#opilliones

[midwestkingdom]

I am absolutely enamored by this harvestman! This is my first ever clear close-up shot of any opiliones. I love these pics so much.

[jupiterswasphouse]

[PHOTOS TAKEN: APRIL 18TH, 2025 | Image IDs: Two photos of a brown harvestmen on a white woven plastic tarp /End IDs.]

[deanu]

Your Daddy Long Legs is a lie

And here's why

THIS

Is a cellar spider. Family Pholcidae. They can be found in your garage, basement, cellar, etc. Harmless, has venom but it's not medically significant.

THIS

Is a Harvestman. Order Opilliones. They are arachnids but NOT spiders (spiders are arachnids but are in the order Araneae). Notice how it's head and body are one whole piece. They do not have venom or fangs. They have pincer-like chelicerae.

THIS

Is a crane fly (next to a mosquito). Family Tipulidae which belongs to the order that includes All Flies. Their aquatic larvae form eats detritus, some species are predatory and will eat mosquito larvae. Hence another common name: skeeter eaters, mosquito hawks. Their adult forms don't do much except mate and get necter from flowers (so they can be pollinators). No venom, beak-like mouth.

Common names are fine to use, but can be confusing and shrouded by misconceptions. Do your research! Your common names can cross over to other genera, families, or orders of animals and can include THOUSANDS of species.

[onenicebugperday]

A nice leggy friend I found on my door. He is now safe on the ground under a bush.💕

Fantastic harvestman! Tragically, this one appears to have lost a leg. Unlike spiders, harvestmen do not grow their legs back once lost (so be careful if you handle them). But hey, better to lose a leg to a predator than your whole body. Thanks for sharing! As always, submissions don’t count towards the one (1) nice bug per day.

[jupiterswasphouse]

[PHOTOS TAKEN: OCTOBER 30TH, 2024 | Image IDs: Four photos of two brown eastern harvestmen face-to-face, mating with each other on the grey, fabric surface of a chair /End IDs.]

[jupiterswasphouse]

[PHOTOS TAKEN: JUNE 11TH, 2024 | Image IDs: Six photos of a large brown harvestman resting within a fold in a piece of rusty metal, its feeler legs hanging over the front in the latter five, although it appears more alert in the first /End IDs.]

[jupiterswasphouse]

[PHOTOS TAKEN: JULY 16TH, 2024 | Image IDs: Three photos of a brown and orange harvestman on a white woven plastic tarp /End IDs.]

[jupiterswasphouse]

[PHOTOS TAKEN: JUNE 29TH, 2024 | Image IDs: Two photos of an orange and black harvestman on a metal pole /End IDs.]