WEBVTT - What Are Daddy Longlegs, Anyway?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, Lauren Vogelbaum. Here here's one you might have

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<v Speaker 1>heard before. Urban legend has it that Daddy long Legs

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<v Speaker 1>carry the most toxic venom of any known spider, but

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<v Speaker 1>the tail goes. Their little fangs can't penetrate human skin.

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<v Speaker 1>This story has no basis in fact, and besides, Daddy

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<v Speaker 1>long Legs is a colloquial name that's been applied to

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<v Speaker 1>a wide range of unrelated animals, most don't even qualify

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<v Speaker 1>as spiders. Colloquial or common names can be confusing, but

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<v Speaker 1>was sure they're catchier and less in Latin than the

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<v Speaker 1>formal scientific names for species, but at least that scientific

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<v Speaker 1>nomenclature is fairly standardized. A genus or species name may

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<v Speaker 1>change as living things are reclassified, but common names for

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<v Speaker 1>the same creature can change from region to region. For example,

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<v Speaker 1>you know that crustacean that looks like a smaller version

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<v Speaker 1>of a lobster. What do you call those crayfish? Crawfish, crawdads, yabbies,

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<v Speaker 1>freshwater lobsters. They're all names for closely related animals. As

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<v Speaker 1>common names go, Daddy long Legs is overused, and it's

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<v Speaker 1>pretty inconsistent. Usually when Americans say it, they're referring to

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<v Speaker 1>one of the six thousand plus aracted species within the

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<v Speaker 1>order of Pillionnaise. Some folks know these critters as the harvestmen,

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<v Speaker 1>but they're not spiders. Look at a spider and you'll

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<v Speaker 1>see two main body segments that are clearly distinguishable, the

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<v Speaker 1>cephalothorax where the head resides, and the abdomen. On harvestmen,

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<v Speaker 1>these components are fused, giving the body an oval like appearance.

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<v Speaker 1>And whereas spiders have eight eyes, harvestmen only have two.

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<v Speaker 1>Unable to produce silk, harvest men don't build webs, and

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<v Speaker 1>they don't have venom. We spoke by an email with

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<v Speaker 1>Rick Vetter, a biologist and author who's confronted plenty of

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<v Speaker 1>misconceptions about spiders and their kin. He explained, except for

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<v Speaker 1>one weird family, all spiders have venom to subdue prey.

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<v Speaker 1>Harvestmen have no venom, So let the records show that

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<v Speaker 1>they are not dangerous to humans. But you can breathe

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<v Speaker 1>easy around these daddy long legs, unless, of course, you

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<v Speaker 1>are their prey. Instead of venomating other animals, harvestmen rip

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<v Speaker 1>their meals apart with appendages located near the mouth. Slugs, springtails,

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<v Speaker 1>and earthworms are just some of the invertebrates. These creatures

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<v Speaker 1>will hunt, though they're not too picky and don't mind

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<v Speaker 1>scavenging once in a while too. But harvestmen aren't the

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<v Speaker 1>only creatures called Daddy long legs In Great Britain Better

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<v Speaker 1>tells us the name refers to crane flies, which are insects.

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<v Speaker 1>Huntsmen and other arachnids walk around on four pairs of legs,

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<v Speaker 1>while crane flies only have three pairs, and insects possess

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<v Speaker 1>three main body segments plus a set of antenna. People

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<v Speaker 1>tend to get crane flies mixed up with mosquitoes, but

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<v Speaker 1>crane flies don't suck blood, and they spend most of

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<v Speaker 1>their lives as water or soil based larva. Once that

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<v Speaker 1>phase ends, these invertebrates mature into two winged adults. They're

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<v Speaker 1>not called Daddy long legs for nothing, though, just as advertised,

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<v Speaker 1>mature crane flies do in fact have noticeably long legs.

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<v Speaker 1>Sometimes these appendages are twice the length of the insects body.

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<v Speaker 1>The biggest known crane fly displays a ten inch leg

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<v Speaker 1>span that's twenty five cimeters. Adults don't tend to have

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<v Speaker 1>big appetites. Certain species will stop eating altogether after the

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<v Speaker 1>larval stage, and nevertheless, crane flies provide an important food

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<v Speaker 1>source for other animals, including reptiles, birds, and spiders, speaking

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<v Speaker 1>of which, in a surprise twist, some people reserve the

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<v Speaker 1>common name Daddy long legs for a group of actual spiders.

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<v Speaker 1>Let us introduce the false to day, better known as

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<v Speaker 1>these seller spiders. These arachnids enjoy dark habitats such as

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<v Speaker 1>empty burrows, rocky crevices, and of course sellers. One species

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<v Speaker 1>of European origin now shacks up in human dwellings all

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<v Speaker 1>over the world. Fall kiss phialanioidas is a yellowish brown

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<v Speaker 1>predator that weaves horizontally oriented webs. Falseod fangs are tiny,

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<v Speaker 1>only about a quarter of a millimeter long, and they're

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<v Speaker 1>designed to make physical contact with a corresponding spine to

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<v Speaker 1>form pinchers, not unlike a pair of tweezers. And while

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<v Speaker 1>falsehoods are venomous, the good news is that venoms don't

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<v Speaker 1>affect all targets equally. When researchers examined the venom of

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<v Speaker 1>a falsehood called faiso cyclists mexicanus in They found it

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<v Speaker 1>was extremely hazardous to insects, yet the creatures bite had

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<v Speaker 1>an inconsequential effect on mammals. There's simply no evidence that

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<v Speaker 1>this arachnet, nor any of the seller spiders is harmful

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<v Speaker 1>to human beings. Still, we may be on the cusp

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<v Speaker 1>of something here. Fal Kiss Phalanioidas specializes in killing and

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<v Speaker 1>devouring other spiders, including members of its own species, So

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<v Speaker 1>who knows. Maybe those diet preferences gave rise to the

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<v Speaker 1>nonsense rumors about super toxic Daddy long Live's venom. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>episode was written by Mark Mancini and produced by Tyler Clang.

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<v Speaker 1>For more on this and lots of other creepy Crawley topics,

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<v Speaker 1>visit how stuff works dot com. Brain Stuff is a

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<v Speaker 1>production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my

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<v Speaker 1>heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or

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