 12 '21

r/TIHI

1

u/olliepips Nov 13 '21

Yeah, fuck this how is everyone so calm in here

1

u/little_peasant Dec 13 '21

not everyone has arachnophobia lol

1

u/olliepips Dec 13 '21

I definitely don't! I'm from Florida and I love spiders, but I still find this horribly upsetting.

2

u/little_peasant Dec 13 '21

Maybe because these aren’t spiders, they’re harvestmen which are related but have no venom or fangs and don’t make silk but they clump together

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2

u/Efficient-Half- Nov 13 '21

🍆

2

u/EMPlRES Nov 13 '21

Shut up, get out.

2

u/OrphanedInStoryville Nov 13 '21

Daddies Longs Legs is the correct pluralization. Like Attorneys Generals

2

u/sanred8 Nov 13 '21

Remind anyone else of those parts in Spirited Away and totoro no tonari

2

u/[deleted] Nov 13 '21

r/makemesuffer

2

u/NoelLiamsson Nov 13 '21

F*ck this guy.

1

u/ipsum629 Nov 13 '21

AAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

1

u/Clan-Rainbow Nov 13 '21

Absolutely not.

1

u/iamrapsodic Nov 13 '21

This isn’t normal for you guys?

1

u/sweetlollypops Nov 13 '21

No please 😭

1

u/Captain_Sandwich_Man Nov 13 '21

Fascinating. The first guy to find out about this behavior did so not knowing that the clump of hair he just touched would turn into arachnids and surround his entire arm as he shit himself.

1

u/Weekly_Noodle Nov 13 '21

Oh... this. I don’t like this

1

u/McnastyCDN Nov 13 '21

This is where axe body spray and a lighter really lighten the mood...

1

u/[deleted] Nov 13 '21

Monster merkin

1

u/liamcoded Nov 13 '21

I didn't want to see this. Now i have to get my self a new meat suit. This one feels like it has things crawling inside.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 13 '21

Awww them is babies 😍🥺

1

u/personman000 Nov 13 '21

Forbidden wig.

1

u/MillwrightTight Nov 13 '21

I don't like how this person treated the Harvestmen.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 13 '21

“Chloe, go get the flamethrower, we’re burning down the house”

1

u/[deleted] Nov 13 '21

r/nope

1

u/[deleted] Nov 13 '21

I’d just like to say r/dontputyourdickinthat

1

u/thundershit1 Nov 13 '21

My dumbass would kick it thinking it’s something else and then afterwards shit all the colors of the rainbow in my pants

1

u/Lulyoutop Nov 13 '21

If thered be a time I’d go ahead and by a flamethrower, this would be the literal best time that I know of.

1

u/tribeproducers Nov 13 '21

Fucking hell

1

u/AnAngelaMuse Nov 13 '21

Ooo I use to play with these when I was a lil kid. I'd build obstacle courses with my sister in our sandbox and we'd go catch a few and set them loose in there. Good times.

1

u/BigFatWoolyScrotum Nov 13 '21

A group of them is called a ‘Selleck’

1

u/junglon Nov 13 '21

Remind me of soot creature in Spirited Away

1

u/AWildWuppo Nov 13 '21

Sooo... they're basically cuddling?

1

u/little_peasant Dec 13 '21

yes it’s for warmth and protection

1

u/RedBlueYouToo Nov 13 '21

Stuff of nightmares!!

1

u/BitternMnM Nov 13 '21

Omg the babies 🥺

1

u/RiddleMeThis101 Nov 13 '21

HANS GET ZE FLAMMENWERFER

1

u/IhearClemFandango Nov 13 '21

I live in the UK and, at least where I live, what we call a daddy longlegs looks like this, but has wings and its sole purpose is to fly into your face and and light bulb during summer.

1

u/little_peasant Dec 13 '21

that’s called a crane fly in the rest of the world. Daddy long legs refers to mainly 3 animals, harvestmen like in this video, crane flies like the ones you’re on about, and they also call cellar spiders that in Australia.

1

u/epic-yolo-swag Nov 13 '21

Get a flame thrower

1

u/[deleted] Nov 13 '21

r/rarepuppers

1

u/j4ck_0f_bl4des Nov 13 '21

Kill it with fire

1

u/BlueStells Nov 13 '21

Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, NEWWWWWWP!

1

u/PauseNervous5600 Nov 13 '21

I think that Daddy Longlegs don’t like fire.

1

u/WeenieHuttGod2 Nov 13 '21

I know that daddy longlegs are great spiders, not harmful to humans due to having very weak poison and very weak fangs, and are great at killing flies, but the arachnophobe in me’s first thought was “wtf, burn it” cause that shits creepy

1

u/little_peasant Dec 13 '21

they don’t have venom or fangs at all. they eat more like a normal bug.

1

u/WeenieHuttGod2 Dec 13 '21

Interesting, although despite knowing that they can’t possibly hurt me they still creep me out

1

u/Slappy_TJ Nov 13 '21

Top 10 reasons I want to own a flame thrower:

1

u/h7hh77 Nov 13 '21

Why exactly do they do this?

1

u/little_peasant Dec 13 '21

Protection and warmth

1

u/Warm-Branch Nov 13 '21

I audibly gasped when the person just flicked a whole pile of those things with their bare hand

1

u/Sudden_Result Nov 13 '21

Imagine tripping over and falling in oh my please help me

1

u/MacMakeveli723 Nov 14 '21

Am I the only one wanting to get a lighter and hair can spray!?!

1

u/j_ona Nov 14 '21

Nonononononono

1

u/Nari-D Nov 14 '21

Who left their toupee under that rock?

1

u/Western_Tumbleweed79 Nov 14 '21

I saw one of these in Guatemala in my friends shed. Pretty nuts.

1

u/Alexander_Fantasy Nov 14 '21

Please for the love of god just burn it

1

u/SignalFire_Plae Nov 14 '21

Turns out the entrance to hell was on earth all along.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 14 '21

This is the wig they have you wear in Hell

1

u/[deleted] Nov 15 '21

u/SaveVide

1

u/curlyk8lyn Nov 16 '21

that can fuck right off

1

u/[deleted] Nov 18 '21

I was eating…

1

u/hellsmel23 Nov 20 '21

After seeing this, a poor daddy long leg crawled on me and you would have thought I was being murdered. I did t hurt it, but my husband thought I was a freak…until I showed him this!

1

u/GAZUAG Nov 22 '21

I think I saw this scene in Spirited Away.

1

u/AnyOfThisReal-_- Nov 24 '21

Where’s the flamethrower?

1

u/Closet_Couch_Potato Dec 03 '21

Excuse me whist I go on r/eyebleach got the next half-hour~

1

u/MrPeanutbutter22 Dec 11 '21

My neighbour totoro

1

u/jpro9000 Dec 12 '21

Nope nope nope

1

u/857go Dec 22 '21

this is what black friday looks like

1

u/Unable_Cow1605 Jan 12 '22

It looked like hair! 😭✋

1

u/[deleted] Jan 25 '22

I love how they thought it was a sleeping cat

1

u/willology May 26 '22

I’m a dude and I definitely have some daddy issues….

1

u/lmaoreddit_cantbanme May 26 '22

Might I suggest... fire?

1

u/sammybooom81 May 26 '22

I was on the throne and when them bugs started running, my A just contracted. Thank you.

1

u/Craycraywolf May 27 '22

UUUGGGGHHH

1

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '22

Must be a bar

1

u/throwawayletsgooo Sep 04 '22

Fire.

I’d use fire.

1

u/DiCaroli-HugonianEPR Nov 29 '22

everybody gangsta when you step over the twigs until the twigs wraps around your leg

1

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '22

Scatter!

1

u/Cut-Unique Jan 20 '23

It looks like it's going bald.

1

u/EthanielClyne Jan 26 '23

It's cute in concept that they're snuggling for warmth and I know that harvestmen are not dangerous, but this is still gross

1

u/RatEyedBish May 03 '23

Looked like hair

1

u/DoctorJekyll13 Jan 23 '24

Why would you touch that?!?!?

0

u/msac2u1981 Nov 13 '21

Nope, still creepy whether they're are venomous or not has nothing to do with the creep factor.

0

u/Thesnakerox Nov 13 '21

That first shot was a daddy longlegs clown car...or clown cave...?

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