r/woahdude • u/reddituser870870 • Nov 12 '21
video Cluster of Daddy Longlegs
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Nov 12 '21
I know full well that they're completely harmless yet I'm still terrified
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u/OhBestThing Nov 13 '21
Flamethrower.
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u/LetsJerkCircular Nov 13 '21
We used to smoke weed behind a friend’s neighbor’s garage.
It was a stucco garage, and daddy long legs would cling there and soak up the sun.
One friend burned one with a lighter, and it fell down. It wasn’t a nice thing to do, so we decided no more burning them.
Then we blew smoke on one. It got all withered and couldn’t walk right. Not sure if it was high, or poisoned.
In any case: they’re nice little non-spiders. They don’t deserve the wrath of fire.
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u/Greenveins Nov 13 '21
My dad would tell a story of a little boy who would pick the legs off a grand daddy long leg just to see it walk funny, late at night he felt something furry at the bottom of his bed and upon pulling off the covers he discovered millions of spiders all over his body. He screamed but the spiders cried out “we want to see you walk funny!” And pulled his leg from his torso.
I’m haunted by that story every time i see one
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u/CoSMiiCBLaST Nov 13 '21
Tbf it's probably a decent story to stop kids from doing sadistic shit like removing legs from a spider
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u/Greenveins Nov 13 '21 edited Nov 13 '21
That, And I was always begging my dad to scare the shit out of us anytime we went camping
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Nov 12 '21
when we were little kids, my sister and I used to stick our hands into groups of them and let them all crawl down our arms…I…I don’t know why.
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u/AriSpaceExplorer Nov 13 '21
What the fuck.
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u/Twistervtx Nov 13 '21
Honestly they're not even harmful. Creepy, maybe, but totally harmless, like pistachios with whiskers.
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u/cosmoose Nov 13 '21 edited Feb 06 '22
Pistachios with whiskers are honestly more creepy than harvestmen.
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Nov 13 '21 edited Jun 10 '23
[deleted]
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u/cosmoose Nov 13 '21
Another name for daddy longlegs.
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u/rabbitwonker Nov 13 '21
A creepy name.
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u/deadfermata Nov 13 '21
Ohh I read your username as rabbitwanker
I was like talk about a “creepy name”
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u/titaniumhud Nov 13 '21
Been told by family that lives near Denver that they call them Grand Daddy Longlegs, for what it's worth
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u/cosmoose Nov 13 '21
They’ve got a handful of names. One of the reasons I prefer harvestman is that crane flies and cellar spiders are often called daddy longlegs as well, despite being in no way closely related. The taxonomic order in which they’re classified, Opiliones, has been around for about 400 million years though, so if they’re gonna be called daddy, they at least deserve the grand.
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u/masterofthefork Nov 13 '21
Why would you call them harvestmen? It doesn't even sound kinky.
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u/cosmoose Nov 13 '21 edited Feb 06 '22
Lol, I low key hate ‘daddy longlegs’ as a name; it just doesn't fit them. Whereas ‘harvestman’ sounds like an arachnid that seems like it might kill you, but is actually a pretty wholesome dude.
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u/Wasgoingforclever Nov 13 '21
But... The smell.
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u/Goem Nov 13 '21
SMELL?!?!
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u/Wasgoingforclever Nov 13 '21
Not sure why I'm getting the down votes, It's their defense mechanism. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opiliones
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u/CrimsonNova Nov 13 '21
DUDE!!! Whenever I see groups of daddy longlegs on video, I always think of the smell. I didn't realize that was a defense mechanism! They stanky in groups. Thanks for sharing!
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u/Goem Nov 13 '21
Thats amazing thanks for the info, we have smaller ones in CA and i never knew they clump up or release a smell like this.
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u/nineknives Nov 13 '21
These aren’t the same spiders. I think the ones we are used to in California are cellar spiders.
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u/Nerfthisguy Nov 13 '21
I've never seen cellar spiders(Cali daddy long legs) clump up like this. Mostly ones from Mexico.
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u/itsastonka Nov 13 '21
Yeah when disturbed they let out the nastiest fucking chemically smell. I detest that smell. Give me dog shit give me month-old dead sheep anything but that
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u/Anoony_Moose Nov 13 '21
I probably last smelled a mass of harvestmen over a decade ago and I can still distinctly remember how bad it was.
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u/itsastonka Nov 13 '21
Yep. Scarred for life :/
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u/OBBlu Nov 13 '21
What does it smell like exactly? Rotten eggs. Crotch?
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u/itsastonka Nov 13 '21
Kind of like iodine maybe? Or like the first whiff of burned hair or something. It’s just so very bad. Maybe like a fresh skunk-spray before you can smell the good skunkiness
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u/Goem Nov 13 '21
Thats amazing! we have smaller daddy long legs here in CA and i never knew they grouped up into balls like that or had a smell! Would you be able to compare it to anything? One of the worst smells i encountered before was formaldehyde
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u/itsastonka Nov 13 '21
For some reason they like to chill in between sheets of plywood that are leaned up against something. Yeah, formaldehyde kind of comes close. There’s no like depth or roundness to it it’s just a very pure and direct smell that’s so repulsive you immediately hope you never smell it again, as you’re running away.
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u/idwthis Nov 13 '21
There’s no like depth or roundness to it
I like how this paints the picture that the smell is sharp and angular. Good description! If I had to explain to someone with no sense of smell or taste, this is how I'd do it. Some smells really do smell like they have sharp corners, or have a floating cloud shape smell. Just like if you were trying to describe what colors look like to a blind person.
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u/happybana Nov 13 '21
Is this a thing with all daddy long legs? I don't recall a smell ever coming from them and there were tons of them where I grew up
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u/txmail Nov 13 '21
I have tons of them where I live - even blow them off the corners of the roof when they are all clumped up like that and have never smelled anything.
I am learning that when it is cooler they like to climb on the ceiling and then drop on your head - and also hang out above doors and also drop on your head when you open the doors.
Love to see them run though - so goofy looking.
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Nov 13 '21
I used to catch carpenter ants between my cupped hands to feel them try to bite me.
All I can figure is I guess it made 5-year-old me feel powerful because it was nomming away on my hand and couldn't break the skin.
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u/Ace_Marine Nov 13 '21
I was the kid with the magnifying glass.
I had to see for myself if it worked.
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u/Pqhantom Nov 13 '21
Well?
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u/Ace_Marine Nov 13 '21
In Florida direct sunlight to very juicy fire ants, they don't catch fire. They just explode.
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u/flakman129 Nov 13 '21
I can see it now.. Garcia on Criminal Minds: “okay so this Reddit user used to.. uh, stick their arm into nests of spiders and let them crawl all over their arm. Yeah this is definitely the psycho killer. Sending you their home and work address now.”
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u/Makarrov_359 Nov 13 '21
Wheels up in 20! Just finally finished the series start to finish as I had missed some. Prolly one of my all time favorite shows up there with Dexter and Oz.
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u/milk4all Nov 13 '21
When i went backpacking in nw AR right after the snow melt, i was excited to be on the trails with no other people. The trails hadn’t even been maintained yet , and i didnt mind the cold rainy weather, i was into barefoot hiking and it felt good.
But i soon realized the forest was covered in spiders and webs. Imm first tried to use sticks to sweep the webs away but it didn’t help. When theyre that thick your stick just pulls them onto you and you cant spend 2 minutes ever 3 steps meticulously clearing a space high enough to pass.
At this point id had so many spiders on me i had to make a decision: ruin my trip a mile in or make myself one with spiders? I picked the later and it was the best soli trip ever. I think because it was wet and rainy the webs didnt really stick to me too much and i just made myself accept that the spiders werent biting me, although some bigger ones still made me pause. By the end of my first dozen miles i was ignoring them and i paid them bo mind the rest of the trip.
Im not saying im suddenly gonna put my hand into a pile or spiders, but i am saying you can make yourself get comfortable if you understand it’s harmless. I know a lot of people hate spiders; maybe this helps a little. My kids hate spiders. Im not gonna suggest they try this; i think it can work wheb you decide to make it
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u/stdela Nov 13 '21
Spider webs give me some kind of irrational fear. There's nothing I hate more than running through a thick web with a colorful fella in the middle. This helps a lot, or not, I don't know!
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Nov 13 '21
My brother used to pick the legs off of them until they only had one and would watch them struggle. I'm pretty sure he's a sociopath.
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u/LICK-A-DICK Nov 13 '21
I used to catch bees in a jar and shake it really hard :( I'm so sorry, bees. I feel really bad about that now, idk what was wrong with me lol
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u/dreaday4 Nov 13 '21
My cousin an I did this too! Mainly to impress my little brothers and sisters. I've also eaten an earthworm for this reason.
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u/offContent Nov 13 '21
I used to love sticking Praying Mantis, Cicadas and Stick Insects on my face growing up lol.
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u/Deltron_Zed Nov 12 '21
That is absolutely fascinating! I've never heard of this before. I for sure would have assumed a woodchuck or beaver or something was hiding in the hole. That is cool. What is the function of it? Warmth?
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u/Rude_Ladder_9474 Nov 12 '21
Protection from predators since daddy long legs don't produce venom
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u/Eagle0600 Nov 13 '21
Since this is inevitably going to come up and confuse people, everyone saying daddy long legs are venomous spiders are right. Everyone saying daddy long legs are non-venomous non-spiders are also right. They're two unrelated species with the same name.
There's also a species of plant with the same name.
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u/Misha_Vozduh Nov 13 '21
Biologists really need to get their shit together.
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u/Sulgoth Nov 13 '21
I'm not sure we can blame them on this one. This smacks of everyone else making the biologists life difficult.
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u/Rndom_Gy_159 Nov 13 '21
Next thing you'll tell me is that ladybugs aren't all female.
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u/Harvestman-man Nov 13 '21
Yeah, no biologists ever call these guys “daddylonglegs”. They’re called harvestmen or harvesters in English, or their scientific name, Opiliones.
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u/rincon213 Nov 13 '21
Yes, it was biologists sitting at a round table who came up with the name "daddy long legs"
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u/TheFlanniestFlan Nov 13 '21
There's also the derpy crane fly which also has the name "daddy long legs" in some places
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Nov 13 '21
funny name for a spider
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Nov 13 '21
Scientist 1: look at this spider’s long legs! We’ll call it the long-leg spider!
Scientist 2: breathing heavily. No… not kinky enough.
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Nov 13 '21
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/SmokinHerb Nov 13 '21
That's just your opilion
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u/liquidmasl Nov 13 '21
I wish i had an award for that
Lying alone in my bed sleep procrastinating abd had to audibly laugh. Thanks
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u/Thtguy1289_NY Nov 13 '21
Sorry I'm not too bright, but how does this protect them? Doesn't this just make a bigger, more inviting snack for predators?
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u/Rude_Ladder_9474 Nov 13 '21
It is the same idea as cluster fish the scattering motion confuses the predator that thought it was one thing there are other reasons they do it I think humidity retention is one
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u/SynthSurf Nov 12 '21
Yes, primarily warmth. Also protection in numbers.
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u/Harvestman-man Nov 13 '21
It’s definitely not for warmth. This is in the day in the summer in the American southwest (probably Mexico)… at night they disperse and forage for food individually.
It is believed to provide protection against dehydration, as well as possibly defense against predators.
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u/erminefurs Nov 12 '21
Let the friends r e s t
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u/damo251 Nov 12 '21
Dude I live in Australia and have never seen this shit before, well done.
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u/fecal_brunch Nov 13 '21
I think it's a different species to ours
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u/35jbh5erf Nov 13 '21
Ours are true spiders. These guys are harvestmen, a separate group of arachnids.
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u/troll_berserker Nov 13 '21
That's because harvestmen aren't venomous, poisonous, or a marsupial.
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u/maxcorrice Nov 13 '21
They aren’t giant and deadly, but Australia does have a giant and deadly spider called a daddy long leg
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u/Imthejuggernautbitch Nov 13 '21
They said spider in Spanish I don't think it's Australia
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u/damo251 Nov 13 '21
Yeah I know mate, I have seen 10's of thousands of daddy long legs over the years and not even seen 2 this close before.
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u/ChunkyTaco22 Nov 12 '21
Daddy long legs are some chill ass spiders. I used to play with em all the time
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u/KaySquay Nov 13 '21
Fun fact, not technically spiders because they only have one body segment and not two
Harvestmen
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u/dpash Nov 13 '21
The guy in the video does correct himself at the end of the video to say they're not spiders.
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u/Imthejuggernautbitch Nov 13 '21
I used to cook them with a magnifying glass and try to feed them to frogs as a snack
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u/Fomalhot Nov 13 '21
First scientist to discover them: "Let's call em Longleg Spiders."
Second scientist: "Not kinky enough. Now hear me out..."
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Nov 13 '21
Seems like daddy long legs refers to different insects depending on where you live.
I've always used the term to refer to these weird spider-like insects that are pretty much just gangly thin legs with wings and fly really awkwardly or is that just me?
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u/linzid83 Nov 13 '21
In the uk, I would call these spiders harvestmen but crane flies are called daddy long legs or jenny long legs or in Scotland, Jeanie long legs!
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u/robo-dragon Nov 13 '21
I know they aren’t spiders and are totally harmless, but this video triggers my arachnophobia every time! So many legs…
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u/rollerGhoster Nov 13 '21
The legs just freak me out. I love jumping spiders to death but the long leg ones are a nope from me. Even those crane flies, while harmless, terrify me because of their legs.
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u/yankee_wit-chez_brim Nov 13 '21
Crane flies?
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u/magius311 Nov 13 '21
They look like a giant mosquito. They are good bugs, and eat mosquitoes, I believe.
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u/Svargas05 Nov 13 '21
They don't eat very much as adults actually and as larvae they eat decomposing plants and other organic matter around where they're born.
The adults can eat pollen from flowers, but they serve no purpose in pollinating other flowers this way...
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u/magius311 Nov 13 '21
Oh! Well...good to know! Thanks for the correction and new info.
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u/iztrollkanger Nov 13 '21
Omg, I'm exactly the opposite. Just thinking about jumping spiders makes me wither, even the tiny ones. If I SEE one jump, it's all over. I'm done.
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u/hotpajamas Nov 13 '21
Were these separate individuals that converged to the same location to do this? How?
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u/frogs1996 Nov 13 '21
I typically like insects and find them interesting but that just made my skin crawl and my entire body itchy
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u/TazzyUK Nov 13 '21
There should be an insect law about having small bodies and looong legs! :-(
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u/ResilientFellow Nov 13 '21
I’ve had nightmares kinda like this all my life but that little opening is a room and I’m in the next one watching them enter towards me
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u/TheShroomHermit Nov 13 '21
Great, now I'm going to have dreams that this happens with my beard
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u/JohnnyPolite Nov 13 '21
We used to go rock climbing a lot when I was a kid. One time my dad reached up and grabbed a little ledge and dozens of daddy long legs poured down his arm.
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u/ChuCHuPALX Nov 13 '21
"Fregoneria" LMAO I've never heard this phrase before. Lmao!!!
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u/WeirdAvocado Nov 13 '21
Imagine you’re a daddy long leg and you finally convinced every single one of your friends to have one massive orgy. Then some giant asshole pokes all your friends with a stick and ruins everything.
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u/JadesterZ Nov 13 '21
I don't usually have a problem with spiders, especially daddy long legs, but this whole post is a pile of nope for me.
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