Comments & ID Thoughts
I have no idea what this is! They come in “packs” I mean that by, as soon as I see one, I see many more around. Chasing small bugs, ants,beetles along trees and the ground. Brown body, and black cellar like legs. I am unable to find anything on this spider, therefore I’m beginning to think is not a spider at all.
- Submitted by:
- Submitted: Sep 21, 2018
- Photographed: Sep 21, 2018
- Spider: Unidentified
- Location: Burlington, Iowa, United States
- Spotted Outdoors: Man-made structure (building wall, fences, etc.),Low foliage (shrubs, herbs, garden, excluding flowers),Forest
- Found in web?: No
- Attributes:
Daddy long legs aka Cellar spiders.
Cellar Spider
You are correct it is not a spider but a close relative. This is a Harvestman or ‘Daddy Long Legs’. They are not spiders, but close relatives in the order Opiliones, that with the spiders from part of the Arachnids (along with scorpions, mites, etc.). Your observations of seeing a lot of them are interesting as some species have been reported to form over-wintering aggregations where several hundred will form large clumps in caves and mines, etc. to spend the winter.
I thought it may have been a relative to the daddy long legs except I’ve never seen them travel together. It’s body is red and it has pitch black legs.