EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -Daddy longlegs, or harvestmen, are familiar Missouri animals. They are not spiders, but opilionids. Unlike spiders, they have a fused body form and lack silk and venom glands.

Detailed explanation-2: -daddy longlegs, (order Opiliones), also spelled daddy-longlegs or daddy long legs, also called harvestman, any of more than 6, 000 species of arachnids (class Arachnida) that are known for their extremely long and thin legs and for their compact bodies.

Detailed explanation-3: -Harvestmen are referred to by many common names including shepherd’s spiders, harvest spiders, reapers, and here in the United States where our fauna is dominated by long-legged species, daddy longlegs. Harvestmen are related to spiders-both are in the class Arachnida.

Detailed explanation-4: -They are also called “harvestmen” because some species undergo a seasonal population explosion each autumn around the farm harvest. Their repugnatorial glands produce acrid secretions to repel predators. The 6400 species are more closely related to mites than true spiders.

Detailed explanation-5: -Harvestmen essentially have an oval body without the separation. They also do not produce silk or a web. They are not true spiders. Venom produced by spiders helps them in their role as predators, but harvestmen do not need venom because they are scavengers.