Ask A Scientist© Zoology Archive

name         Sabrina F.
status       other
age          20s

Question -   Is the Daddy-long-leg spider deadly? poisonous? (to humans)
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No...and if I am not mistaken I do not even think know if it is in the
chilicerata...which would make it a true spider...but I am not sure...At any
rate it I used to handle them quite a lot when I was a kid and never got
bit... Spiders' first set of jointed appendages are the chelicera which are
what they bit with and what the use to deliver venom...I never saw them on
and Daddy long legs.

Peter Faletra Ph.D.
Office of Science
Department of Energy
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NO! Technically, by the way, daddy long legs are not spiders but a separate
related group of arachnics.
J. Elliott
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