Most folks who retell this tale have no idea that they are referring to two completely separate groups of animals: "daddy-longlegs" and "daddy-longlegs spiders". In the animal class Arachnida, there are several lower level divisions called Orders.
spiders.ucr.edu/daddylonglegs.html spiders.ucr.edu/daddylonglegs.html
Harvestmen (what most people mean by ... Myth: The daddy-longlegs has the world's most powerful venom, but fortunately its jaws (fangs) are so small that it can't bite you. ... You Are Here: Burke Museum : Spider Myths : Weird : Daddy-Longlegs...
www.washington.edu/burkemuseum/spidermyth/myths/daddyve... www.washington.edu/burkemuseum/spidermyth/myths/daddyvenom.html
Myth: A "daddy-longlegs" is a kind of spider. ... Will the real "daddy-longlegs" please stand up? ... You Are Here: Burke Museum : Spider Myths : General : Daddy-Longlegs...
www.washington.edu/burkemuseum/spidermyth/myths/daddylo... www.washington.edu/burkemuseum/spidermyth/myths/daddylonglegs.html
Pholcidae - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Pholcidae are a spider family in the suborder Araneomorphae. Some species, especially Pholcus phalangioides , are commonly called granddaddy long-legs spider , daddy long-legs spider , da...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pholcidae
MythBusters (2003 season) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The cast of the television series MythBusters perform experiments to verify or debunk urban legends, old wives' tales, and the like. This is a list of the various myths tested on the show as well as...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MythBusters_(2003_season)
Is the daddy longlegs the world's most poisonous animal? ... Claim: The daddy longlegs is the "world's most poisonous animal." ; Status: False.; Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2000];
www.snopes.com/critters/wild/longlegs.asp www.snopes.com/critters/wild/longlegs.asp
Daddy-longlegs Myth The myth: Daddy-longlegs are one of the most poisonous spiders but their fangs are too short to bite humans. About spiders and opiliones. Univ. of California Riverside (USA) ; ... Daddy Longlegs - A Quite Remarkable Arachnid Article from Gerry Rising, Nature Watch (USA) ;
www.arachnology.be/pages/Daddylonglegs.html www.arachnology.be/pages/Daddylonglegs.html
About daddy longlegs, or harvestmen ... You don't need to be afraid of Daddy Longlegs because they have no venom at all. I know that many people say "Though they have mouthparts so small they can't bite, they have the most poisonous of all venoms in the animal kingdom." This is just one of those "urban myths" going around.
www.backyardnature.net/longlegs.htm www.backyardnature.net/longlegs.htm
The harvestmen or daddy longlegs, an order of the class Arachnida; sometimes known as Phalangida. About 4500 species are known. They are common in temperate and tropical climates. ... ^ The Spider Myths Site: Daddy-Longlegs...
www.answers.com/topic/daddy-longlegs www.answers.com/topic/daddy-longlegs
A daddy longlegs ; ... The stories are not necessarily from cities, but the phrase "urban legend" comes from the book "The Vanishing Hitchhiker: American Urban Legends & Their Meanings," by Jan Harold Brunvand, published in 1981. He promoted the idea that legends, myths and folklore are not just from primitive cultures,
www.pittsburghlive.com/x/style/articles/s_387302.html