You had an inspection done before purchasing your house. But, like any new homeowner, you want to really explore your property after moving in. Look around. Get the lay of the land. While poring over every inch of your backyard, you run across a blackish-gray mass. You walk over to pick it up to examine it, and it explodes into a swarm-like cluster of hundreds of daddy-long-legs, which can understandably come as quite a surprise.
Should you be worried? What’s the daddy’s long legs’ lifespan? Do daddy’s long legs bite? You have heard the rumors about how poisonous they are. Do you need to call an exterminator?
Everything You Need to Know About Daddy Long Legs
Before you decide this house isn’t for you, you should know a few things.
First, there are actually two creatures known as daddy long legs. One is a spider (Pholcidae), and one is not (Opiliones). One is a venomous predator, while the other eats decomposing animals and plants.
Second, and probably more critical after an encounter like the abovementioned one, neither type naturally bites people.
The lifespan of a male daddy’s long legs is about a year. These creatures die after they mate. A female can live up to three years. Typically, baby spiders reach adulthood after about a year.
So, what about that rumor that daddy’s long legs are the most poisonous creatures in the world? As is the case with many other myths about spiders, this assertion is utterly false. Mythbusters debunked this in 2004 by coaxing a “venomous” daddy long legs spider into biting one of the hosts. It resulted in nothing more than a brief, mild burning sensation. Not pleasant, but no big deal in the grand scheme of things. With that out of the way, let’s learn more about these fascinating creatures and how you should handle them.
How You Can Recognize Daddy Long Legs
As we already discussed, there are two types of arachnids called daddy long legs: Opiliones and Pholcidae. First, you may want to know which type of daddy long legs you are dealing with.
Opiliones
These are the creatures that most people tend to call daddy long legs. They are also known as Harvestmen.
Physical characteristics
You can recognize harvestmen because of what looks like a single-segment oval body rather than a skinny middle section connecting the two, as with actual spiders. Instead of eight eyes, they have (at most) two eyes. Of course, harvestmen have those incredibly long legs, which can break off to allow them to escape predators. That is why you sometimes come across daddy’s long legs with six or seven legs.
Opiliones are not venomous. They also don’t spin webs, nor do they produce any silk. They do, however, molt regularly.
The average harvestman molts every ten days, and they can live for up to two years in our warmer weather in the southern states. That is pretty long for an insect, but it is nothing compared to some of the daddy’s long legs in Brazil. Harvestmen in this country can live for up to seven years! As you can tell, the daddy’s long legs’ lifespan varies widely.
Where to find Harvestmen
Where do Daddy’s long legs live? Opiliones species can be found anywhere in the world (besides Antarctica). They tend to live under objects, such as rocks and logs, and prefer moist environments, though they have also been found in the desert.
Unless you go looking for them, you probably will not encounter Opiliones around your home, although in rare cases, some have been known to congregate around eaves and windows or in garages and unfinished basements.
What they eat
Opiliones are the type of daddy long legs that survive primarily on decomposing plant and animal matter. However, they are what are known as “opportunistic predators.” They will do if they believe they can remove a smaller or weaker creature. Insects harvestmen eat include both aphids and other spiders. Additionally, these arachnids will eat bird droppings, fungi, and even bread and butter if nothing better is around.
What attracts them
Harvestmen are drawn to logs, stone piles, compost heaps, and gardens.
Pholcidae
Also known as “cellar spiders,” this type of daddy’s long legs are most commonly found around homes.
Physical characteristics
Like other actual spiders, Pholcidae have two main body parts that make up the torso (the cephalothorax and the abdomen), eight eyes usually grouped in the front (some species only have six eyes), and eight legs that are attached to their front body part.
One of the most common kinds of Pholcidae is entirely gray, while the other has a brown stripe on its belly. They are venomous and spin webs.
Where to find them
Their common name, “cellar spider,” should give you a big clue where you can find these creatures: cellars and other dark, moist areas of homes. If you have cracks or crevices, there is a decent chance that cellar spiders live there.
What cellar spiders eat
These spiders eat invertebrates and other insects, including other spiders.
What attracts them
Cellar spiders may come into your house during colder months to escape the weather or because your home offers plenty of private nooks and crannies to set up shop.
However, one thing attracts them above all others: bugs. Spiders survive by preying on other bugs. If you are dealing with an infestation of other insects, spiders won’t be far behind because your house is basically like one extensive spider buffet.
How to Get Rid of Daddy’s Long Legs and Keep Them Away
Now know that neither type of daddy’s long legs is hazardous. In fact, because they eat other pests, they can actually be quite beneficial to have around.
Despite this, that doesn’t necessarily mean you want Daddy’s long legs taking over your house or yard. If their numbers become unmanageable and you want to clear them out, there are several different things that you can do.
Remove any debris
If you have daddy’s long legs outside, the best thing to do is to get rid of any debris you have lying around. Taking the following steps will help prevent Daddy’s long legs from sticking around:
- Move wood piles.
- Clear out the area under the decks.
- Keep your lawn furniture clean.
- Empty your gutters.
- Trim back bushes that are close to the house.
Take these steps, and the creatures won’t have as many options about where they can live nearby.
Check for entry points.
To keep cellar spiders from getting in, carefully look around your home’s exterior for entry points and seal them up. That means closing up cracks and crevices, repairing any tears in screens, ensuring your weather stripping doesn’t have gaps, and checking for holes around sinks and water pipes.
Use the right kind of light.
Bugs, in general, are attracted to bright lights, and daddy’s long legs are no different. Minimize their attraction to your home by using only yellow lights outdoors, which help to repel insects and arachnids.
Keep it dry
Daddy’s long legs are at least in part attracted to places like attics, basements, crawl spaces, and crevices because they tend to be friendly and humid. Combat this by investing in a dehumidifier and using it in those areas.
Alternatively, you could invest in ventilation for problematic areas. Also, make sure you fix any leaky fixtures or pipes.
Remove their hiding places.
Cracks, crevices, isolated places, and general clutter all look like home to Daddy’s long legs, so take away as many potential spider resting spots as possible. Get rid of stacks of boxes or newspapers. If you can’t bear to part with them, at least keep them away from walls–preferably leave about a foot of clearance.
This also goes for furniture. Beds should be a foot away from the wall and other types of furniture at least a few inches. This not only discourages Daddy’s long legs from using the spots as living spaces but will also make it easier for you to run the vacuum and keep your living areas cleaner.
Apply targeted treatments
Our years of helping people with spider problems have taught us that you should only start using chemicals to deal with a daddy-long legs infestation after you have already engaged in the hard work of eliminating hiding places and sealing up your house.
Depending on the nature of your issue, we may recommend powders, aerosol bombs, sprays, or a combination of all three for immediate removal. Where long-term care is concerned, boric acid and insecticidal dust have proven to be quite effective at keeping daddy’s long legs away.
Again, these chemical methods work much better if you have already taken the time to clean up and seal off potential problem areas.
Pests Are No Match for ABC
The best way to handle any spider infestation is to contact the pest control exterminator at ABC Home & Commercial Services so that our experienced technicians can look at what’s happening. Every situation differs, so we can’t make individual recommendations until we inspect your property. Take advantage of our free inspection to devise a plan to rid your property of pests.