My 15 year old daughter came home from school today with this so called knowledge, I am sure it is not true please help !
2006-09-11 08:23:39 · 25 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Zoology
I'm talking about the 'Daddy Longlegs, Crane Fly' not the spider of the same name.
2006-09-11 08:50:29 · update #1
I'm talking about the 'Crane Fly, Daddy Longlegs', not a spider.
Many thanks to you all for answering, if I gave out the question wrong originally, sorry!.
2006-09-11 08:57:33 · update #2
This is a myth, whether referring to the crane fly OR the harvestman (spiders) that people call "daddy longlegs".
Besides the obvious question of what use such powerful venom would be to a creature which cannot inject it into anything, this can be disproven by simply looking at the biology of either species.
Daddy longleg harvestmen (Opilionids) are vegetarians, eating decomposing vegetable matter--they do not need a powerful venom to subdue prey. They do have a mild venom used for self-defense, but this is not harmful to humans, and anyways falls far short of the "most powerful venom" claim.
Crane flies do not possess venom at all. Most of them in the adult stage do not even have mouth parts--all energy acquisition (eating) is done in the larval stage; the adults are meant for quick reproduction and nothing more.
I am not sure how this has gotten to be such a widespread myth that it is even being taught in schools. Just a small amount of easily-available fact-checking would set it straight. I think there must be something about the myth that particularly jibes with the human psyche--it's like we just "want" it to be true, so we ignore all evidence to the contrary.
2006-09-13 06:47:57 · answer #1 · answered by entoaggie 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I was going to say it is a different insect in UK. I was trying to use the Wekipedia to find it but was getting no where fast. Many months ago I did find that info and knew it was different. What I did find is that what we in the states call a Daddy Longlegs is called a Ginny Spinner in UK.
I see that you did find the other insect that I was trying to find. The Crane fly sounds right.
I did also in another area find that it said the Daddy Longlegs of the states fangs are to small to hurt a human.
If true what she learned then the Daddy Longlegs of The USA can't hurt a human and the Daddy Longlegs(Crane Fly) of The UK can kill you there and our Longlegs is a Ginny Spinner there.
Is your head spinning yet over this info.
2006-09-11 09:52:58 · answer #2 · answered by Pepsi 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
daddy longlegs are actually the most poisonus spiders in the world! The know how to bite, but they have such a small mouth that a tiny bit can come out with is not lethal. If they had larger mouths, they would be deadly!
2006-09-11 08:32:55 · answer #3 · answered by heyThere 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This was debunked on a US TV show called "Mythbusters". Daddy Longlegs can bite, but they are no more poisonous than your average house spider. In the show, one of the hosts gave his arm to science, and stuck it in a sealed tube full of the things. he DID get bitten, but suffered no ill effects.
2006-09-11 08:33:25 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mythbusters on Discovery Channel dissproved this little story. Daddy Longlegs are venomless.
2006-09-11 08:28:51 · answer #5 · answered by Derek M 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They are very (most?) venomous... and they know how to sting/bite (because they live long enought to get big)...
What I've learned is that their bite is not strong enough to pierce human skin, that is why you don't hear about Daddy Longlegs bites being reported.
Take it for what it's worth.
2006-09-11 08:28:01 · answer #6 · answered by M J 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The potency of the daddy-longlegs spider is a well-known myth. The spider is not at all venomous... it actually has no venom.
2006-09-11 08:29:55 · answer #7 · answered by pvreditor 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Crane Fly Venom
2016-11-04 01:00:09 · answer #8 · answered by roca 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
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If I am remembering my Biology correctly, the short answer is no. Whilst insects do have nerves, ganglia and what might be considered brains, scientists seem to agree somewhat that they don't feel pain like us. On the brighter side, your compassion for life is admirable. The bible tells us our original parents were explicitly told to take care of all life on this planet. The creator surely smiled at your thoughtfullness. It was after all his butterfly and flower!
2016-04-09 21:40:48 · answer #9 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Truthfully they are the most poisonous spiders in the world. However they are not able to bite humans. In the insect world they are quite dangerous. I actually witnessed a Granddaddy long legs eating a hornet/wasp.
2006-09-11 08:31:34 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋