Has anyone seen a daddy-long-legs lately?

[Anonymouse]

This post is not to say 'oh, I miss them'. In fact I hated the damn things. I really hated that scritch scritch sound you'd hear from ceilings or windows as they blundered around as the lousy fliers they were. They always seemed so pointless to me - all leg and wing, hardly seemed worth a predator's time (though clearly there must be something that bothers to eat them - spiders, maybe).

But it occurred to me tonight that I haven't seen one in years. Spiders, yes, mostly Tenegaria or harvestmen (the ones with spindly legs). The occasional moth (Tigger, bless her, used to like them...as a toy/snack, that is!).

But no daddy-long-legs.

Not that I want them back, but I'm curious: are they extinct, or just scarce these days? Do they have a years-long breeding cycle, like cicadas, so every few years they mostly vanish until BAM and we're suddenly overrun with them?

Yep, we had them around here in late summer.

[SnoopZ]

Always get them in the summer here too, luckily they don't bother me and can easily pick them up in my hand and throw out window. Spiders are another thing those large house spiders terrify me!

[Anonymouse]

Oh. Then why aren't I seeing them?

And spiders can't hurt you - to the best of my knowledge, Britain doesn't have a single species capable of biting us. They're all too small. If you see a spider, please leave it be - they're more scared of you than the reverse. They'll scuttle off soon enough. We need them - without them we'd be knee-deep in flies.

Same with bats - vampire bats only exist in South America and don't prey on us anyway. Every British species (all protected by law, rightly IMO whatever that cow Reeves might say) is small - essentially they're mice with wings.

I was surprised to discover daddy-long-legs are persistent little beggars; they've been around, Wikipedia says, for 245 million years - they're among the oldest species of fly. Maybe their inadequacy acts in their favour. To be so successful, they must have something going for them. Flipped if I know what, though.

Plenty of them around in summer, but they tend to be attracted to light, so maybe you’ve been better at not leaving lights on in recent years?

[jem]

Originally Posted by Anonymouse

Oh. Then why aren't I seeing them?

And spiders can't hurt you - to the best of my knowledge, Britain doesn't have a single species capable of biting us. They're all too small.

Snippety, snip, snip

To be overly pedantic, all spiders can bite you, it’s just that their fangs are too small to penetrate the skin. I’m told that the largest spiders in the UK, if they were to bite you, then you might just feel it - none however are capable of causing any harm, a rash, a little irritation, and only then if you happen to be allergic to the venom.

Remember that a spider will only bite as a matter of last resort, it’s a waste of venom which costs the spider a considerable amount of energy to manufacture, so it will prefer to use it only for prey which it can eat and recoup the energy.

In much the same way that a single wasp or bee won’t come and sting you for no reason (if it feels threatened or it thinks the hive is under attack, that’s different), a venomous snake won’t make any effort to slither over and bite you - accidentally tread on it though....

Further pedantic point - the false widow is now well established in the southernmost parts of England. A false widow very much can bite you, and deliver an uncomfortably venomous gift along with it. We caught and removed one from our summer holiday accommodation in Penzance last July.

[Carth]

ohhh nasty.

Penzance to Bolton, about 365 miles . . no idea how fast the False Widow can move, but I'd be looking at property around Inverness in the next few years

[jem]

Originally Posted by Chris

Further pedantic point - the false widow is now well established in the southernmost parts of England. A false widow very much can bite you, and deliver an uncomfortably venomous gift along with it. We caught and removed one from our summer holiday accommodation in Penzance last July.

Oh yes the various species of the ‘false widow’ spiders yes if you do get bitten it can be quite unpleasant. But it won't without a very good reason, leave the spider alone and it will leave you alone.