Are Daddy Long Legs Poisonous?

Question

Yes i know it sounds dumb but i heard it once. Something to do with that they carry a toxin? anyone know?

Answer 1

Not to humans.
Most do inject a toxin into their prey.

Check out the references below:

Answer 2

You people are all perpetrators of a hoax, no they do not have a serious poison.

"There is an urban legend stating that Daddy long-legs spiders have the most potent venom of any spider, but that their chelicera (fangs) are either too small or too weak to puncture human skin; the same legend is also repeated of the harvestman and crane fly, also called "Daddy Longlegs" in some locales. Indeed, pholcid spiders do have a short fang structure (called uncate). However, brown recluse spiders also have uncate fang structure, but are able to deliver potentially fatal bites. Either pholcid venom is not toxic to humans or there is a musculature difference between the two arachnids, with recluses, being hunting spiders, possessing stronger muscles for fang penetration.

Pholcid venom has never been scientifically tested on mammals. This would normally require milking the spiders and injecting the venom into humans or mice. In any case, there are no known cases of a pholcid spider ever biting a human and causing any serious effects.

In 2004 the Discovery Channel show MythBusters set out to test the daddy long-legs myth (season 1, episode 13 "Buried in Concrete"). After measuring the spider's fangs at approximately 0.25 mm (average human skin thickness is about 0.10 mm) the show's host was apparently bitten, although the bite produced little more than a mild short-lived burning sensation. [3] This appears to confirm the suspicion that pholcids can penetrate human skin, but that their venom is practically harmless to humans. Additionally, recent research has shown that pholcid venom is actually relatively weak in its effects on insects as well."

Answer 3

yea I heard that too. In the Ricky gervais stand up comedy 'animals', according to him he said they were one of the most poisonous insects, but they don't have a way of dispensing the poison...as they have no teeth.

Ive researched this for you-
This claim has a few ambiguities to it. First of all, "poisonous" and "venomous" are two distinctly different qualities: poisonous animals give off toxins which are absorbed when they are touched or eaten by attackers; venomous animals transmit toxins by injecting them into their victims. Secondly, more than one type of critter is referred to as a "daddy longlegs." The crane fly, a winged insect which looks like a large mosquito, is called a daddy longlegs in some parts of the world (such as England), but it is not venomous (nor is it a type of spider). The pholcus phalangioides, also referred to as the long-legged cellar spider, is an example of a "daddy longlegs" spider, probably the one referred to here as being the world's "most poisonous animal":

Answer 4

It's not as daft a question as you'd first think. The SPIDER Daddy Long Legs is poisonous, but its fangs are too short to administer the poison [http://spiders.ucr.edu/daddylonglegs.html].
However, the FLY Daddy Long Legs (we English also call a Crane Fly) is neither venomous or poisonous [http://www.snopes.com/critters/wild/longlegs.htm]

Answer 5

I agree with Richard and suggest he get the 10 points cause in this case he sounds like an Entimologist and I think he's closer to the truth then some of the other answers to this question which are old wivestales and urban legends

Answer 6

you need to make the distinction between being venomous and poisonous.
they're not particularly poisonous - many people have ingested them and remained alive and well.
they are venomous - but not deadly to humans or other mammals. all spiders use venom to capture and eat prey, but this is too weak to work on humans, and then there's all that stuff about tiny fangs.

Answer 7

"Daddy longlegs" actually refers to a number of unrelated species: harvestmen, Pholcidae, and the crane fly.

The myth that any of these species is highly venomous (but supposedly unable to bite a human) is just that, a myth. The harvestman almost never bites anything despite its biological ability to, and is not venomous at all. The Pholcidae are only very mildly venomous. The crane fly consumes nectar though sucking, and has neither venom nor fangs.

Answer 8

No they are not.
Strange thing though, this same question is asked hundreds of times a day , every day.
Are there some rogue ones out there giving the species a bad name?

Answer 9

yes they carry toxins but their fangs or teeth from which they secrete these toxins are too soft to be able to penetrate human skin. Better to wash your hands if you have handled one.

Answer 10

I'm not sure if this is true or not, but I heard that Daddy Long Legs are poisonous but they aren't capable of piercing human skin, so it doesn't affect us.

Answer 11

Not to humans but to insects yes.

There toxins are too little enough to paralyze man and large mammalians.