Daddy Long Legs – They’ve Got Me Surrounded
My Nature Journal Summary
| Date | June 21, 2022 |
| Time | Around 8:30am ET |
| Habitat | Floodplain forest, oak and mixed hardwoods, creek |
| Weather | Broken clouds |
| Temperature (Fahrenheit / Celsius) | 68°F / 20°C |
| Wind | None. Air is very still. |
| Humidity | 64% |
| What I Saw | Many, many daddy long legs. Grouped together around one stand of vegetation. Individuals were standing motionless on leaves that draped over the trail. Tiny pencil eraser sized bodies suspended between eight incredibly long, hair-thin legs. Could see the dark spots of their eyes and most shifted their positions on their leaves to keep me in view. |
| What I Heard | Birds twittering, the sound of the creek’s running water. Some muffled traffic noise coming from the distant highway in the calm morning air. |
My Nature Journal Photos of the Day
Brown Daddy Long Legs Phalangium opilio
Today was special because I came across an entire party of daddy long legs while out on my nature walk. I’ve seen these arachnids before, many times, of course. But I’ve never seen so many concentrated in one spot. In one small area of vegetation, I counted at least eleven individuals.
More might have been lurking deeper in the brush but I didn’t dare poke my head too deeply into the shadows. I was surrounded enough as it was.
Also known as “harvestmen” and “daddy long legs spiders”, these animals aren’t actually true spiders. Related to spiders, yes. Actual spiders, no. Though they have 8 legs, the two different types of arachnids are classified in different orders; daddy long legs in order Opiliones, spiders in order Araneae.
Daddy long legs hold their compact, pill-like bodies suspended by impossibly long, thin, hair-like jointed legs. If you look closely, you can see their tiny black eyes. Like spiders, they prey on other animals, mostly small invertebrates like flies, aphids, leafhoppers, and their own kind.
Normally these animals come out at night and hide during the day. I was surprised to see so many of them out and about in the early morning. The light was still dim under the tree cover, so perhaps they were just finishing up their business.
And who can say what that business might be? These animals attack and eat each other but they also come together to mate. So perhaps this get-together was the equivalent of a singles bar. Or perhaps a combination of battlefield and smorgasbord. Only the daddy long legs themselves know the answer.
And they aren’t talking.
