A surprise guest comes over for carrot!!!

more birthday bug ko-fi doodles! thanks to everyone who contributed to my birthday treat fund.

References:

Dunlop, J. A., Anderson, L. I., Kerp, H., & Hass, H. (2003). Preserved organs of Devonian harvestmen. Nature, 425(6961), 916–916. https://doi.org/10.1038/425916a  

Machado, G., & Raimundo, R. L. G. (2001). Parental investment and the evolution of subsocial behaviour in harvestmen (Arachnida Opiliones). Ethology Ecology & Evolution, 13(2), 133–150. https://doi.org/10.1080/08927014.2001.9522780

Martens, J. (1993). Further cases of paternal care in Opiliones (Arachnida). Tropical Zoology, 6(1), 97–107. https://doi.org/10.1080/03946975.1993.10539212

Mora, G. (1990). Paternal care in a neotropical harvestman, Zygopachylus albomarginis (Arachnida, Opiliones: Gonyleptidae). Animal Behaviour, 39, 582-593.

Nazareth, T. M., & Machado, G. (2009). Reproductive behavior of Chavesincola inexpectabilis (Opiliones, Gonyleptidae) with description of a new and independently evolved case of paternal care in harvestmen. Journal of Arachnology, 37(2), 127–134. https://doi.org/10.1636/ST08-32.1

Shear, W. (2009). Harvestmen: Opiliones—Which include daddy-long-legs—Are as exotic as they are familiar. American Scientist, 97(6), 468-475.

I just realized I never posted photos of this really pretty harvestman i came across a while back. Note the green pedipalps and the dark and light spots on its back.

i post mostly original content on this blog but I just learned about a creature I need to immediately spread awareness of.

Its a type of harvestman from New Zealand called Acropsopilio. It has similar relatives elsewhere in the world (such as Caddo sp. from N.A) but they don’t quite rival its incredible form

i promise nothing could prepare you for what this beast looks like:

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(photo credit: Gonzalo Giribet on inaturalist)

finally got around to renovating the Cynortoides quadrispinosa. after the roundup, turns out I have over 70!

they’re a lovely armored harvestman from Jamaica, now introduced in South Florida where they appear to replace the native Libitiodes (formerly Vonones), a visually very similar genus with two species found from Ohio south to about where Cynortoides start.

they are peaceful animals, spending most of their time tucked into crevices with as many friends nearby as possible. also surprisingly sturdy, and can’t drop their legs like other harvestmen, having gone the beetle route of having a tough shelly body and equally sturdy limbs.

These guys are absolutely adorable.

Harvestman (Graecophalangium sp.), juvenile, family Phalangiidae, order Opiliones, Peloponnese, Greece

Harvestmen, also known as Daddy Long Legs, are not spiders, but are in a separate group of arachnids.

They are not venomous, but instead seize and tear apart prey with their chelicerae. (They can eat solid food, unlike spiders, which must liquify their prey).

They only have one body segment, unlike spiders (which have 2), and most have only a single pair of eyes.

There is also a group of spiders, less commonly, called Daddy Long Legs, the Cellar Spiders, family  Pholcidae. Craneflies (Tipuloidea) are also sometimes called Daddy Long Legs.

photograph by Aris Kolokontes

Bug of the Day - Arachtober!

Found this harvestman (probably genus Leiobunum) trolling for prey on a mostly-chewed leaf last July.

triaenonychidae is when the harvestman does spikes

and it's more triaenonychid the more spikes it does

and if it does a real lot of spikes

it's triaenobunus

(holonuncia, equitius, and triaenobunus from top to bottom)

Why's it bouncy?

(Answer: It's a defensive behavior)

Uncharismatic Fact of the Day

Most harvestmen are actually harvestwomen! At least a dozen species of the order Opiliones are parthenogenetic, meaning the members are all females who only produce female eggs.

(Image: A female (Mitopus morio) by Nick Upton)

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Taxonomy Tournament: Arthropods

Opiliones. This order is commonly known as harvestmen or daddy longlegs. Unlike spiders, they have no silk glands and cannot make webs, but they are able to swallow solid food unlike most other arachnids.

Parasitiformes. This superorder is made up of mites, including ticks, external parasites of mammals and birds that feed on their blood, and the varroa mite, which attacks honey bees and can cause their colonies to collapse.

Forgot this account exists sorry, I'm not good at being active on two social media platform simultaneously.

Here's a freshly molted (?) Holoscotolemon querilhaci nymph. The only thing crawling under a stone almost too big and too heavy to move around, it didn't really felt rewarding.

Meet the new arachnid with 3 different types of males!

The fascinating world of the arachnid kingdom is introducing us to a species that boasts three distinct types of males. These intriguing creatures, native to New Zealand, are thought to evolve into their disparate forms because of changing environmental factors. A recent study has illuminated the “trimorphic” nature of these arachnids, revealing that they could develop into powerful alpha or beta males, possessing large jaws that account for up to half of their total body weight. Conversely, they may evolve into comparatively small gamma males who allocate their resources towards reproduction, capitalizing on limited mating opportunities. The decision of which form the male harvestman assumes could hinge on their experiences with predators. Certain harvestmen have been observed to sacrifice their own legs to evade larger creatures, never regenerating the lost limbs...

Read more:

https://studyfinds.org/new-spider-three-different-males

It took me a long time to warm up to harvestpeople. Perhaps I just hadn't met the right one. Like this one. Now I light up every time I meet them. They are everything I love in a creature. 🧡

I believe this orange child is Crosbyella spinturnix, a tiny thing smaller than a pinhead. 🥹