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Thread ID: 148753	2020-02-12 05:50:00	Spider Feast, wow	piroska (17583)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1466643	2020-02-12 05:50:00	I never knew Daddy Long Legs spiders could eat so much. I have seen them chase and catch ants.... We have heaps in the shed, and I noticed one fairly large one, she caught a preying mantis a couple of days ago. So I watched. It was caught by 2 legs first, she'd go down and quickly add a bit more web, then jump back up, this went on for some time, the next time I went out she had tangled all it;'s legs and had bitten it. She was sucking away, and it wasn't dead, it' lower body would twitch every now and then. Later that night I had another peak and she was still eating! She'd drained the top part of it's body - the thorax I guess, and was starting on the lower bit. Next day, still going!! It's own abdomen had gone a kind of greenish grey...I guess from all that preying mantis juice. It finally decided it had had enough and pulled it loose and dropped it. I found the much thinner remians on the floor. It's now sitting, quietly digesting I guess. I was sure it was going to pop......never seen a fat one like that before. 1019410195 Not the best pictures, but yes it is the SAME spider. It was on the wall to begin with, now it's gone up on the roof and is sitting on one of the beams.	piroska (17583)
1466644	2020-02-12 07:59:00	Be very afraid :) Ken	kenj (9738)
1466645	2020-02-12 10:51:00	I remember reading years ago, that the Daddy Long legs has one of the most venomous bites of all NZ spiders. The only problem is, it's fangs are too small to inject it into humans :)	Zippity (58)
1466646	2020-02-12 19:28:00	There is an often-repeated urban myth that states ‘the daddy longlegs is the most poisonous spider in the world, but it can’t bite you because its fangs are too small’. There is no evidence to support this story. First, there is no reason to believe the venom is particularly dangerous to people. Second, while the fangs are indeed very small and would have difficulty biting through human skin, there are anecdotal cases of bites, none of which proved fatal. The myth may have its origins in reported observations of these spiders killing and eating the decidedly dangerous Australian redback spider - the assumption being that if daddy longlegs are able to kill deadly spiders they themselves must be highly lethal. This is not true, and the daddy longlegs’ ability to overcome large or dangerous prey is due to its strategy of ensnaring prey by throwing silk at it from a safe distance.	piroska (17583)
1466647	2020-02-13 00:56:00	There is an often-repeated urban myth that states ‘the daddy longlegs is the most poisonous spider in the world, but it can’t bite you because its fangs are too small’. There is no evidence to support this story. First, there is no reason to believe the venom is particularly dangerous to people. Second, while the fangs are indeed very small and would have difficulty biting through human skin, there are anecdotal cases of bites, none of which proved fatal. The myth may have its origins in reported observations of these spiders killing and eating the decidedly dangerous Australian redback spider - the assumption being that if daddy longlegs are able to kill deadly spiders they themselves must be highly lethal. This is not true, and the daddy longlegs’ ability to overcome large or dangerous prey is due to its strategy of ensnaring prey by throwing silk at it from a safe distance. Where's your proof? Got a reference?	Zippity (58)
1466648	2020-02-13 01:42:00	Daddy Longlegs: Arachnids, but Not Spiders: www.thoughtco.com	zqwerty (97)
1466649	2020-02-13 01:50:00	They are good for clearing out the dreaded "white tail" spider as well. lurking.	Lurking (218)
1466650	2020-02-13 04:41:00	Daddy Longlegs: Arachnids, but Not Spiders: . thoughtco . com/is-a-daddy-longlegs-a-spider-or-not-1968493" target="_blank">www . thoughtco . com Well, to be correct then: Scientific name: Pholcus phalangioides These spiders have small slender bodies with very long legs . They usually sit upside down in their delicate but rather messy webs, which are typically constructed indoors in out-of-the-way spots such as ceiling corners and behind furniture . They also like living in basements and cellars, and this has led to them being named cellar spiders in some parts of the world . This is very much the case in New Zealand, and they are thought to have arrived here with European settlement . The common name "daddy long-legs" is used for several species, especially Pholcus phalangioides, but is also the common name for several other arthropod groups, including harvestmen, which are arachnids but not spiders, and crane flies . It for sure has a web and for sure came down and added extra bits of silk to the preying mantis legs to tangle it up more . I watched it do it . So ok, not a daddy long legs then, a Pholcus .	piroska (17583)
1466651	2020-02-14 04:32:00	blog.tepapa.govt.nz and from that article - "It’s also worth noting the daddy long-legs is one of the white-tail’s more formidable opponents. That’s because the daddy long-legs is incredibly attuned to what’s happening in its web. No matter how careful it is, it’s virtually impossible for the white-tail to avoid being noticed. Once detected, the daddy long-legs will rain sticky silk down on it. In no time at all, the white-tail is wrapped in silk and is being hauled up by the daddy long-legs for lunch." I've quite a few daddy-long legs inside my home just now.	bellbird (6169)
1466652	2020-02-15 06:08:00	Yeah, me too. I had a problem a year or two back with a lot of money spiders. Someone on this blog suggested I let the daddy long legs proliferate, which I did. Problem solved, except the long legged buggers can prove a bit messy with their toilet habits. But however, the plus side is they do do (pun intended) a great job of keeping other pests at bay.	WalOne (4202)
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