Harvestman
HarmlessOrder Opiliones · also called daddy long-legs, harvest spider, shepherd spider
This is not a spider. It is included because it is one of the most commonly misidentified animals in and around houses.
Harvestmen are not spiders. They belong to a separate order, they have one body segment rather than two, they have two eyes rather than eight, they produce no silk, and — most importantly — they have no venom glands and no fangs at all. The 'world's most venomous animal but can't bite you' story attaches to this animal more than any other, and it is entirely false in both halves.
Quick facts
- Bite risk
- Completely harmless. Harvestmen have no venom glands and no fangs. They cannot bite a person under any circumstances.
- Size
- Body 3–10 mm. Small oval body the size of a pea, on legs that can span three inches.
- Appearance
- A single small oval body with no visible waist, carried on eight extremely long thin legs. Two eyes on a small turret on top, rather than the six or eight of a spider.
- Web
- Produces no silk whatsoever. Harvestmen have no silk glands.
- Found in
- garden, woods, basement, woodpile
- Family
- Opiliones (not a spider)
- Range
- Most of the United States
How to identify a harvestman
- One fused body segment with no waist. Every true spider has a distinct narrow waist.
- Two eyes on a small raised turret, not a cluster of six or eight.
- No web, ever — they cannot produce silk.
- Often gathers in large clusters on tree trunks and building walls.
How it behaves
Scavenges and hunts small invertebrates on the ground and on walls. Sheds legs to escape predators, which is why so many are seen with fewer than eight.
What the harvestman is confused with
One observation settles each of these.
Cellar spiders have a clear waist between two body segments and always sit in a web. Harvestmen have neither.
If you think you were bitten
- Most suspected spider bites are not spider bites. Studies of patients presenting with a “spider bite” repeatedly find that the large majority are bacterial skin infections — frequently MRSA — which need antibiotics rather than reassurance. A spreading, painful, pus-filled sore is far more likely to be an infection than a spider.
- Wash it, ice it, and watch it. Clean the area with soap and water, apply a cold pack, and keep an eye on it.
- Get medical care if the wound spreads or darkens, if you develop cramping, sweating, fever or severe abdominal pain, or if you are confident it was a widow or a recluse.
- Bring the spider only if it is already dead and to hand. Do not go looking for it. Doctors treat symptoms, not species.
In the US, the Poison Help line is 1-800-222-1222. This site is a reference, not medical advice.