More than 6,400 species of harvestmen have been discovered, although the real number of extant species may be more than 10,000. Well-preserved fossils have been found in the 400-million year old Rhynie cherts of Scotland. The samples found look surprisingly modern. Apparently, the basic structure of the harvestmen has not changed much since then.
In some places, harvestmen are known by the name "daddy longlegs", but this name is also used for two other unrelated arthropods: the crane fly ("Tipulidae") and the cellar spider ("Pholcidae").
Many species are omnivores, they eat anything they can find. Most of the time this is small insects, and some plants and fungi. Some are scavengers.
Harvestmen are not dangerous to humans. None of the described species have poison glands. They are not "true" spiders even though they look like spiders in many ways. For example, harvestmen have no venom or silk glands; spiders have these.
These arachnids have exceptionally long walking legs, compared to body size, although there are also short-legged species. In harvestmen the two main body sections (the abdomen and cephalothorax) are broadly joined, so that they appear to be one oval structure; they also have no venom or silk glands, unlike true spiders. In more advanced species, the first five abdominal segments are often fused into a dorsal shield called the scutum, which is normally fused with the carapace. In some species, this shield is only present in males. The second pair of legs is longer than the others and works as antennae. This can be hard to see in short-legged species.
The feeding apparatus (Stomotheca) differs from other arachnids as they are able to eat their food in chunks, without needing to liquify it. Most species have a single pair of eyes in the middle of their heads, oriented horizontally. However, there are some eyeless species.
Daddy Longlegs
Daddy Longlegs could mean:
Shikon no Tama
The Shikon no Tama (English:The Jewel of Four Souls) is the fictional magic jewel in Rumiko Takahashi's manga and anime series "InuYasha". It contains four types per soul: Aramitama (Courage), Nigimitama (Friendship), Kushimitama (Wisdom) and Sakimitama (Love). The souls can make a person powerful. Before Midoriko sacrificed herself, she joined four souls within her heart, with the demonic one making it good and pure. This created the Shikon Jewel, where Midoriko and the demon are trapped within. The battle depends to any demon who kept the jewel. If the jewel is purified, Midoriko survives. If the demon binds the jewel, it becomes defiled. Naraku defiles the jewel, while collecting all pieces. Shako (Sango's grandfather) found the impured jewel from one of the demons. When Kikyo dies, the jewel survives and Naraku plans to retrieve it. Kagome Higurashi ends up travelling to the past while keeping the jewel. After Kagome destroys the raven, the jewel is shattered into pieces. Izumo is a philosopher half–demon who made the fake jewel with small power, by copying the real one. However, Inuyasha defeats him.
Daddy long-legs spider
The Daddy-Long-Legs Spider ("Pholcus phalangioides") is a spider of the family Pholcidae. Its legs are about 5 or 6 times the length of its body. It is often confused with the "daddy long-legs", a member of the Opiliones, which are not true (real) spiders. "P. phalangioides" has the habit of shaking the web violently when disturbed. This is probably to blur the vision of a predator. Because it is often found on the ceilings of rooms, caves or cellars, it is also called cellar spider. They can easily catch and eat hairy house spiders, mosquitoes, and other insects. When food is scarce, they will prey on their own kind. Because they originally came from the tropics, these spiders do not seem to be aware of seasonal changes and breed at any time of the year.
The female holds 20 to 30 eggs in her jaws. Spiderlings are transparent with short legs and change their skin about 5 or 6 times as they grow.
Females have a body length of about 9mm, males are slightly smaller.
"Crossopriza lyoni" and "Physocyclus globosis" are spiders with a very similar appearance.
Crane fly
Crane flies are flies in the family Tipulidae. They are insects. Crane flies look similar to large mosquitoes but, unlike mosquitoes, crane flies do not bite people or animals. Crane flies occasionally eat nectar.
They are also known as daddy longlegs around the world. The term 'daddy-long-legs' is also given to arachnids of the order Opiliones or the family Pholcidae. The larvae of crane flies are known commonly as leatherjackets.
There are about 15,000 different species and 525 genera of crane flies. This means that the Tipulidae (crane flies) are the largest group of flies. Most crane fly species (75%) were found by Charles P. Alexander.
The adult only lives to mate and lay eggs: 10 to 15 days is all. In some species the adult does not eat at all.
Most of the crane fly's life is spent as a larva. Crane fly larvae are called leatherjackets or 'leatherjacket slugs' because of the way they move and eat roots (such as those of grass in lawns) and other vegetation. Some leatherjackets are aquatic.
Leatherjackets can cause damage to plants. Because of this, crane flies are a pest of lawn grass in some areas. Invasive (European) crane flies ("Tipula paludosa") cause extensive damage to turfgrass.
Larvae of crane flies are divided into segments. They have a distinct head capsule on the front. The segments on the rear portion of the larva (the abdominal segments) often have long fleshy projections (like tentacles). Scientists have never seen the larvae from most crane fly species: less than 2% of the larvae are known.
Adult crane flies have very long legs and a long, thin abdomen. It is very easy to accidentally break off their delicate legs when catching crane flies. Their thin legs and abdomen may help them to escape from birds who try to eat them. Females have larger abdomens in comparison to the males. The female abdomen also ends in a pointed ovipositor that looks a bit like a stinger. Crane flies cannot sting.
The wings are often held out from the body when the crane fly is not moving. When the wings are held out, the large halteres (balancers) can be seen behind the wings. Unlike mosquitoes, crane flies can not fly well. They will sometimes "wobble" when flying.
Crane flies that live in temperate places, such as "Tipula" species, may grow as big as 60 mm in size. Tropical crane flies may grow to more than 100 mm. The giant crane fly ("Holorusia rubiginosa") that lives in the western United States can reach 38 mm (1-3/8 inches). There are also small crane flies, the size of mosquitoes.
Neville Chamberlain
Arthur Neville Chamberlain (; 18 March 18699 November 1940) was a British politician, Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1937 to 1940.
Neville was born in Edgbaston district, Birmingham, England. His father was Joseph Chamberlain, an important politician. His half-brother (they had different mothers), Austen Chamberlain, also became a politician. Neville went to Rugby school. He became interested in botany (plants), birds and fishing. Neville also loved music and literature (reading). He studied metallurgy at Mason college, which Joseph Chamberlain later made part of the University of Birmingham. Later, he became an apprentice in an accounting company.
Neville became a successful manager in a manufacturing company. In 1911, when he was 42, the people of Birmingham elected (chose) him to be part of the city council. On the council, he had the job of planning improving the city, the same kind of work his father had done. He planned new houses for poor people. In 1915 he became Lord Mayor of Birmingham, also as his father had done. In this job he did work to improve the city, including starting the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.