DADDY LONGLEGS

also called Harvestman, any of the 3,400 species of the arachnid order Opiliones (sometimes named Phalangida). A daddy longlegs differs from all true spiders (order Araneae) by the extreme length and thinness of its legs and by the small size and spherical or oval shape of its body, which is not divided into two regions by a constriction. The body is 1 to 22 mm (0.04 to 0.9 inch) long; the slender legs, which easily break off, may be 20 times the body length. The two eyes are on a median knob. The adults have a pair of glands, one on each side of the carapace, that secrete an evil-smelling fluid. Daddy longlegs are very widely distributed, being abundant in temperate countries of both hemispheres and common in the tropics. Typical daddy longlegs of Europe and North America belong to the family Phalangiidae; the United States and Canada have about 150 species. Daddy longlegs are most common in late summer and often are sighted in fields; this and the scythelike or rakelike appearance of their legs accounts for their popular name of harvestman. Daddy longlegs are predacious, feeding upon small insects, mites, spiders, fresh carrion, and vegetable matter. The males are smaller than the females and often differ markedly from them. The male has a long protrusible penis. After a pair mates in the autumn, the female uses her long, protrusible ovipositor to lay her eggs in some cleft in the soil. Shortly after breeding, the parents die. The eggs hatch with the warmth of spring.