Are Daddy Long Legs Venomous Spiders
These spiders are commonly called cellar spiders and they do have venom glands.
Are daddy long legs venomous spiders. Remember that symbolism is subjective. Its unclear when or where this widespread belief started. Same with crane flies.
However there is no scientific evidence to back this up. MeatEater editors from Washington to Kansas to Maryland verified that this claim is accepted in their regions so it seems to be nationwide. First lets start by confirming that daddy long legs is just a common name for harvestmen which are arachnids but not true spiders.
That claim was likely to have merely been an urban myth based on no evidence other than perhaps observations of daddy long-legs killing other extremely dangerous spider species. A widespread myth holds that daddy long legs are the most venomous spiders in the world. One common cellar spider found across the United States is Pholcus phalangioides and is gray.
The term daddy longlegs is used for two different species. Youve probably heard this playground legend. Pholcids or daddy longlegs spiders are actually venomous.
They are a non-aggressive group of spiders. Daddy long-leg spiders possess extremely toxic venomso toxic that. The same legend is also repeated of the harvestman and crane fly also known as daddy long-legs in some regions.
Daddy longlegs are the most venomous spiders in the world but their fangs are too short to bite you. The most likely reason Cellar Spiders may have been thought to be the most venous spider is because they are the ones most seen by humans and have been known to kill. Crane flies are not spiders or arachnids and do not pose a threat to people.
