Mother Longlegs

**Mother Longlegs**, also known as **Arachnida Acidosasa**, and **Bamboo Spiders**, are giant arachnid kaiju that first appeared in the 2017 MonsterVerse film, *Kong: Skull Island*.

# Name

The Mother Longlegs name is based on the famous term, "Daddy Longlegs", a common nickname for various types of insects and arachnids. The "mother" prefix refers to the species as female only.

# Design

Mother Longlegs are gigantic spider-like creatures that stand around 5 to 7 meters tall. They possess incredibly long legs that resemble bamboo stalks, allowing them to blend in seamlessly with the surrounding forests, with their legs posing as plants and their upper bodies held high above the canopy. The cephalothorax, which contains the spider's 8 red eyes and fangs, is noticeably smaller than the abdomen, which is covered in a sparse coating of thin hairs. In addition to their eight legs, Mother Longlegs possess two additional limbs located closer to their heads, which are equipped with pincer-like claws. As an all-female species, every Mother Longlegs is a female.

A giant Mother Longlegs is also seen in Issue #4 of *Skull Island: The Birth of Kong*. It is far larger than the average Mother Longlegs, and can even compete in size to creatures such as the Mire Squids, Skullcrawlers, and Kong himself. Its head contains a crown-like crest unlike its smaller counterparts, and is covered in a thicker coating of hairs.

# Personality

Mother Longlegs are ambush predators that lurk in bamboo forests for unsuspecting prey. Their main goals appear to be the capture of prey and survival.

# Origins

*An all-female, self-reproducing species, this towering arachnid is unlike any spider seen on Earth. The dense bamboo forests of the island's north-side offer the perfect habitat for a colony of predatory creatures with such slender, extended limbs. When the spider is perfectly still, the bamboo trunks conceal it perfectly, turning an entire forest into a silent deathtrap of legs and mandibles.*

*Theoretical possibility: these creatures are a supermutation of the Opiliones order of arachnids, known colloquially as 'harvestmen'. Vascular bundles of woody xylem found within the appendages of the Mother Longlegs suggest that trace elements of actual bamboo are within its physiology, as though the flora of its natural habitat has become infused within its DNA.*

*The Mother Longlegs has evolved sharpened spikes at the end of its powerful legs. Eight razor-sharp blades rein down from above on unsuspecting prey, pinning them to the ground with a poisoned spur that immobilizes the victim and sucks vital nutrients from the body like a milkshake through a straw. These creatures are not just man-eaters. They drink their prey. Once immobilized, the creature's underbelly unleashes muscular tendrils that ensnare the victim and lift them high off the ground to be swallowed up by the beast's open stomach.*

# History

### *Kong: Skull Island*

Packard and his group encountered a Mother Longlegs while trying to navigate through a bamboo forest. It impaled a soldier with one of its legs before attempting to drag Mills, another solider, into its stomach. The group quickly begins hacking off the giant spider's legs, causing it to lose balance, before incapacitating it with a barrage of gunfire, causing it to collapse to the jungle floor. Laying helpless and wounded, the Mother Longlegs can only watch as Packard walks over and fires several rounds into its head from his pistol, killing it.

### *Skull Island: The Birth of Kong*

A group of Mother Longlegs, which include a giant one the size of Kong, attacked the Iwi settlement when Riccio destroyed the walls using the seismic charges brought by the previous Monarch expedition. The giant arthropods started to kill many, including Riccio's colleague Medov. When Aaron Brooks and Ato were cornered by the large Mother Longlegs, Kong arrived catching it off guard, killing it before proceeding to kill all of the remaining smaller Longlegs.

### *Kingdom Kong*

Audrey Burns and her team comes across a Mother Longlegs moving above them as they traverse the jungles of Skull Island. Audrey decides to try in coping with her PTSD by shooting down the giant arachnid.