Wikijunior:Bugs/Harvestman (Daddy Longlegs)

What does it look like?

A harvestman. The body of a harvestman doesn't have the well-defined body segments that a spider has.

The harvestman has eight long and skinny legs and a compact egg-shaped body. They are usually brown, but some species are brightly colored.

Where does it live?

The harvestman can be found throughout the world.

What does it eat?

It is omnivorous and eats small bugs, plant material, and fungus.

How does it defend itself?

The harvestman's legs continue to twitch even after they have been separated from the body. This is thought to be distracting to predators. This arachnid is completely harmless to humans.

What stages of metamorphosis does it go through?

Harvestmen hatch from eggs, but they do not metamorphose.

What special behaviour does it exhibit?

Harvestmen are mostly nocturnal, which means they are most often awake at night. The few species that are active during the day (which is called being diurnal) can be very colourful. These arachnids have strong "sexual dimorphism" which means the males and females can look very different. The males tend to be smaller than the females, but have longer and darker coloured legs.

Sometimes another species of arachnids called pseudoscorpions will cling to the Harvestmen's legs in order to be carried around. It's hard to tell if this is good for the Harvestmen, but some scientists think that when the pseudoscorpion climbs on it might knock off mites which are harmful to arachnids.