#opilione

[ruthlesslistener]

Fun vid I got of this opilione cleaning their palps and peets while I was waiting on the bus home from work- normally spindly legged creatures freak me the fuck out, but these guys are an exception. I think the fact that they've got such a funny peashaped body and amble along like a soot sprite helps a lot

[dailyanimal]

some kind of a moon alien idk

[midwestkingdom]

Opiliones be upon ye

These captivating critters may look like otherworldly spiders, but they aren't actually spiders at all! These arachnids differ from spiders in many ways. For instance rather than having a cephalothorax and abdomen, they have a fused cephalothorax and abdomen, meaning they are one segment. This also seperates them from class insecta, as insects have a head, abdomen, and thorax. These curious little "bugs" have 2 eyes! The vast majority of them are harmless as well!

[horsebeast]

[residualmanifest]

[arcticarthropod]

I think I forgot to post this cool guy.

No idea where I even took this

[the-awkward-turt]

i always thought "daddy long leg" referred to cellar spiders :0?

Ah, this is why common names are so tricky. In some places, it is common to refer to cellar spiders as “daddy long legs” also, because they superficially resemble opiliones. 

This is a cellar spider (sometimes called a daddy long legs):

And this is an opilione (aka daddy long legs or harvestman):

You can see the body segments are super different. The spider has two distinct segments with a “waist” separating them, while the opilione is just a little orb. They move quite differently as well; opiliones have a kind of wobbly gait and cellar spiders move like…well, spiders.

I’ve been told that some people even call crane flies “daddy long legs” because they have long, thin legs I guess? Common names are full of lies and deceit.

[arcticarthropod]

Opilione friend