I heard that daddy longlegs or jerrylonglegs or whatever you want to call them! The things that are paperlight, fly, have long legs(duh) and thin long body. Its meant to be that they have the most poinsonous venom in them - but no teeth to use them!! Which has to be the cruelest evolutionary joke!!
And i know that the octopus is the most well known venomous animal.
2007-11-02 04:04:16 · 16 answers · asked by Athena 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Zoology
There's a bit of confusion over what the term daddy longlegs refers to. I think you are referring to craneflies. Many species of cranefly don't feed as adults and they are certainly not venomous.
The Daddy Longlegs Spider, in common with all spiders, is venomous but can't bite humans. It is not the most potent venom in the world.
2007-11-02 05:35:29 · answer #1 · answered by Wiggy 2 · 4⤊ 1⤋
The confusion about the toxicity of the 'Daddy long legs' comes, in part, from the fact that in different parts of the country, and in different countries, there are totally different, unrelated critters that are all known as 'Daddy long legs'.
On the west coast of the US, there is a type of spider that is usually called 'Daddy long legs'. While it has venom, and can potentially bite (although they are not aggressive), it is not a very potent venom.
In most of the rest of the US and Canada, 'Daddy long legs' refers to a totally different type of arachnid. These little guys, also known as harvestmen, can be differentiated from spiders through the fact that they have only one body section (while spiders have two). These harvestmen are totally harmless. They do not have venom glands at all. And their bite is weak enough that they cannot penetrate human skin. They mostly eat aphids, small insects, and sometimes will suck juices from plants.
In Australia, there's yet another, totally different type of spider known as the 'Daddy long legs'. It is a tangle web spider, which has venom, but has jaws that are small and weak, and cannot pierce human skin. They will, however, prey on other spiders, and because one of the spiders it will kill and eat is the redback spider (a highly poisonous spider related to the black widow), it is often assumed that it must have venom even more powerful than the redback. This isn't true, but has contributed to the 'venomous Daddy long legs' myth.
And finally, in most of Europe, the critter most commonly known as the 'Daddy long legs' is actually a type of fly. The cranefly, or Tipulid (sometimes also known as the mosquito-hawk or mosquito-eater, even though they don't eat mosquitoes) is a big, long-legged critter that looks kind of like a bumbling, giant mosquito. They are totally harmless, none of them are venomous, and most of them don't even feed as adults.
So hopefully, this helps clear up some of the confusion surrounding the Daddy long legs, and demonstrate why biologists hate common names.
2007-11-02 06:33:49 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
Looks like Wiggy was the only one who actually read your question. Full marks to Wiggy, and to the rest - you've failed your SATs. You've mixed up several things here - you're talking about Crane Flies (which are sometimes called Daddy-longlegs) and adding to these harmless animals an urban legend that refers to Pholcid spiders (cellar spiders) (which are also sometimes called Daddy-longleg Spiders so as to separate them from Harvestmen which are usually called Daddy-longlegs). This is a lovely example of (a) how bizarre urban legends are born and developed, and (b) why scientific nomenclature was such a necessary idea.
As for your last sentence, that makes no sense. That's kind of like saying that tomatos are the most well-known poisonous fruit.
2007-11-02 07:46:05 · answer #3 · answered by John R 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I dont know if thats a myth or not, but...The jellyfish is the most venomous creature oni the planet. Some species are known to kill full grown humans in a matter of two to three minutes. they have an amazing system for delivering their venom which makes it almost impossible to stop the spread of the venom once it enters the body. The scariest part about it is they do not mean to sting or kill people, it only happens when you run into one of them, they are not looking for you.
2007-11-02 04:45:49 · answer #4 · answered by lee s 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No it is not true. Not even close. The most potent venom of any spider is the Brazilian Wandering spider.
Jesus Christ people. NO, the Black Widow is NOT the most venomous. Not even close. And NO, spiders are NOT poisonous, they are venomous. And ALL spiders are venomous. Every single one. The people suggesting this stuff are ignorant.
*Even the idiots on the page have the balls to give me thumbs-down. Incredible.
2007-11-02 05:34:40 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
Completely false, their venom is pretty harmless and they cant even bite you anyway. The Black Widow actually has the most potent venom in Spiders.
2007-11-02 04:13:09 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 2⤋
It appears that this is another urban legend. Here is a link to wikipedia on the topic. Go down to the 'Misconceptions' section for a direct answer.
2007-11-02 04:11:30 · answer #7 · answered by barchanon 3 · 5⤊ 0⤋
It's all a myth...true daddy longlegs are not posionous,,,please check out the site below for more information,,,
2007-11-02 04:13:00 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 2⤋
no this is not true actually their venom is very weak
2007-11-02 11:16:21 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
they dont fly and octopus isnt the most venous animal. there are many venous animals that can kill but what do u mean by most...as in can kill the most people with the least amount of most deadly as in something u wouldnt wanna get bit by.
2007-11-02 04:13:37 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 4⤋