What do Daddy-long-legs Spiders look like?
The Daddy-long-legs Spider is one of the most easily recognisable spiders as they have extremely long, skinny legs. It’s body can be up to 1cm long but legs can be much longer, depending on the species. They are a pale brown or creamy colour and can have darker markings on their legs and abdomen.
Where are Daddy Long Legs found?
Almost every house or shed in Australia has been home to the messy, tangled web of the Daddy-long-legs, especially as the weather begins to cool towards winter and the spiders seek warmth indoors. The common type of Daddy-long-legs found in suburban backyards across Australia is an introduced European spider (Pholcus phalangioides).
Fast facts:
- There is a long held urban myths about Daddy-long-longs Spiders is that it is one of the most venomous spiders in the world but it’s fangs are too small to pierce human skin. Unfortunately this is not true. A Daddy-long-legs Spider can give a small bite, although it is very unlikely to happen.
- A Daddy-long-legs spider can live to almost 3 years of age. In that time a female can have up to 8 clutches of 50 or more eggs.
Daddy Long Legs Spiders – the full story
The Daddy-long-legs Spider is on of the most easily recognisable spiders as they have extremely long, skinny legs. It’s body can be up to 1cm long but legs can be much longer, depending on the species.
Many of our backyard buddies find their way inside our homes and take up temporary residence, and one of the most successful and ever-present is the Daddy-long-legs spider.
Almost every house or shed in Australia has been home to the messy, tangled web of the Daddy-long-legs, especially as the weather begins to cool towards winter and the spiders seek warmth indoors. The common type of Daddy-long-legs found in suburban backyards across Australia is an introduced European spider (Pholcus phalangioides).
They’re hard to dislike, with their spindly and delicate legs and tiny body making them one of the few spiders that even arachnophobes might be able to pick up and take outside. We remove them regularly on the end of a broom and put them outside, but somehow, they always manage to find their way back in again.
They are also suprisingly good mothers to their young. After laying her eggs the mother spider will wrap them in silk and carry them around for about 3 weeks in her mouth. Once they hatch they will ride around on their mothers back until they are ready to run off across her web and leave her protection behind. It takes about 1 year for a baby Daddy-long-legs to reach adulthood. They can then live up to another 2 years as an adult. In that time a female can have up to 8 clutches of 50 or more eggs. That’s over 400 baby spiders!
Yet despite their apparent harmlessness, Daddy-long-legs have little trouble catching, wrapping and killing much larger Huntsman spiders. They have even been known to catch Redback spiders and Funnel-web spiders, both of which are far larger and more toxic than the Daddy-long-legs.
So, what’s their secret?
Certainly not their fangs or their venom – it’s their extremely long legs.
When a Huntsman, Redback or Funnel-web is walking along, the Daddy-long-legs can simply reach down and haul the more dangerous (but shorter-legged) spider into its web. It swiftly wraps up its prey before the captor can get close enough to harm the Daddy-long-legs. Once the more deadly spider is immobilised, it is easy to bite and kill.
Larger, heavier spiders are particularly vulnerable as they walk across a slippery smooth surface. If they do become entangled in a Daddy-long-legs’ web, the smooth surface becomes treacherous because it offers no grip for the prey spider to hang on to. So, while their messy webs might make the Daddy-long-legs appear unsightly, they might well be preventing far more undesirable spiders from taking up residence in our homes.
Did you know?
There is a long held urban myths about Daddy-long-longs Spiders is that it is one of the most venomous spiders in the world but it’s fangs are too small to pierce human skin. Unfortunately this is not true! A Daddy-long-legs Spider can give a small bite, although it is very unlikely to happen. If you think you have been bitten by any type of spider it is best to seek medical attention if there is any reaction to the skin at all.
