Halloween gives rise to strange happenings. Take, for example, a building that grows its own fur. October in Alaska gets pretty chilly but who would’ve expected a structure to grow its own winter coat? Shortly before Halloween in 2018, an administrative building in Glacier Bay National Park began to cultivate a beard. That’s right, long fuzzy-looking hairs growing from under the eaves—like some kind of vulgar armpit. The work of a malevolent sorcerer? Had the building been possessed? What lifeforce, what evil spirit lurked within? Park officials did not discover a deranged Arctic wraith; instead, they found hundreds of daddy longlegs tightly clustered together with their spindly legs dangling down like hair—trick or treat!
For some arachnophobes, the mere sight of a single daddy longlegs is enough to send them packing. Like some kind of Frankenstein spider, this creepy crawly comes with a swirl of legends, half-truths, and superstitions. Have you heard daddy longlegs have the deadliest venom of all spiders—they just lack long-enough fangs to puncture human skin? Did you know killing a daddy longlegs will make it rain the next day? A lot of missing cattle have been found using a daddy longlegs. By picking up a daddy longlegs (holding seven of its eight legs), the free leg will reliably point in the direction of the herd. All of this, of course, is poppy cock! People revel in speculation and rumor. There are plenty of fictions surrounding black cats, witches, bats, and headless horsemen too!
So, what explains our mysterious assembly of daddy longlegs in Alaska? When the New York Times ran the story, several consulted experts could not agree. One postulated that hunkering down together created a microclimate which helps keep them from drying out, not unlike a sweaty locker room. Another suggested the scrum provided protection against predators. One more advocated that maybe they just like to socialize! So… it remains a mystery. All we know for sure is that congregations of these eerie creatures do occur, sometimes dozens, sometimes hundreds.
At first glance the daddy longlegs appears to be poorly designed and badly engineered; a sloppy hack job on a real spider—something you might expect from the shadowy laboratory of Boris Karloff or Vincent Price. They have only one body segment and two eyes located on a central knob at the front of their pill-like body. Ambling along with a low-slung torso, suspended like a piece of rice at the bottom of eight frail, lanky legs these critters look gangly, awkward, and strange. Actually, they’re creatively built, prolific, biologically successful, and exceptionally well-adapted for the life they lead. Let’s get to know daddy longlegs a little better.
First off, even though they belong to the class Arachnida, daddy longlegs are NOT spiders. There are several orders of Arachnida and the creatures most correctly called daddy longlegs have their own separate order (Opiliones). They are Arachnids, but not spiders, in the same way that butterflies are insects, but not beetles. They have one body section (spiders have two) and a totally different respiratory system. They have no venom, no fangs and don’t spin webs. They are completely harmless to people, animals, buildings, and crops. There are thousands of species of Opiliones around the world on every continent except Antarctica. Well-preserved specimens captured in amber reveal that Opiliones have remained largely unchanged for around 400 million years. Another common name for them is harvestman, believed to be derived from their relative abundance at harvest time and the scythe like appearance of their legs. Eighteen species exist in Texas, but members of only one family (Phalangiidae) are properly (according to entomologists) referred to as daddy longlegs.
So, you may be wondering, what do daddy longlegs do? Mostly they like to eat. They are carnivores and eat just about anything, including aphids, mites, flies, earthworms, caterpillars, beetles, small slugs, snails, and spiders. They’re just as happy dining on decaying stuff, fecal matter, and fungi—they’re not connoisseurs. Daddy longlegs just chill when they are not eating or making love. They spend most of their time sitting still in a crevice, under a log or on the upper sides of leaves, waiting to ambush a soft-bodied insect. Moisture retention is an issue, given their big surface-area-to-volume ratio. That’s why they tend to hang out in moist, shady places—like caves, basements, and crawl spaces. You sometimes find them on the shady sides of buildings, underneath eaves, and on trees. Harvestmen are primarily night prowlers and usually solitary.
Their name says it all. In their world, legs are everything! Typical body length is about 5/16th of an inch; however, with their leg span they can exceed over 6 inches. Usually, the male’s body is smaller and shorter, but males have longer legs. If human bodies were sized proportionally, we would have legs 40-50 feet long! Their extremely sensitive tips are used to explore, search for food, warn of danger, and serve as shock absorbers when moving over bumpy ground. The front pair of legs are the shortest and are used to fight and eat (the mouth, with claw and pincers, is close by). The second pair of legs is the longest and act as antennae, serving the same purposes as our eyes, nose and tongue. The fourth pair carry spiracles (breathing organs), keeping the insect supplied with oxygen. With all these critical functions, harvestmen take good care of their legs. Ever fastidious, they clean each leg after a meal, drawing them, one at a time, through their jaws in a process known as “leg threading.”
Usually leisurely in their movements, daddy longlegs can really boogie when disturbed. Sometimes they’ll stand on six legs and wave the second pair in the air, sensing their surroundings. If threatened, there are two defensive strategies. The first is disposable legs. If you grab ahold, the leg just comes off and lies there twitching—a very surprising and disturbing exhibition—one which, hopefully, preoccupies the attacker while daddy longlegs exits stage left. I can personally testify legs do not grow back if plucked off by a cruel but curious little boy. The second strategy is a stench released by scent glands near the base of the first pair of legs. Not only does a predator smell this stink, but the suggestion is that harvestmen must taste terrible. Incidentally, these scent glands also secrete a second fluid which can be used to communicate a trail for others to follow.
Harvestmen eggs hatch in spring. Females use an ovipositor that can be extended to a great length so she can drop hundreds of eggs in the soil, under stones, in rotten wood, or in just about any crevice. When the babies hatch, they look like little white miniatures of adults, but they soon darken.
Young daddy longlegs will molt about every ten days until they reach maturity. This is quite a process. The harvestman splits open its body case (which is an exoskeleton) and slowly drags its long lanky legs out of the old shell. The process can take up to 20 minutes to complete—during this time, they are sitting ducks. What would eat a daddy longlegs? Other predatory insects (large spiders, assassin bug, praying mantis, etc.), lizards and birds primarily. There have been instances where invasive fire ants kill them too.
The life of a daddy longlegs is fraught with misunderstanding, revulsion, and innumerable threats. They lack the intricate beauty of a Luna moth, can’t serenade like the cicada nor light up the twilight as the fireflies do. Their existence is a precarious one. Daddy longlegs haunt many a nightmare, a crawling creature of contempt. Yes, daddy longlegs are ugly and creepy. Despite their harmlessness, the sight of daddy longlegs continues to send chills up the spines of children, young ladies, and unwitting interlopers. But the question is, do they make nature less wonderous—or more so?
October’s holiday always makes for a somber backdrop. It’s a time for spirits, ghouls and goblins. As the wind howls and mist rises like freshly minted souls on this year’s All Hallows Eve, will you have an encounter? Be sure to carry a light and be mentally ready as you search for treats. When the sky comes crowding down, growling and black, repeatedly split by lightening, will you have the courage to approach that building on the hill? If you do, keep an eye out for beards hanging from the eaves, detached legs that keep twitching and strange smells from damp places. Happy Halloween!
By Larry Gfeller