Beauty and the Weird

[e_moon60]

Yesterday in the field I photographed a Green Lacewing (late in the season, I thought, but no--there were plenty--but in broad daylight?) and a Harvestman (Daddy Longlegs).

Comments

[retrobabble]

...it would "conduct" with its second pair of legs, holding them up and waving them in time with the music.

How neat! I'm in an area where there are a lot of Harvestmen and my first thought was, "I'd like to see that!" (Not that I will, I suspect, out of the kindness to the poor Harvestmen, but the thought tickles me immensely.)

[desperance]

if the habitat is set on the bass speaker of a stereo, and the right music is on (that Harvestman did this only to certain classical pieces--it was apparently quite fond of Beethoven's 5th Symphony),  it would "conduct" with its second pair of legs, holding them up and waving them in time with the music.

Noooo...! That is - um, I was going to say 'too cool', but that's not right. 'Too creepy' comes closer. Mostly, though, just 'noooooo...!'

[e_moon60]

I was fascinated by this behavior. At the time, we were living in a little duplex, with a pass=through from the kitchen to the living room. The most protected place to put the habitat (a big plastic container) was on the brick-and-board shelves under the living room side of the pass-through...nothing was going to fall on it, it wasn't going to be stepped on, sat on, kicked, etc. And the stereo speakers (it was a very *small* stereo) were on that shelf too; the stereo itself was on the shelf below.

It didn't react that way to waltzes, polkas, folksongs, any kind of singing no matter what the accompaniment was...but orchestral with some deep stuff and a strong 4/4 beat...yup. It might've liked Bach but I didn't have any records of Bach.

[melissajm]

I'd never heard the name Harvestman for Daddy Longlegs before. Neat!

Harvestman = Daddy Longlegs = Opilionids

[e_moon60]

The scientific name of this guy, thanks to a scientist at Texas Tech who looked at my images, is (drumroll, please) _Leiobunum townsendi_

I guess we'll call him Leo, even though he's Leio- because it's easier. All Harvestmen are in the Order Opiliones and there are more species than I thought.

I grew up calling them Daddy Longlegs, but you will find them in the bug and spider books as Harvestmen. Why, I don't know.

Re: Harvestman = Daddy Longlegs = Opilionids

[melissajm]

And it seems they have more names: Other Names: daddy-long-legs, opilionids, shepherd spiders, granddaddy-long-legs, reapers.

I also found this:

The name harvestmen probably derives from the fact that these arachnids are most often seen in late summer and fall at harvest time. The French name, faucheux for reapers, is probably similarly derived. Other local names include shepherd spiders, perhaps because of the way males guard females during egg-laying, and grandfather graybeards, adding a generation to their name. Germans call them Afterspinnen or near spiders.