WHEN IS AN ARACHNID NOT A SPIDER?

This Daddy Long Legs was resting on the leaf of a sweet potato vine today. Interestingly, Daddy Long Legs are arachnids, but are not spiders. The main difference I could see the best is that the head, thorax abdomen are all fused into one pill-shaped body - while a spider definitely has a waistline between the cephalothorax (head/chest) and abdomen. Other differences are the DLL has only two eyes (you can see the two eyes in this picture), while the spider has eight eyes grouped together. DDLs don’t produce silk, so no web for them. (If found in a web, they’ve been trapped and are about to be eaten by a spider.) Another name for this insect is ‘Harvestman’.

If you ever tried to catch a Daddy Long Legs by the leg, you’d notice they have a tendency to shed their legs. DDL’s legs are for more than getting around - they are their nerve center to detect vibration, smell and taste. (I didn’t find whether the legs ever grow back after they are shedded, but I doubt they live long enough for that to occur.) I'm intrigued by the many jointed, delicate, long legs – I wonder how they can manoeuver those longs legs over uneven territory.

Last of all, you’re right – spiders are arachnids too; but even though DDLs are arachnids, they are not spiders! It rained a lot today, so not much was out and about. I had fairly good shots of another bee on a flower and another of the female cardinal at the feeder, but it’s time for something new and different.