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June 19, 2001

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* Daddy Long Legs *

    Now its time to really creep you out. This one even gave me the
heebie-jeebies.

    This is a close up of the body of a Daddy Longlegs. Although the Daddy
Longlegs is an Arachnid of the order Opiliones it is not actually considered
a spider.
    It differs from all true spiders by the extreme length and thinness of
the legs and by the small size and oval shape of the body, which is not
divided into two regions like normal spiders. It also has only two eyes
unlike most spiders with their normal eight.
    The Daddy Longlegs is also referred to as the "mower" or "reaper"
because of the way its legs contract and extend when they are detached from
the body, much like the swinging of a scythe.

        Now for the shocker.
    For many years now there has been rumors that the Daddy Longlegs is the
most poisonous spider in the world but it doesn't have the capability to
bite humans.
    I myself have believed this to be true as I was actually told by a
school teacher when I was younger and have even heard this from one of those
nature shows on TV.
    After much research I have determined this to be a total fabrication. As
far as I can tell there have never been any research providing any
substantial proof that they even have any poison glands at all.
    Britannica states that the adults do have a pair of glands that can
secrete an evil-smelling fluid.

    So I guess that they are not really poisonous. They just stink. (And
they're creepy)

    You can click on the following link to view and read a little more
information on the Daddy Longlegs.