23.09.2019
Posted by admin
I’m about half-way through the “” – this is a -project devoted to sharing facts about Harvestmen (follow using the hashtag #OpilionesProject). As I was working through some of the chapters, I gave a lot of attention to the variety of common names given to Harvestmen, including Daddy Longlegs. This is not a very good common name for Opiliones because the characteristic of ‘long legs’ is not common to all Harvestmen, and many species (especially in tropical regions) are rather stout and don’t have the long, dangly, legs that we often associate with Opiliones in more northern regions. The other reason to avoid the name daddy longlegs for Harvestmen is because of the confusion it creates with respect to a distant relative of Harvestmen – a spider with the latin name of Pholcus phalangioides.
Journal Of Arachnology
Daddy longlegs: spider or harvestmen? Than Harvestmen (Opiliones). A nice overview of the biology of the species was provided by Jackson & Brassington. Harvestmen covers virtually every aspect of harvestman biology.Inevitably, the longest chapter is on taxonomy, dealing with the disturbing features of the families and subfamilies in the four major Opiliones suborders.
William A Shear
This species is often referred to as the “ Daddy longlegs spider” (and, by the way, the name “Phalangida” has historically been used as a synonym to Opiliones – more confusion!). The rather obvious similarity between northern Harvestmen and Pholcus phalangioides is that they both have long legs – but it stops there. Spiders have a narrow waist (i.e., the constriction between the cephalothorax and abdomen) whereas Harvestmen do not. Pholcus phalangioides is also an enthusiastic web-builder whereas Harvestmen do not live in webs. Here’s a photo of Pholcus phalangioides, courtesy of. (thanks, Ashley, for permission to use your photograph!).
A cellar spider, with prey (c) A. Bradford Comparing a Spider to a Harvestmen is like comparing a blue whale to a chimpanzee. Spiders are a different order (Araneae) than Harvestmen (Opiliones), and although both Arachnids, they diverged millions of years ago. Opiliones are more closely related to, and than they are to the Araneae. The other common name for Pholcus phalangioides is the “ cellar spider” and this is much more appropriate – these spiders are synanthropic (see my other posts about spiders that like living in or near your home, the & the ), and are very commonly found in dark, damp places in and around human structures.
In my own house, the garage and basement are the common habitats. Pholcus phalangioides is very distinctive – in addition to its long legs, it is a fascinating species from a behavioural perspective – if disturbed, it gyrates and whirls around in an impressive display of arachno-energy. This is something I encourage you to try with your own populations of the species – it is wonderful to watch. This behaviour is very well documented on youtube. Search for: Recent Posts. Categories Categories. Spiders be everywhere.
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Hampden Sydney College
This is the first comprehensive treatment of a major order of arachnids featuring more than 6,000 species worldwide, familiar in North America as daddy-longlegs but known scientifically as the Opiliones, or harvestmen. The 25 authors provide a much-needed synthesis of what is currently known about these relatives of spiders, focusing on basic conceptual issues in systematics and evolutionary ecology, making comparisons with other well-studied arachnid groups, such as spiders and scorpions.
Broad in scope, the volume is aimed at raising relevant questions from a diversity of fields, indicating areas in which additional research is needed. The authors focus on both the unique attributes of harvestmen biology, as well as on biological studies conducted with harvestmen species that contribute to the understanding of behavior and evolutionary biology in general. By providing a broad taxonomic and ecological background for understanding this major arachnid group, the book should give field biologists worldwide the means to identify specimens and provide an invaluable reference for understanding harvestmen diversity and biology.