February 8, 2007: Thousands of daddy-long-leggers

[glatt]

I always thought they were spiders, but my 2nd grade daughter explained to me patiently last summer that they are not spiders. Kids today are so freaking smart. Anyway, I like daddy long legs. They are cool. I'm always careful around them because they seem so delicate.

[bluesdave]

Originally Posted by glatt

I always thought they were spiders, but my 2nd grade daughter explained to me patiently last summer that they are not spiders. Kids today are so freaking smart. Anyway, I like daddy long legs. They are cool. I'm always careful around them because they seem so delicate.

It depends on which country you live in. Down here we have the traditional Daddy Longlegs, which as previously pointed out, is not a true spider, but then we do have spiders that look very similar. Not only that, but researchers discovered in the last year or two that the spider actually has a deadly (to humans), venom, but its fangs are so small, they cannot deliver a sufficient quantity to do any damage (in fact they rarely break the skin). I don't have time to look up references, but if I can find one later I will post it.

So, the bottom line is that the traditional Daddy Longlegs is not a spider, but there are similar looking real spiders in some countries, some of which are venomous.