Grandaddy Long Legs

Grandaddy Long Legs (aka Harvestman) is an 8 legged invertebrate. Legs up to 6 inches long and a little oval body about 5/16ths of an inch. Charming little creatures that have no venom, no fangs or silk glands. Their 2nd legs double as antennea. Odd charactoristics include eyes located on their backs and having no lungs, they breathe through their tracheas. Clever defenses include ozopores which produce a noxious odor or they can remove a leg and leave it twitching as a distraction as they scurry to safety. They are members of one of the oldest orders Opiliones, dating back 400 million years, where their fossils where found in Scottland. 6400 species strong, they prefer temperate climates. More closely related to mites, they are not restricted to liquid nutrition, they enjoy a good scavenger hunt for bits of solid food. They reproduce by laying eggs weeks or months after fertilization while looking for optimun conditions.