Daddy long legs

I was just reading an article about daddy long legs and it said that the term "daddy long legs" refers to a "crane fly" in the UK, but not the US. But I have always called "crane flies" daddy long legs even though I am American. Are there any other Americans who do this or am I just strange?

Dear Guest

I must apologise for someone insulting you. However as you are only too well aware. There are few if any quality checks on Posts to Antimoon. I only hope that with time, these negative comments, insulting people, will go away.

Even I , a humble daddy long legs, cannot help but be bored by Robin Micheal.
Oh by the way, we hate the term 'crane fly" it is our equivalent of "nigger".

I've always called the long-legged harmless spider a daddy long legs, not the crane fly.

You don't appologize for other people, Robin. Unless that 'someone' was you, under disguise...

The last time I saw a crane fly in the house (alright, alright - a daddy-long-legs then!) was to see the corpse of an unfortunate one floating on the surface of the tea in my favourite mug which bears the blue and white emblem of the Scottish flag - the one called the Saltire.

Daddy-long-legs (assuming that's the plural too) do seem to have this suicidal death wish and drowning themselves in drinks appears to be their chosen form of demise.

This past summer in many parts of the UK it wasn't so much a plague of daddy long legs we experienced but an invasion of painted ladies.....painted ladies all over our parks and gardens and wild flower bedecked roadside hedgerows in the countryside.

I don't think there is an alternative word for painted ladies....but whatever...they really are very cute creatures.

The daddy-long-legs spider = Pholcus phalangioides.

A daddy-long-legs = either a tipulid (a crane fly) or an opilione (a harvestman).

<I don't think there is an alternative word for painted ladies>

Vanessa cardui; the cosmopolitan; the thistle butterfly.

No doubt other names may be found in the older entomologists.

Pholcidae
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Daddy long-legs spider
Pholcus phalangioides
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Suborder: Araneomorphae
Superfamily: Pholcoidea
Family: Pholcidae
C. L. Koch, 1851
Genera

Holocnemus
Modisimus
Pholcus
Physocyclus
Psilochorus
Smeringopus
Spermophora
many others
Diversity
80 genera, c. 1000 species

The Pholcidae are a spider family in the suborder Araneomorphae.

Some species, especially Pholcus phalangioides, are commonly called granddaddy long-legs spider, daddy long-legs spider, daddy long-legger, cellar spider, vibrating spider, or house spider. Confusion often arises because the name "daddy long-legs" is also applied to two distantly related arthropod groups: the harvestmen (which are arachnids but not spiders), and crane flies (which are insects).
Contents
[hide]

* 1 Appearance
* 2 Habitat
* 3 Behavior
o 3.1 Trapping
o 3.2 Threat Response
o 3.3 Diet
o 3.4 Gait
* 4 Systematics
* 5 Misconceptions
* 6 References
* 7 External links

[edit] Appearance

Pholcids are fragile spiders, the body being 2–10 mm in length with legs which may be up to 50 mm long. Pholcus and Smeringopus have cylindrical abdomens and the eyes are arranged in two lateral groups of three and two smaller median contiguous eyes. Eight and six eyes both occur in this family. Spermophora has a small globose abdomen and its eyes are arranged in two groups of three and no median eyes. Pholcids are gray to brown with banding or chevron markings. The shape of the Pholcus and Smeringopus's body resembles that of a peanut shell.
[edit] Habitat

Pholcids are web-weaving spiders and are distributed worldwide. They hang inverted in messy, irregular, tangled webs. These webs are constructed in dark and damp recesses, in caves, under rocks and loose bark, abandoned mammal burrows in undisturbed areas in buildings and cellars, hence the common name "cellar spiders". However, Pholcids are also quite commonly found in warm, dry places, such as household windows.
[edit] Behavior
[edit] Trapping

The web has no adhesive properties but the irregular structure traps insects, making escape difficult. The spider quickly envelops its prey with silk and then inflicts the fatal bite. The prey may be eaten immediately or stored for later.
[edit] Threat Response

When the spider is threatened by a touch to the web or when too large a prey becomes entangled, the spider vibrates rapidly in a gyrating motion in its web and becomes blurred, almost invisible. For this reason pholcids have sometimes been called "vibrating spiders", although they are not the only species to exhibit this behaviour. Doing so might make it difficult for a predator to see exactly where the spider is, or may increase the chances of capturing insects that have just brushed their web and are still hovering nearby [1]. If the spider continues to feel harassed it will retreat into a corner or drop from its web, and leave the harasser alone.
[edit] Diet

Certain species of these seemingly benign spiders invade webs of other spiders and eat the host, the eggs or the prey. In some cases the spider vibrates the web of other spiders, mimicking the struggle of trapped prey to lure the host of the web closer. Pholcids are natural predators of the Tegenaria species, and are known to attack and eat redback spiders and huntsman spiders [2][3]. It is this competition that helps keep Tegenaria populations in check, which may be advantageous to humans who live in regions with dense hobo spider populations.[citation needed]
Close-up of a Cellar spider's head, showing two groups of three closely clustered eyes
[edit] Gait

Pholcus phalangioides often uses an alternating tetrapod gait (first right leg, then second left leg, then third right leg, etc.), which is commonly found in many spider species. However, frequent variations from this pattern have been documented during observations of the spiders’ movements. When not in their webs, pholcids walk with an unsteady, bobbing action.[citation needed]
[edit] Systematics

For a complete list of the genera and species in this family, see List of Pholcidae species.

The categorization into subfamilies follows Joel Hallan's Biology Catalog [4].

* Physocyclus Simon, 1893
* Priscula Simon, 1893
* Smeringopus Simon, 1890
* Stygopholcus Absolon & Kratochvíl, 1932
* Wugigarra Huber, 2001

* Modisiminae (New World)

* Nita Huber & El-Hennawy, 2007
* Papiamenta Huber, 2000
* Pholcophora Banks, 1896
* Tolteca Huber, 2000

* Pholcinae C. L. Koch, 1851

* Aetana Huber, 2005
* Anansus Huber, 2007
* Anopsicus Chamberlin & Ivie, 1938
* Belisana Thorell, 1898
* Buitinga Huber, 2003
* Calapnita Simon, 1892
* Khorata Huber, 2005
* Leptopholcus Simon, 1893
* Metagonia Simon, 1893
* Micromerys Bradley, 1877
* Nyikoa Huber, 2007
* Ossinissa Dimitrov & Ribera, 2005
* Panjange Deeleman-Reinhold & Deeleman, 1983
* Paramicromerys Millot, 1946
* Pholcus Walckenaer, 1805
* Quamtana Huber, 2003
* Savarna Huber, 2005
* Smeringopina Kraus, 1957
* Spermophora Hentz, 1841
* Spermophorides Wunderlich, 1992
* Uthina Simon, 1893
* Wanniyala Huber & Benjamin, 2005
* Zatavua Huber, 2003

* incertae sedis

* Carupania González-Sponga, 2003
* Ciboneya Pérez, 2001
* Falconia González-Sponga, 2003
* Holocneminus Berland, 1942
* Micropholcus Deeleman-Reinhold & Prinsen, 1987
* Pehrforsskalia Deeleman-Reinhold & van Harten, 2001
* Pholciella Roewer, 1960
* Pholcoides Roewer, 1960
* Queliceria González-Sponga, 2003
* Sanluisi González-Sponga, 2003
* Tibetia Zhang, Zhu & Song, 2006
* Trichocyclus Simon, 1908

[edit] Misconceptions

There is an urban legend stating that daddy long-legs spiders have the most potent venom of any spider, but that their chelicerae (fangs) are either too small or too weak to puncture human skin; the same legend is also repeated of the harvestman and crane fly, also called "daddy long-legs" in some locales. Indeed, pholcid spiders do have a short fang structure (called uncate). However, brown recluse spiders also have uncate fang structure, but are able to deliver medically significant bites. Either pholcid venom is not toxic to humans or there is a musculature difference between the two arachnids, with recluses, being hunting spiders, possessing stronger muscles for fang penetration. [5]

In 2004, the Discovery Channel show MythBusters set out to test the daddy long-legs myth (Season 1, Episode 13 "Buried in Concrete"). After measuring the spider's fangs at approximately 0.25 mm (average human skin thickness varies from about 0.5mm to 4mm), the show's host was apparently bitten, although the bite produced little more than a mild short-lived burning sensation. This appears to confirm the suspicion that pholcids can penetrate human skin, but that their venom is practically harmless to humans. Additionally, recent research by Alan Van Dyke has shown that pholcid venom is actually relatively weak in its effects on insects as well.[6].

According to the University of California at Riverside, the daddy long-legs spider has never harmed a human and there is no evidence that they are venomous to humans.[7]
[edit] References

1. ^ Bruce Marlin (2006-04-25). "Video of the "vibrating spider" vibrating" (QuickTime Movie). http://www.cirrusimage.com/spider_vibrating.htm.
2. ^ "Daddy Long Legs". Queensland Museum. http://www.qm.qld.gov.au/features/spiders/spiders/DaddyLongLegs.asp.
3. ^ Wim van Egmond. "Pholcus phalangioides, the daddy-long-legs spider, in 3D". http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/indexmag.html?http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/spider/pholcus1.html.
4. ^ Joel Hallan (2005-03-07). "Synopsis of the described Araneae of the world". Texas A&M University. http://insects.tamu.edu/research/collection/hallan/Acari/Family/Pholcidae.txt.
5. ^ "Daddy Long Legs Site on UCR". http://spiders.ucr.edu/daddylonglegs.html.
6. ^ "The Spider Myths Site". Burke Museum. 2005-05-12. http://www.washington.edu/burkemuseum/spidermyth/myths/daddyvenom.html.
7. ^ Spider Myths-DaddyLongLegs

* Pinto-da-Rocha, R., Machado, G. & Giribet, G. (eds.) (2007): Harvestmen - The Biology of Opiliones. Harvard University Press ISBN 0-674-02343-9
* Platnick, Norman I. (2009): The world spider catalog, version 9.5. American Museum of Natural History.

[edit] External links
Search Wikispecies Wikispecies has information related to: Pholcidae
Search Wikimedia Commons Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Pholcidae

* North American Spiders, Family Pholcidae Information and reference quality photos of cellar spiders. Includes quicktime movie of spiders "vibrating".
* Good information and pictures of European Pholcidae
* Tree of Life Pholcidae

[hide]
v • d • e
Arthropoda - Arachnida - Spider families (Araneae)
Mesothelae
Liphistiidae
Mygalomorphae
Actinopodidae · Antrodiaetidae · Atypidae · Barychelidae · Ctenizidae · Cyrtaucheniidae · Dipluridae · Hexathelidae · Idiopidae · Mecicobothriidae · Microstigmatidae · Migidae · Nemesiidae · Paratropididae · Theraphosidae
Araneomorphae
Agelenidae · Amaurobiidae · Ammoxenidae · Amphinectidae · Anapidae · Anyphaenidae · Araneidae · Archaeidae · Austrochilidae · Caponiidae · Chummidae · Cithaeronidae · Clubionidae · Corinnidae · Cryptothelidae · Ctenidae · Cyatholipidae · Cybaeidae · Cycloctenidae · Deinopidae · Desidae · Dictynidae · Diguetidae · Drymusidae · Dysderidae · Eresidae · Filistatidae · Gallieniellidae · Gnaphosidae · Gradungulidae · Hahniidae · Halidae · Hersiliidae · Holarchaeidae · Homalonychidae · Huttoniidae · Hypochilidae · Lamponidae · Leptonetidae · Linyphiidae · Liocranidae · Lycosidae · Malkaridae · Mecysmaucheniidae · Micropholcommatidae · Mimetidae · Miturgidae · Mysmenidae · Neolanidae · Nephilidae · Nesticidae · Nicodamidae · Ochyroceratidae · Oecobiidae · Oonopidae · Orsolobidae · Oxyopidae · Palpimanidae · Pararchaeidae · Periegopidae · Philodromidae · Pholcidae · Phyxelididae · Pimoidae · Pisauridae · Plectreuridae · Prodidomidae · Psechridae · Salticidae · Scytodidae · Segestriidae · Selenopidae · Senoculidae · Sicariidae · Sparassidae · Stenochilidae · Stiphidiidae · Symphytognathidae · Synaphridae · Synotaxidae · Telemidae · Tengellidae · Tetrablemmidae · Tetragnathidae · Theridiidae · Theridiosomatidae · Thomisidae · Titanoecidae · Trechaleidae · Trochanteriidae · Uloboridae · Zodariidae · Zoridae · Zorocratidae · Zoropsidae
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pholcidae"
Categories: Pholcidae | Urban legends
Hidden categories: Articles using diversity taxobox | All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements from October 2008
Views

* Article
* Discussion
* Edit this page
* History

Personal tools

* Try Beta
* Log in / create account

Navigation

* Main page
* Contents
* Featured content
* Current events
* Random article

Search

Interaction

* About Wikipedia
* Community portal
* Recent changes
* Contact Wikipedia
* Donate to Wikipedia
* Help

Toolbox

* What links here
* Related changes
* Upload file
* Special pages
* Printable version
* Permanent link
* Cite this page

Languages

* Català
* Česky
* Deutsch
* Español
* Français
* Italiano
* עברית
* Lietuvių
* Nederlands
* 日本語
* Polski
* Português
* Русский
* Türkçe

Powered by MediaWiki
Wikimedia Foundation

* This page was last modified on 17 October 2009 at 01:37.
* Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. See Terms of Use for details.
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
* Privacy policy
* About Wikipedia
* Disclaimers

Crane fly
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Crane fly
Nephrotoma appendiculata (spotted crane-fly)
larva (leatherjacket)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Suborder: Nematocera
Infraorder: Tipulomorpha
Superfamily: Tipuloidea
Family: Tipulidae
Latreille, 1802
Genera

this list may be incomplete

* Subfamily Cylindrotominae
o Cylindrotoma
o Liogma
o Phalacrocera
o Triogma
* Subfamily Limoniinae
o Tribe Eriopterini (27 genera)
o Tribe Hexatomini (15 genera)
o Tribe Limoniini (7 genera)
o Tribe Pediciini (5 genera)
* Subfamily Tipulinae
o Brachypremna
o Ctenophora
o Dolichopeza
o Holorusia
o Leptotarsus
o Megistocera
o Nephrotoma
o Prionocera
o Tipula

Insects in the family Tipulidae are commonly known as crane flies. Adults are very slender, long-legged flies that may vary in length from 2–60 mm (tropical species may exceed 100 mm).

In the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland they are commonly referred to as daddy long-legs, but this name can also refer to two unrelated arthropods: members of the arachnid order Opiliones (especially in the United States and Canada) and the cellar spider Pholcidae (especially in Australia).

Numerous other common names have been applied to the crane fly, many of them more or less regional, including mosquito hawk, mosquito eater (or skeeter eater), gallinipper,[1] gollywhopper,[1] and jimmy spinner.[citation needed]

At least 14,000 species of crane flies have been described, most of them (75%) by the specialist Charles Paul Alexander. This makes the Tipulidae the largest family of Diptera.
Contents
[hide]

* 1 Morphology
* 2 Ecology
* 3 Misconceptions
* 4 See also
* 5 References
* 6 External links
o 6.1 Species lists

[edit] Morphology
Tipulidae Luc Viatour.jpg
Close-up of the head of a crane-fly (Nephrotoma quadrifaria). Notice the mouth parts, the compound eyes and the antennae

In appearance crane flies seem long and gangly, with very long legs, and a long slender abdomen. The wings are often held out when at rest, making the large halteres easily visible. Unlike most flies, crane flies are weak and poor fliers with a tendency to "wobble" in unpredictable patterns during flight, and they can be caught without much effort. Also, it is very easy to accidentally break off their delicate legs when catching them, even without direct contact.

Crane flies vary in size, with temperate species ranging from 2 mm up to 60 mm, while tropical species have been recorded at over 100 mm. The Giant Crane Fly (Holorusia rubiginosa) of the western United States can reach 38 mm (1.5 inches). Some Tipula species are 64 mm (2.5 inches). Many smaller species (known as bobbing gnats) are mosquito-sized, but they can be distinguished from mosquitoes by the V-shaped suture on the thorax, non-piercing mouthparts, and a lack of scales on the wing veins.

Female abdomens contain eggs, and as a result appear swollen in comparison to those of males. The female abdomen also ends in a pointed ovipositor that may look somewhat like a stinger but is in fact completely harmless.

Adult mouthparts may occur on the end of the crane fly's long face, which is sometimes called a snout or a short rostrum.

Larvae have a distinct head capsule, and their abdominal segments often have long fleshy projections surrounding the posterior spiracles (almost like tentacles).
[edit] Ecology

Despite their common names, crane flies do not prey on mosquitoes as adults, nor do they bite humans. [2] Adult crane flies feed on nectar or they do not feed at all; once they become adults, most crane fly species live only to mate and die. Their larvae, called "leatherjackets", "leatherbacks", "leatherback bugs" or "leatherjacket slugs", because of the way they move, consume roots (such as those of turf grass) and other vegetation, in some cases causing damage to plants. The crane fly is occasionally considered a mild turf pest in some areas. In 1935, Lord's Cricket Ground in London was among the venues affected by leatherjackets: several thousand were collected by ground staff and burned, because they caused bald patches on the wicket and the pitch took unaccustomed spin for much of the season.[3]

Little is known of the juvenile biology of many crane fly species. The larvae of less than 2% of the species have been described. Of those that have been described, many prefer moist environments, and some leatherjackets are aquatic.

The long legs are an adaptation that may allow the fly to alight in grassy places.[citation needed]

Crane flies are a food source for many birds. They are also susceptible to fungal infections and are a food source for many other insects.[citation needed]
[edit] Misconceptions
Main article: Pholcidae #Misconceptions

An urban legend states that the daddy long-legs spider has the most potent venom of any spider; this same legend is attributed to crane flies where they commonly go by the name "daddy long-legs" (principally in the United Kingdom). In fact, the crane fly is innocuous, while the spider's venom is harmless to humans because of the small dosage. The commonly confused harvestman, also known as daddy long-legs but which isn't a spider, is also not venomous.
[edit] See also

* Crane fly orchid (Tipularia discolor)

[edit] References

1. ^ a b Dictionary of American Regional English. http://books.google.com/books?id=vAr2T4Bh7nkC&pg=PA620&lpg=PA620&dq=gollywhopper+-wikipedia+%22crane+fly%22&source=bl&ots=yO7kfvT_wr&sig=br834TNyyx2l1eBkRPiypAZxpxg&hl=en&ei=OiGmSZG6OJqqtQPMrqT3Dw&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=3&ct=result#PPA620,M1.
2. ^ Crane Flies of Kentucky - University of Kentucky Entomology
3. ^ Andrew Ward. Cricket's Strangest Matches (1998 ed.). Robson Books, London. p. 111.

* Oosterbroek, Pjotr. "Tipulidae" http://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/aocat/tipulidae.html

[edit] External links
Search Wiktionary Look up crane fly in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Search Wikimedia Commons Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tipulidae
Search Wikispecies Wikispecies has information related to: Tipulidae

* Family descriptions and images
* Ohio State University Fact Sheet
* Crane Flies of Pennsylvania Extensive Specimen Collection, Carnegie Museum of Natural History
* Catalog of Craneflies of the World
* Family Tipulidae
* Image Gallery from Diptera.info
* Image Gallery from Bug Guide Extensive photo gallery, many species
* Tipulidae of Taiwan In Traditional Chinese but images are under Latin binomials
* Texas A&M Entomology Field Guide

[edit] Species lists

* Palaearctic
* Nearctic
* Japan
* Australasian / Oceanian includes family account by Pjotr Oosterbroek

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crane_fly"
Categories: Flies | Insect families
Hidden categories: All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements from July 2009 | Articles with unsourced statements from March 2008 | Articles with unsourced statements from May 2008
Views

* Article
* Discussion
* Edit this page
* History

Personal tools

* Try Beta
* Log in / create account

Navigation

* Main page
* Contents
* Featured content
* Current events
* Random article

Search

Interaction

* About Wikipedia
* Community portal
* Recent changes
* Contact Wikipedia
* Donate to Wikipedia
* Help

Toolbox

* What links here
* Related changes
* Upload file
* Special pages
* Printable version
* Permanent link
* Cite this page

Languages

* Brezhoneg
* Dansk
* Deutsch
* Diné bizaad
* Eesti
* Español
* Esperanto
* Français
* Gàidhlig
* 한국어
* Ido
* Italiano
* עברית
* Lietuvių
* Magyar
* Nederlands
* 日本語
* ‪Norsk (bokmål)‬
* Nouormand
* Polski
* Русский
* Simple English
* Suomi
* Svenska
* ไทย

Powered by MediaWiki
Wikimedia Foundation

* This page was last modified on 2 November 2009 at 06:28.
* Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. See Terms of Use for details.
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
* Privacy policy
* About Wikipedia
* Disclaimers

………………_„-,-~''~''':::'':::':::::''::::''~-,~„
…………._,-'':::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::''-„
………..,-'::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::|
………,-'::::::::::::„:„„-~-~--'~-'~--~-~--~--~„:,'
……..,'::::::::::,~'': : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : '-|
……..|::::::::,-': : : : : : : : - -~''''¯¯''-„: : : : : :\
……..|::::::::|: : : : : : : : : _„„--~'''''~-„: : : : : '|
……..'|:::::::,': : : : : : :_„„-: : : : : : : : ~--„_: |'
………|::::::|: : : „--~~'''~~''''''''-„…_..„~''''''''''''¯¯|¯",
………|:::::,':_„„-|: : :_„---~: : |''¯¯''''|: ~---„_: |¯¯|
……..,~-,_/'': : : |: : (_ o__): : |: : : : |:(_o__): \.. |
……../,'-,: : : : : ''-,_______,-'': : : : ''-„______\-'
……..\: : : : : : : : : : : : : : :„: : : : :-,: : : : : :\
………',:': : : : : : : : : : : : :,-'__: : : :_',: : : : ,'
……….'-,-': : : : : :___„-: : :'': : ¯''~~'': ': : ~-- |'
………….|: ,: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : |
………….'|: \: : : : : : : : -,„_„„-~~--~--„_: : : |
…………..|: \: : : : : : : : : : : :-------~: : : : : |
…………..|: :''-,: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :
…………..',: : :''-, : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : ,'
……………| : : : : : : : : :_ : : : : : : : : : : ,-'
……………|: : : : : : : : : : '''~----------~'': :,'
…………._|: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :
……….„-''.. '-,_: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : ,'
……,-''. . . . . '''~-„_: : : : : : : : : : : : :,-'''-„

***Vanessa cardui; the cosmopolitan; the thistle butterfly***

Of course I knew that it had a scientific name, but I wasn't sure whether it had an unofficial alternative name other than painted lady. One fine, very warm evening last summer when I was sitting outside in the garden of a pub in South Wimbledon, South West London, with a group of friends a host* of painted ladies descended on us - beautiful to look at but a wee bit of a nuisance when they came and fluttered about in your face.

I don't remember seeing any thistles in the pub garden......we certainly of plenty of thistles up here in Scotland, though - be very, very careful when wearing your kilt as you go roaming in the gloaming.....

*Just what IS the collective name for a group of flutterbies? - oops! - one pint too many - I meant butterflies....

<<*Just what IS the collective name for a group of flutterbies? - oops! - one pint too many - I meant butterflies.... >>

If you really made that mistake why didn't you just change it from "flutterbies" to "butterflies" instead of having a pretentious stab at being witty? No one cares how many pints you drink.

I really don't believe that our native British daddy-long-legs are venomous in any way at all - I've had them land on my face, or fly into my face heaps of times and not once did they inflict any harm on me....they may be a bloody pain in the neck but certainly not in a literal sense.

In fact, there are no truly venomous creatures to be found amongst the wildlife of the British countryside at all - none that can be termed "dangerous to life and limb".

We have one venomous reptile - the adder, a type of viper snake, but it is far more frightened of you than you would be of it, and does its best to slither away from you into the undergrowth. Even if you do attempt to handle the snake and then get bitten you are very, very unlikely to die unless you have some really serious underlying medical condition, or are very young or very aged and frail, but even so you must seek medical treatment asap in order to allay the pain and swelling and to prevent the venom travelling through your entire bloodstream.

Natural wildlife in these islands is pretty benign really - even our climate is the same when compared to that of many other parts of the world. It's true that the weather here can be very annoying and frustrating, and even depressing if you allow it to be so, but very rarely does it cause havoc involving fatalities in the way it does in all its various ways in most other countries with more extreme conditions.

In Hertford, Hereford and Hampshire hurricanes hardly ever happen....or as Eliza Doolittle said at beginning:

"In 'Ertford, 'Ereford 'n' 'Ampshire 'urricanes 'ardly ever 'appen!" - well, one 'urricane really did 'appen once many years ago - in South Eastern England (including London and East Anglia) and really did blow far more than all the cobwebs away, that's for sure...the gracious town of Sevenoaks, in Kent, became Oneoak overnight....at bedtime there were seven massive and extremely ancient eponymous oak trees standing in Sevenoak's main town centre park. By breakfast time there was only one left upright and that one had had all its leaves blown clean away by the hurricane force winds...well, it was mid October after all....so Sevenoaks had to change its name to Oneoak - well, only in a jocular way.

I wondered about this, I never knew they were called crane flies! There seems to be some confusion.

1. I think this is a spider, and I'm sure everybody agrees here. http://www.primrose-london.co.uk/images/house%20spider1.jpg

2. I think this is a daddy-long-legs, although they normally have more legs, don't they? http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/About/General/2009/6/7/1244400338947/Daddy-Long-Legs-Crane-Fly-001.jpg

3. I can't find a picture of a harvestman - but I think they look like spiders, but they're a lot thinner and a bit less scary. I think they eat spiders... I'm not sure though.

Most of my family, including me, is terrified of spiders. I remember the first time my sister saw a daddy-long-legs, she said 'What?! I thought spiders were bad enough. NOW THEY'VE GOT WINGS!'

***a pretentious stab at being witty? No one cares how many pints you drink****

Je regrette, M blanc, that as a true Scot I just don't do witty - like all Scots wit isn't in our nature. Have you not heard of the word "dour"? It's often used to describe us, and as for pretentiousness - we don't do that very well either.....our good mates down South - the Sassenachs - make a much better job of that sort of thing than we could ever hope to accomplish.

I certainly care how many pints I sup and so does my liver.....I know my limitations, mon cher ami. ;-)

Caspian - No 1 looks to me very much like the crane fly - daddy-long-legs.....I found them to be much more common in London and Southern England generally than they are up here in Scotland...our insect speciality here is the midge....Scotland is well known for this wee pest - totally harmless even tough they do bite for your blood and are singly very tiny but in swarms they are intensely irritating, especially on still, warm, humid summer evenings.

No 2 - it looks ugly and threatening even though it isn't dangerous at all...none of our spiders are - but I haven't a clue what kind it is....check it out on this Wild About Britain site:

http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/pictures/showgallery.php/cat/30