One of the urban myths floating around, and you may have heard it, is that daddy-longlegs spiders are the most poisonous species of spiders on the planet, but they do not have fangs long enough to pierce human skin. It’s a very interesting hypothesis, and in this article, we’re going to take a look at why it’s wrong.
Defining poisonous
Poisonous and venomous organisms are not universally damaging. For example, let’s look at the poison oak. If you rub some on your skin, you will notice the effects of the poison. However, deer can eat poison oak freely with no negative effects. It’s the same with venomous bites. Some insects or animals are extremely deadly to their prey, but harmless to other creatures.
Daddy long-legs and daddy long-legs spiders
We also have the issue of defining the species we are talking about, because daddy long-legs and daddy long-legs spiders are two completely different insects. Both are arachnids, but they are part of different orders. The daddy long-legs insect is part of the Opiliones order, and it has one basic body segment, two eyes and eight legs. From a distance, it’s easy to confuse this insect with a spider, but if you look closely, you will notice that its singular body segment makes it look more like a flea with long legs, rather than a spider. This insect also does not produce silk, and it prefers to live under logs and rocks outdoors. The daddy long-legs spider is part of the Araneae order, and if you look at it, you will see the classic characteristics of a spider. It has multiple segments on its body, tiny fangs, and it can produce silk.
Are either of these insects dangerous?
Both the spider and insect are not dangerous at all. The insect does not have venom glands or even fangs for that matter. However, the question is whether the daddy long-legs spider is extremely poisonous, but does not have the ability to bite human beings. This does not appear to be the case. While these spiders do have venom, there have never been any studies or tests which show that the venom is toxic to humans. Still, daddy long-legs spiders are quite unsightly and creepy, so having them in our homes is never fun. If you have a daddy long-legs infestation in your home, contact us today and we will get rid of it.