Mystery bug!

[Becky]

I was browsing through the photos on my phone and completely forgot about this bug I saw a few months ago! I took some photos with the intention of sharing it here but never did. Better late than never I guess!

Never seen anything like it before! It didn't move while I was looking at it. Must have been about 3-4 inches across!

Anyone have any ideas what it is?

 

[zigs]

That's your real Daddy Long Legs.

The name gets used for Crane Flies these days, but that's the original. Confined to Southern England, Wales & Southern Ireland, only found in Man made habitats, which suggests its at the limit of its Northern range.

 

[Becky]

Aha! It seems so weird I've never seen one doing this until now!

For anyone who is interested, this fella appears to be part of the Opiliones family, here are some pictures of others doing the same thing:

http://abugblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/looooong-legs.html

 

[claudine]

It's such a terrifying creature! I've never seen anything like it. It looks like a child of a tick and a spider
How fast does it walk?

 

[gata montes]

As I'm someone who is not very keen on bugs, and the title ' mystery bug' was conjuring up some really terrifying pictures in my mind was a bit unsure, as to whether I wanted to find out what exactly this 'mystery bug' was, but my curiosity got the better of me and have to say its nothing like I expected it to be, thankfully.
At first I thought it was a very long legged spider, so found it interesting that it is actually part of the 'daddy long legs' family, and also often known as a 'harvest man'.

Becky - although it looks relatively harmless and I wouldn't want to have one visit me- I think you you were incredibly lucky to have such a rare visitor.

 

[zigs]

How fast does it walk?

Twice the speed of a man & they tend to hang out on a bedroom ceiling and drop when you turn the light off

 

[claudine]

Twice the speed of a man & they tend to hang out on a bedroom ceiling and drop when you turn the light off

You are trying to scare me, aren't you? So evil!
Fortunately I always sleep under a big mosquito net, so I'm completely safe, haha

 

[zigs]

Would I try to scare you

Oh, yes, I probably would. Naughty Ziggy

 

[Babble64]

Becky, that is incredible! I'm thankful you stumbled across both the bug and the long-lost photo. We have creatures we call Daddy Long Legs around here but nothing that looks like that. (Two of the photos in the wikipedia link bare a distinct resemblance.) I will never cease to be amazed by the beauty and intricacies of nature! SO cool to be here among others who find it all intriguing as well.

Zigs, you're a wealth of knowledge AND a tease!

 

[zigs]

 

[Becky]

For the brave ones out there, take a look at this...

Don't think I'd have been quite so cool and calm!!

 

[Babble64]

Becky, that person went looking for those spiders! That's way different from finding a pile like that accidentally! And you notice he didn't grab a handful and put them on his arm! LOL

I was recently watching a video sketch about wolf spiders. The females carry their live young on their backs. They are the only type of spider in the world to do that, according to the video. I found that really neat because a few years ago while weeding my flower bed I found a spider like that! I saw this spider with strange looking bumps on it's back. When I got close it was actually covered with tiny little miniature spiders! It was actually quite fascinating!!