Seriously, what is the point of them? As far as I can see there is none...and what do they eat? And what eats them? lol I just had the urge to know....!
2006-09-20 05:19:19 · 20 answers · asked by Queenie 4 in Education & Reference ➔ Trivia
Dead2TheWind - haha very funny...theres surely nothing wrong with asking?
2006-09-20 05:26:08 · update #1
angel - if you think i should get something better to do with my time, why are you on here?
2006-09-21 08:33:07 · update #2
Daddy Long-Legs have no venom glands, therefore are not really predatory. They basically eat detritus (Loose matter resulting from the wearing away or disintegration of tissue or other material.) I suppose that their purpose on earth, though seemingly insignificant to humans, is an important one. (Though to be perfectly honest, I know not what it is) As for what eats them.... Birds, bats, cats tend to play with them, other spiders
2006-09-20 05:33:13 · answer #1 · answered by JenefaJean 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Daddy-longlegs (Opiliones) - these arachnids make their living by eating decomposing vegetative and animal matter although are opportunist predators if they can get away with it. They do not have venom glands, fangs or any other mechanism for chemically subduing their food. Therefore, they do not have poison and, by the powers of logic, cannot be poisonous from venom. Some have defensive secretions that might be poisonous to small animals if ingested. So, for these daddy-long-legs, the tale is clearly false.
Daddy-longlegs spiders (Pholcidae) - Here, the myth is incorrect at least in making claims that have no basis in known facts. There is no reference to any pholcid spider biting a human and causing any detrimental reaction. If these spiders were indeed deadly poisonous but couldn't bite humans, then the only way we would know that they are poisonous is by milking them and injecting the venom into humans. For a variety of reasons including Amnesty International and a humanitarian code of ethics, this research has never been done. Furthermore, there are no toxicological studies testing the lethality of pholcid venom on any mammalian system (this is usually done with mice). Therefore, no information is available on the likely toxic effects of their venom in humans, so the part of the myth about their being especially poisonous is just that: a myth. There is no scientific basis for the supposition that they are deadly poisonous and there is no reason to assume that it is true.
What about their fangs being too short to penetrate human skin? Pholcids do indeed have short fangs, which in arachnological terms is called "uncate" because they have a secondary tooth which meets the fang like the way the two grabbing parts of a pair of tongs come together. Brown recluse spiders similarly have uncate fang structure and they obviously are able to bite humans. There may be a difference in the musculature that houses the fang such that recluses have stronger muscles for penetration because they are hunting spiders needing to subdue prey whereas pholcid spiders are able to wrap their prey and don't need as strong a musculature. So, again, the myth states as fact something about which there is no scientific basis.
2006-09-20 05:29:54 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Nope they are pointless, flying spider wannabes. they're kinda stupid and fly into stuff and make your day that slightly more annoying. Plus who thought to call them Daddy long legs? They aren't really very father figurely?
And i've never seen a baby daddy long legs either
2006-09-20 05:59:15 · answer #3 · answered by Kimmyray 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Don't know what the point of them is, but, I seem to attract them, they chase me round my house!!!-Honestly!!
Everytime i go into another room i have to hunt for them because i know they will come for me... they hide, then in the middle of the night when i can't see anything them come out and i can hear them!!!!
Also we call them Ginnie Long Legs in the North Of England!!
2006-09-20 09:06:57 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
What is the point of this question? Seriously what is the point of it? As far as i can see there is none... and who does this help? And how will this help you? lol I just had the urge to know...!
2006-09-20 05:23:50 · answer #5 · answered by Dead2TheWind 3 · 0⤊ 3⤋
Ignore Deadtothewind - sounds like he's dead to thinking. I think it's a good question and have been educated and intrigued by the answers. Daddy-long-legs are horrid things!!
2006-09-20 05:28:19 · answer #6 · answered by CozOfGrace 3 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Well if he had no legs he wouldn't be a daddy long legs would he/ lol
2006-09-20 06:22:52 · answer #7 · answered by pixie007 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i HATE daddy long legs. if one comes in the room i run away. horrible things! i watched a spider eating one the other day hehe. now spiders are cool!
2006-09-20 05:29:44 · answer #8 · answered by Tan 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Spider food. Poor little hairy things would starve if all the daddy long legs vanished.
2006-09-20 05:20:55 · answer #9 · answered by stevensontj 3 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Don't know and i don't care, Haven't you got anything else better to do with your time? Instead of wasting other people's time, the only reason why we answer this is because it gives us 2 points.
2006-09-21 03:13:51 · answer #10 · answered by angel 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋