Be Afraid: Giant ‘Daddy Longlegs’ Found in Cave (PHOTO)
Photo credit: Senckenberg
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If creepy crawlies give you the heebie jeebies, you might want to turn away now.
A giant “daddy longlegs” with a one-foot leg span has been found.
The good news: it was found in a cave in Laos, which is in Southeast Asia. So unless you live in a cave in Southeast Asia, you’re unlikely to find this critter crawling out of your drain pipe.
The bad news: there is a giant daddy longlegs with a one-foot leg span.
The daddy longlegs, which is more technically called a harvestman, was found by Dr. Peter Jager of the Senckenberg Research Institute. Dr. Jager was filming a TV show in Laos when he stumbled across the giant arachnid.
“In between takes I collected spiders from the caves in the southern province of Khammouan. In one of the caves I discovered a harvestman that was absolutely huge,” he told the National Geographic.
Thus far, Dr. Jager has been unable to conclusively identify the arachnid’s species. He’s been working with harvestman specialist Ana Lucia Tourinho of the National Institute for Research of the Amazon in order to give the giant harvestman a scientific name.
Is anyone else’s skin crawling?
Three “Fun” Facts About the Daddy Longlegs
Photo credit: Unknown. Via: DoubtfulNews.com
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There are three different creatures that are referred to as “daddy longlegs”. They are the crane fly, the harvestman, and the cellar spider. In this article, we’re referring to the harvestman.
You’ve probably been told at some point that the harvestman isn’t actually a spider, because it doesn’t have eight legs. Harvestmen are in an order called Opiliones, while spiders belong to the order Araneae. Therefore, harvestmen aren’t spiders. They are, however, arachnids – it’s a common misconception that “arachnid” and “spider” are synonymous.
You may have also heard that harvestmen are the most poisonous spider in existence, but their fangs are too small to break human skin. This is an urban myth. The harvestman doesn’t have venom glands.
