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Comments & ID Thoughts
help me identify this spider!
- Submitted by:
- Submitted: Nov 26, 2019
- Photographed: Nov 26, 2019
- Spider: Unidentified
- Location: Tormang, lower Dir, Pakistan
- Spotted Outdoors: Under rock, log, or debris
- Found in web?: No
- Attributes:
was present under rock
That’s a Harvestman. Harvestmen are not spiders but they are related to spiders. They have eight legs like a spider, but only one body segment. Spiders have two body segments: head and abdomen. Whereas harvestmen are basically just a head with legs.
They are in order Opiliones of class Arachnida. They do not have fangs nor venom. Opiliones can chew solid food. Spiders have to make solid food into a liquid to drink because their digestive tracts are narrower.
Thanks a lot!
Is it necessary for a spider to have 8 legs?
No, they can survive with fewer. Opiliones can also live with fewer than 8. They can break their own legs to escape situations like in your photo. You have the Opilione trapped by a leg. The leg may continue moving after the Opilione escapes to distract the predator. Vital fluids don’t flow through the points where the legs break easily. An immature spider can regrow legs partially if they still have more molts.
Once I found a Banded Garden Spider with only three legs. He was alive, but he probably didn’t last long after I found him. Poor little guy.
It might have been a molting accident. Can you imagine trying to get 8 legs out of a pair of really tight 8-legged jeans without dying or ripping off one of your legs? ;( They evolved to survive by deliberately breaking off their own legs. There is a joint in each leg that separates cleanly with a firm yank. There is minimal fluid loss. For web spiders it probably doesn’t make any difference. I like the spiders we see with replacement legs. The color doesn’t usually match.