DADDY-LONG-LEGS

     During summer, over the years in southeastern Pennsylvania, I've seen many daddy-long-legs on the bark of tree trunks on lawns, and in parks and woods.  They blend into the color of tree bark well and are difficult to see.  Many people never see them at all until those camouflaged little critters are pointed out by people in the know about them.  

     Daddy-long-legs have eight, really long, thin legs, but they are not spiders.  But they are arachnids, and related to spiders.  These attractive, little creatures, called daddy-long-legs because of their long legs, have quarter-inch, compact bodies raised on stilt-like legs.  They have two dark eyes and feel the vibrations of birds and other predators with their legs.  But these arachnids have no venom, or silk to make webs.  

     Daddy-long-legs, like all other living beings, are part of several food chains.  They consume tiny invertebrates and decaying plant and animal materials they find on tree bark.  And, in turn, many of them are eaten by birds, jumping spiders and other smaller predators on trees, some of which fall victim to even larger predators.

     There are two kinds of closely-related, attractive daddy-long-legs in southeastern Pennsylvania, and across much of the United States, the brown and the eastern.  Browns are brown all over.  Easterns are brown with a darker pattern on top of the abdomen.  

     Both species of daddy-long-legs have similar behaviors between them.  Both kinds either scurry up and down tree trunks after prey or are stationary to avoid their predators.  Both types sometimes hide in tree bark crevices and knot holes to avoid being eaten.  Every niche on Earth has its occupants, including tree bark.  And some inhabitants of every kind are ingested by some other animal species.

     After mating in late summer, female daddy-long-legs of both kinds lay eggs in soil where those eggs overwinter.  The next spring, tiny, baby daddy-long-legs hatch in the soil, emerge from it and climb into nearby trees to live and hunt tiny prey.

     Daddy-long-legs are seldom seen in their abundance on tree trunk bark.  But there they make a living and are valuable parts of food chains.  And they are interesting for people to see in their traditional habitat on lawns, and in parks and woods.

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