Eastern Harvestman
Other Name(s): Daddy Long Legs
Characteristics: Harvestman are not spiders, though they resemble them in many ways. They are relatives of the spider.
They do not have fangs, are not venomous and do not bite.
Their long legs do more for them than travel. The second pair of legs act as antennae and are very sensitive to touch. This second pair of legs also help capture prey, smell and breathe (through holes on their legs called spiracles). If the second pair of legs are lost, the spider will die.
Harvestman are well camouflaged in their habitat and some species have the ability to spray a pungent scent from a gland between their first pairs of legs. Perhaps the most bewildering form of defense against a predator is self-amputation. A harvestman will remove one of its own legs (not one from the critical second pair, however) to distract a predator. The removed leg can twitch for up to an hour, allowing the harvestman time to escape. Sadly, the leg cannot grow back so it is a costly form of self-protection.
Females will deposit eggs with an ovipositor in deep moss, soil or rotten wood. Individuals will huddle together on cold autumn nights to keep warm.
General Adult Size (Length):
6mm to 8mm
(0.24in to 0.31in)
Identifying Colors: brown; black
North American reach includes (may not be limited to): Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Delaware, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska
Category: Spider
Common Name: Eastern Harvestman
Scientific Name: (Leiobunum vittatum)
 Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Family: Opiliones
Genus: Leiobunum
Species: vittatum
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