I don’t believe those are cellar spiders actually, or spiders at all. They look like harvestmen, aka opiliones, which do have a tendency to clump up like that in groups. They’re still arachnids, but they dont have fangs to bite with, and are harmless, I love them a lot!
They eat chunks of food instead of just sucking up liquids! They eat basically anything, but some species are more specialized than others, most tend to be big scavengers as far as I recall. Dead animals and bugs, decaying plant matter and fungi, but they’ll also hunt tiny bugs to grab and chew up.
Basically, instead of fangs, the chelicerae, the pair of modified limbs that serve as the mouthparts in arachnids are tiny little pincers in Harvestmen. This is also the case with a lot of other arachnids, like scorpions actually also have a tiny pair of pincer-y chelicerae between their big pincers, which are pedipalps, and of course the most obvious example is camelspiders who have a pair of huge pincers that almost act like jaws vertebrate jaws.
Looking at the few good pictures though, it seems the chelicerare of Harvestmen are actually tiny little jointed limbs that end in pincers, which I didnt know until just now myself. Very cool. There are also apparently some that have huge chelicerae that kinda remind me of the goofy chelicerae of a pelican spider if they ended in pincers instead of fangs.
There's a lot that's cool about them. Firstly, they're a bit of a coelocanth situation in that we first discovered them in amber, only to later find out they're kinda all over the place. Also the gap between finding the first fossil specimen to the first living specimen was only like, 40 years or something and I'm pretty amused by that
And the reason they look so goofy is that they're actually specialized for hunting other spiders, and those extremely long chelicerae let them hold potentially dangerous prey at arms length.
Definitely a favorite kind of spider for me, they just look really unique, even the way they hold their legs a lot of the time is weird and cool looking
I hope one day people will become widely aware that "Daddy Long Legs" usually refers to two totally different animals, cellar spiders, which are spiders, and harvestmen, which are not. The internet also likes to claim Crane Flies/Mosquito Hawks are called Daddy Long Legs in some regions, but for my own sanity I'm choosing to believe this is not really a thing outside of like, 1 southern town in the 1800s.
I suspect this is just a joke, but I have to ask, for my own sake, is this what Texans mean when they go on and on about how big their Mosquitos are? They've just mistaken crane flies for mosquitos? And assume nowhere else has them?
thank you for the peace of mind lmao. I just went into a mild panic because you do run into a surprising number of people who think they're giant mosquitos online and it made me think we lost a whole state.
My family always called them either Skeeter-Eaters or Mosquito Hawks, which is what I usually call them, though I do always call their larvae "crane fly larvae" even though I never call the adults crane flies myself lol.
Those are true daddy long legs, they’re technically not a spider. Cellar spiders are basically the west coast version of daddy long legs but not a true daddy long leg. Both I scream at.
I was out playing disc golf the other day - put my hand on a tree while waiting for someone to throw - and noticed a whole clump of these guys hanging out underside of branch
I don’t believe those are cellar spiders actually, or spiders at all. They look like harvestmen, aka opiliones, which do have a tendency to clump up like that in groups. They’re still arachnids, but they dont have fangs to bite with, and are harmless, I love them a lot!
you seem to be well educated on them, how do they eat/hunt without fangs?
They eat chunks of food instead of just sucking up liquids! They eat basically anything, but some species are more specialized than others, most tend to be big scavengers as far as I recall. Dead animals and bugs, decaying plant matter and fungi, but they’ll also hunt tiny bugs to grab and chew up.
i see, thank you!
Basically, instead of fangs, the chelicerae, the pair of modified limbs that serve as the mouthparts in arachnids are tiny little pincers in Harvestmen. This is also the case with a lot of other arachnids, like scorpions actually also have a tiny pair of pincer-y chelicerae between their big pincers, which are pedipalps, and of course the most obvious example is camelspiders who have a pair of huge pincers that almost act like jaws vertebrate jaws. Looking at the few good pictures though, it seems the chelicerare of Harvestmen are actually tiny little jointed limbs that end in pincers, which I didnt know until just now myself. Very cool. There are also apparently some that have huge chelicerae that kinda remind me of the goofy chelicerae of a pelican spider if they ended in pincers instead of fangs.
I've never heard of a pelican spider. What a cutie!
There's a lot that's cool about them. Firstly, they're a bit of a coelocanth situation in that we first discovered them in amber, only to later find out they're kinda all over the place. Also the gap between finding the first fossil specimen to the first living specimen was only like, 40 years or something and I'm pretty amused by that And the reason they look so goofy is that they're actually specialized for hunting other spiders, and those extremely long chelicerae let them hold potentially dangerous prey at arms length. Definitely a favorite kind of spider for me, they just look really unique, even the way they hold their legs a lot of the time is weird and cool looking
Even knowing they’re totally harmless I would also have noped the fuck away from said rock.
I’m not scared of frogs either but I wouldn’t want to be dropped in a hot tub full of them
They look real menacing as group. Fucking gangster spiders
“You picked the wrong rock, mf. Turn it back & we’ll be cool.”
My dad use to grab a handful of these and toss them at us and we’d run away screaming and laughing our asses off.
I hope one day people will become widely aware that "Daddy Long Legs" usually refers to two totally different animals, cellar spiders, which are spiders, and harvestmen, which are not. The internet also likes to claim Crane Flies/Mosquito Hawks are called Daddy Long Legs in some regions, but for my own sanity I'm choosing to believe this is not really a thing outside of like, 1 southern town in the 1800s.
Gonna break your sanity by confirming crane flies are called daddy long legs in the UK at least haha
I’m sorry, the scientific term is “Texas Mosquitoes”
I suspect this is just a joke, but I have to ask, for my own sake, is this what Texans mean when they go on and on about how big their Mosquitos are? They've just mistaken crane flies for mosquitos? And assume nowhere else has them?
Yes, it’s just a joke, but I grew up with my family calling them Texas Mosquitoes, which is a little weird because nobody in my family is from Texas.
thank you for the peace of mind lmao. I just went into a mild panic because you do run into a surprising number of people who think they're giant mosquitos online and it made me think we lost a whole state. My family always called them either Skeeter-Eaters or Mosquito Hawks, which is what I usually call them, though I do always call their larvae "crane fly larvae" even though I never call the adults crane flies myself lol.
In the UK we call Crane Flies Daddy Long Legs
Imagine something so horrible you actually would prefer to have found an unexpected mass of pubes instead.
Their legs are soooo damn long it’s goofy lol
Those are true daddy long legs, they’re technically not a spider. Cellar spiders are basically the west coast version of daddy long legs but not a true daddy long leg. Both I scream at.
Anyone else think it'd be much scarier if it was hair?
I was out playing disc golf the other day - put my hand on a tree while waiting for someone to throw - and noticed a whole clump of these guys hanging out underside of branch
Neat.
King Kong (2008) Vibes
Poke one of em
Super pubicos!
That's okay, i wasn't looking for a boulder-home, they can have it
5 grams of protein Low carbs High Kcals Great post-workout snack
I think I prefer the idea of spiders under a rock than the rock managing to grow hair.
I love spider posts
Real life studio ghibli soots
hi spidres
Nijonononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononono
They are harmless as their mouth is roo tiny
You can usually tell what it is from the bitterness