The Daddy Long Leg Myth

I found this project a little harder on some points, but I enjoyed creating the website for its display much more than uploading a paper. The portions I found difficult on this project about myths was the fact that couldn't find a factual start to it. The closest I could come to a start was a ref

I decided to write on the daddy long legs legend because it is one I have heard and fell for in the past.  I also find researching and learning about the natural world more rewarding than other legends you typically hear about.  I wanted to focus the information on the general population that are

Most Americans who spend time outdoors use the term daddy long legs for harvestmen. Harvestmen are not spiders, but they are an arachnid. They are characterized by having one basic body segment which shows segmentation on the posterior portion, at most 2 eyes and all 8 legs attach to the pill-

People that do not spend a lot of time in the outdoors often see the long legged house spider, also called the cellar spider. The cellar spider is often found in damp locations like basements, crawl spaces and cellars, which is how it got its common name. Cellar spiders are tan or gray in color

Tracking down the history of the myth has been difficult. This is mainly due to much of the research and sites dedicated to debunking myths like this focus on the myth and not where it started. But I have found several common threads in my research. Several state the myth started in the 1970's w

[1] "Daddy Longlegs." Snopes.com. N.p., 23 Oct. 2016. <www.snopes.com/critters/wild/longlegs.asp>. [2] "UCR Spiders Site." UCR Spiders Site: Daddy Long Legs Myth. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2017. <spiders.ucr.edu/daddylonglegs.html>. [3] Wolchover, Natalie. "Are Daddy Longlegs Really the Most Poiso

I hope while you were looking through this site you learned some facts on what many people call daddy long legs. On this website you have seen the top three insects that people often call daddy long legs. You have also seen that two of those three can not bite or even produce venom. While the th

The British, some Canadians, and some southeastern Americans use the "daddy" term for long-legged flies (Crane Flies), which are insects. In southeastern America they may also be known as mosquito hawks and are thought to pray on mosquitoes, another myth. Crane Flies are most easily distingui

Unfortunately people from all over the world (and even in the same regional location) call different things daddy long legs. Some of the most common things that are called daddy long legs are harvestmen (right), crane flies (left), and Pholcus phalangioides (house spider) (center)[4]. While at fir

The myth stating that the Daddy Long Legs was among the most poisonous in the world has been circulating around the internet (and between friends) for years now. Below are some example of this myth that have been going around. The most poisonous animal, believe it or not, is the daddy long leg