Daddy-long-legs Aren't Spiders? Says Who?

There is a spider known as the cellar spider, which is sometimes referred to as a daddy-long-legs, but most daddy-long-legs (they're actually called harvestmen) are not spiders. They make up the order Opiliones. Let's look at some of the things that put harvestmen in a league of their own.

Physical Features

Unlike spiders, which have clearly defined body segments, the harvestman's body looks more like a flat oval disk. Also, harvestmen only have two eyes, which stick out of the middle of the "head." There are eight long, slender legs; the second pair are the longest. Harvestmen keep their bodies close to the ground despite the length of their legs. The various species of harvestmen can only be distinguished by minute differences.

Diet

Harvestmen eat small insects, spiders, mites, fungi, decaying plants and invertebrates, earthworms, snails, bird droppings, and other harvestmen.

Habitat

They generally prefer open fields and tree trunks. Sometimes harvestmen can be seen huddled in huge masses on the walls of buildings. Harvestmen can be found in any part of the U.S.

Reproduction and Life Cycle

Unlike any other arachnid, a male harvestman has a penis, which it uses for brief sexual intercourse with a female harvestman. The female then uses an ovipositor (an egg-laying device) to insert eggs into the ground. Over the winter most of the old generation of harvestmendies. The new generation is born in the spring. Most harvestmen live only one year.