The term “daddy long legs” refers to two distinct arachnids: harvestmen and cellar spiders. While both possess long, slender legs, their biological classifications and feeding habits differ significantly. This article explores the varied diets of harvestmen and cellar spiders, highlighting their unique roles in different ecosystems.
The Diet of Harvestmen
Harvestmen (Opiliones) are distinct from spiders and are not venomous. These arachnids are primarily omnivores and scavengers, consuming a wide array of organic materials. Their diet includes decaying plant matter, such as rotting leaves and fruits, decomposing animal remains, small, soft-bodied insects like aphids and mites, fungi, and even bird droppings, highlighting their opportunistic feeding strategy.
Harvestmen play a significant role as decomposers, breaking down organic material and recycling nutrients in their habitats. Their scavenging nature allows them to thrive in various environments, from forests to gardens, where diverse food sources are available. Unlike spiders, harvestmen do not produce silk or build webs for capturing prey, instead consuming food directly.
The Diet of Cellar Spiders
Cellar spiders (family Pholcidae) are true spiders known for their delicate, often messy webs. Unlike harvestmen, these arachnids are obligate predators, relying entirely on capturing living prey. Their diet primarily consists of insects like mosquitoes, flies, and moths, which become entangled in their irregular webs. They also prey on other spiders, including larger species.
Cellar spiders are sometimes called “web-building hunters” due to their reliance on silk traps. While a common myth suggests their venom is highly potent but their fangs are too small to bite humans, their venom is generally mild and poses no significant threat. Their predatory focus is on subduing and consuming other arthropods that venture into their webs.
Hunting and Feeding Behaviors
Harvestmen employ a direct approach to feeding, using their long legs to probe their surroundings for food sources. Once food is located, they use their chelicerae, or jaw-like appendages, to tear and ingest the material directly. Their scavenging nature means they do not actively hunt, but efficiently locate and consume available organic matter.
Cellar spiders are skilled web-builders, constructing loose, irregular webs in sheltered areas like cellars, attics, and caves. They wait patiently within these silken traps for prey to become ensnared. Upon capture, the spider quickly wraps its victim in silk, immobilizing it before delivering a bite. It then injects digestive enzymes, liquefying the prey’s internal tissues for consumption.