Something I will never understand

[Mikhailangelo]

Why is it that, in spite of all logic, the fact that Jenny/Daddy long legs have really long legs, this serves to make them far less terrifying, pushing them pretty damned close to the point of being cute, rather than more terrifying and closer to the point of being an abomination unto the universe?

[Tiger Duck]

Because they aren't dangerous.

Those legs make them very recogniseble,

and their legs make them look fragile.


Edit-vvv- "Langpootmuggen", and spiders with the same kind of legs

[rakkoon]

Can't believe I actually knew which animal you were talking about. yay my English. Ahum.

Cuz their tiny? (:smallwink:)

[Obrysii]

It has only been within the last few months that I have forced myself to ignore them.

Their long legs make them extremely creepy to me. I can deal with jumping spiders - but these big, spindly things?

And don't try to tell me you don't find (WARNING: LINK IS OF ONE. DON'T CLICK IF YOU HATE THEM) house centipedes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scutigera_coleoptrata) scary or out-right creepy!

I know they're good - they eat bad insects, but ughhh.

[polity4life]

Are we talking about the spider or opiliones? If the former, they're hideous. If the latter, they...may be cute since they have no neck?

[Blisstake]

I haven't seen one in a long time. I was a kid back then. I was scared ****less, despite the fact that I never had a problem with other spiders.

[Mikhailangelo]

It has only been within the last few months that I have forced myself to ignore them.

Their long legs make them extremely creepy to me. I can deal with jumping spiders - but these big, spindly things?

And don't try to tell me you don't find (WARNING: LINK IS OF ONE. DON'T CLICK IF YOU HATE THEM) house centipedes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scutigera_coleoptrata) scary or out-right creepy!


Those things are a case in point - The long legs really do make them more terrifying!

[Savannah]

And don't try to tell me you don't find (WARNING: LINK IS OF ONE. DON'T CLICK IF YOU HATE THEM) house centipedes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scutigera_coleoptrata) scary or out-right creepy!

My first thought was "Ooh, I bet all those legs would feel cool if it was walking across your hand!" (Quickly followed by "Eww, it's kinda creepy, too.") I guess I'm weird...not that I didn't know that already :smalltongue:

[Dr.Epic]

I've never seen any sources saying they're cute.:smallconfused:

Also, not sure if this is true, but a friend told me while they are very poisonous, their teeth aren't strong enough to penetrate human skin. Not sure if it's true, just something I heard.

[DeadManSleeping]

Urban myth.

Also, house centipedes ARE poisonous. Not deadly poison, mind you, but it'll sting.

[lord of kobolds]

I had never really considered this before, but I will now wonder about it forever. They do seem almost goofy looking.

[Nameless Ghost]

They tended to bug me when I was young due to the distracting way they flitted about but thinking about it, I've not seen one in years now.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

They tended to bug me when I was young due to the distracting way they flitted about but thinking about it, I've not seen one in years now.

Basically what he said.

[Dr.Epic]

Also, house centipedes ARE poisonous. Not deadly poison, mind you, but it'll sting.

Are house human centipedes poisonous?

[rayne_dragon]

I haven't seen a daddy long legs in years either. They are kind of cute, though.


Also, not sure if this is true, but a friend told me while they are very poisonous, their teeth aren't strong enough to penetrate human skin. Not sure if it's true, just something I heard.

I'm not sure how poisonous they are, but I do recall hearing that they can't bite through skin.

[Lady Moreta]

Daddy-long-legs have always creeped me out. It's only now that I've moved to Australia and have to put up with them everywhere that I've finally been able to train myself to just ignore them. Well, tolerate them. I keep an eye on whereabouts in the house they are and I frequently converse with them, telling them they can stay in the house and eat the bugs as long as they stay out of my way. I'll still freak out if one lands on me and my default reaction will probably still be 'kill it. kill it now" but so far that hasn't happened.

That house centipede will forever give me nightmares. Thank you. I should have known better than to look.

[kirbsys]

Never google a term that you heard on the internet. Or anywhere for that matter. :smallwink:

[Mr. Mud]

I've always found them hideous to be honest. It's essential slender man in spider form... shudders

[Eldan]

Had one in my shower this morning. Took me several minutes to finally catch it and put it outside. Silly thing, not wanting to get it's life saved. :smalltongue:

[Mikhailangelo]

They are one of the few bugs I don't react to murderously

Spiders must learn to fear me, so that they never again return to my house, so I tend to kill them on sight. But daddy long legs... I have found myself trapping them so that I can release them outside.

[Eldan]

Nah, I also do the same to spiders, mosquitoes, bees and flies.

[Mikhailangelo]

We don't get mosquitoes here generally, and I don't mind bees too much

But wasps and flys seal their fates as soon as they fly through that open window/door

[Eldan]

Guess I just like the little buggers too much. Flies are adorable.

[Temotei]

Here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvestman#Misconception). That's interesting to me, since I, too, have heard of their deadly poison. I just heard that their fangs or whatever were too short to actually reach anything to poison enough to kill.

The cellar spider (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellar_spider#Venom) is a little different, though.

The crane fly (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crane_fly#Misconceptions) is venomous, but has so little that it bares no harm to humans.

All are referred to as daddy long legs. I'm familiar with the harvestman as a daddy long legs. The others I've never known to be referred to as such.

[Serpentine]

For the record, this is the daddy long-legs I know:http://www.dwerner.org/Pages/Images1/Nature/Insects01/01-LongLegsAa.JPG
I think a big part of it is that, from a distance, it doesn't look like a spider it all. It just looks like... maybe some sort of plant seed.
Dunno whether it's true, but I've heard that they eat some of the nastier spiders like redbacks, so that's something good. I quite like 'em...

[Eldan]

As has been mentioned, Opiliones are also called by that name. I actually didn't know that actual spiders were also called that.

[Deadly]

I don't seem to have any real spiders in my apartment. I think I've seen one, maybe two small ones, in the eight or so years I've lived here. I frequently have a lot of Opiliones running around, often very big ones. My dad says if you have them you don't have regular spiders, because the Opiliones hunt spiders. I have no idea if that's true, but if so I guess I should thank them.

I HATE spiders and brutally murder them on sight. I usually leave the others alone, though I wouldn't want them near me. I really don't know why they bother me less. I remember as a kid I used to pull their legs off (which now makes me very sad, I was such a cruel kid apparently). Maybe that's why I'm a little less freaky 'fraid of them, because I used to be the one tormenting them.

What I find even more strange, however, is how apparently they're not supposed to have silk glands or build webs because they're not really spiders, but the ones I have certainly make webs and I see them crawling around in webs all the time.

[Eldan]

It's rather the other way round. Most Opiliones are omnivores and eat small stuff. They don't have real fangs or poison. But some spiders can eat them, so if you have a lot, it probably still means you don't have any spiders.

[Deadly]

That kinda makes more sense, actually :)

[MlleRouge]

I think daddy longlegs are adorable! I was scared of spiders as a child, until I realized how fun daddy longlegs are to play with..they tickle when they walk on your hand :smallbiggrin:

[Katana_Geldar]

Huntsmen are also creepy, but I have to remind myself how useful they are to have in your ceiling.

[Dr.Epic]

For the record, this is the daddy long-legs I know:http://www.dwerner.org/Pages/Images1/Nature/Insects01/01-LongLegsAa.JPG
I think a big part of it is that, from a distance, it doesn't look like a spider it all. It just looks like... maybe some sort of plant seed.

What sort of messed up plants grow around where you live?

[Mikhailangelo]

What sort of messed up plants grow around where you live?




Serpentine
Titan in the Playground



Join Date: Jun 2006
Location:
In a really gross house.



Perhaps it is best not to know...

[Serpentine]

Heh. Well, I had in mind something like this:http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3072/2717151716_2e0353d193.jpg

[Mikhailangelo]

I know what you meant, but I couldn't resist the joke :P

[Tiger Duck]

those aren't grose at all:smallamused:

[Dr.Epic]

Perhaps it is best not to know...

Hey, so long as it's not named Audrey, tries to eat Rick Moranis, or sings, how bad could it be?

As for spiders, I don't find them too threatening. Heck, a little while ago I punched on with my bare hand to kill it.

[RLivengood]

I remember going to a Girl Scout where all of the other girls seemed to think they were horrifying. I was the only person unafraid of them. They're just little balls with legs attached, how can they not be cute?

[Necro_EX]

I'm not a huge fan of anything with an exoskeleton being in my house. Usually it ends with either a shoe-slapping or a punching. I'd be more forgiving, but flies have a tendency to try to fly up my nose, I'm paranoid of spider bites, ants are just nasty, and euch...I've seen a house centipede in the crawl space. Freakin' terrifying.

Also, I'm a Lepidopterophobe.
Freakin' things always flying right at me.
...and my parents had the gall to take me to a 'butterfly house.'

Fun for everyone else, a house of nightmares for me.

Daddy Longlegs don't bother me so much, though. They're a little creepy, but individually they're also sort of cute. However, a swarm of them? No way am I going near it. Someone that lives near my grandmother's house in Arkansas has a section of their house absolutely covered in the things. To make things worse, you have to go right under them to get inside.

[Mono Vertigo]

I am so not clicking any spoiler/link to figure out which critter you are actually talking about, English not being my first language, so I'll assume it's about spiders.
Spiders bigger than, say, my thumbnail, freak me out. The longer the legs, the louder I'll scream. The only spiders (if they even are spiders) that are the exception are those that are basically 99% extra-thin legs and maybe 1% actual arachnid body. No hair, slow enough, actually the only ones that do seem to be running away from me, and just don't look like spiders. If those are what you call daddy-long-legs, then I agree, they're borderline cute in their arachnoid way.
If you are talking about any other spider, then no, they aren't goofy, they are terrifying. And I'm not walking in a room containing one. :smalleek:

(Arachnophobic. For some reason, I am always told spiders are more afraid of you than you are of them, and will try and run away. And for some reason, absolutely no spider I see seems to have read that specific memo.)

[Tiger Duck]

The only spiders (if they even are spiders) that are the exception are those that are basically 99% extra-thin legs and maybe 1% actual arachnid body.
Yes, those are the spiders that are being talked about :smallwink:

[Mono Vertigo]

Okay, then I tolerate them.
And by "I tolerate them", I mean "I wait for them to go away from me, and if they don't at least attempt to crawl in the proper direction, I kill them even if I'm not afraid, because they're still freakin' spiders".
... they're kind of cute and amusing if they run away from me. :smallbiggrin:
Spiders are to me what trees are to Durkon. Sitcom archnemesises.

[Eldan]

I usually just grab them and put them outside. Unless I'm naked because they tried to attack me in the shower, then I just put them on the windowsill.

[Anuan]

Cute :3
http://pichars.org/store/806_original_CjEvo.

[Mauve Shirt]

There was a large crane fly on my bedroom wall about 3 seconds ago, I seriously freaked out. :smalleek: I hate large spindly bugs right above my sleeping area, so creepy.

[Necro_EX]

Cute :3
http://pichars.org/store/806_original_CjEvo.


It's like a horde of tiny little slendies.

Also, that's exactly what that house in Arkansas looked like, right above the freaking door.

[Mono Vertigo]

I shouldn't suddenly have gathered enough courage to click this last spoiler.
Because now, I lost it entirely.
So many :smalleek:
So many of them
Why didn't anyone kill them with fire yet? Whyyyyy

[Volthawk]

Cute :3
http://pichars.org/store/806_original_CjEvo.

Wow...that's pretty cool.

[Mx.Silver]

Yes, those are the spiders that are being talked about :smallwink:

Or alternatively, Craneflies. You'd have thought three completely different invertebrates wouldn't have somehow all acquired the same name, but apparrently not.


I'm personally fairly neutral on invertebrates. The only ones I'd describe as cute (aside from Atlas Moths, but they're more 'awesome' anyway) would be woodlice. Silverfish are ok too, but their tendancy to damage books can be annoying.

[Serpentine]

I think jumping spiders are pretty adorable.http://www.tulsamastergardeners.org/insects/jumpingspider.jpg
Oozaliddlecooty? Oozaliddlegoody? Oozaliddlegootyooarooar!

Also: fancy.http://mrbarlow.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/peacock-spider.jpg

[Durmegil Guldur]

Jenny Long-Legs are fun. At my friend's 18th party, the number of bodies in the house made opening some windows a necessity. Now normally, that would be fine. When you live out on the sticks, however, lights on + windows open + countryside at night = invasion of swarm of Jenny Long-Legs. Some bright spark had the idea of catching as many of them as we could and putting them into the pedal-bin. The next person to open that bin got well and truly swarmed as they all took flight at once, right into her face.

The friend in question's mother was not impressed to have this happen in her kitchen.

[Eldan]

I think jumping spiders are pretty adorable.http://www.tulsamastergardeners.org/insects/jumpingspider.jpg
Oozaliddlecooty? Oozaliddlegoody? Oozaliddlegootyooarooar!

Also: fancy.http://mrbarlow.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/peacock-spider.jpg

Awwwwwwww. What a cute fuzzy-wuzzy...

I once had the most adorable picture of a dragonfly, but I've never been able to find it again.

[Fiery Diamond]

Wow... I, uh, had no idea that the one Serp showed a picture of even existed. I've always known the Opiliones as Daddy Long-legs. I wasn't aware that people called crane flies anything other than crane flies, either, unless you count "bugs that look like freaking giant mosquitos."

Anyhow, while I find Serp's pictures to be absolutely terrifying (also those fuzzy spiders scare the crap out of me), I always thought that the Daddy Long-legs I'm familiar with were kind of cute in a weird sort of way. I catch them sometimes when they're in the house, but I haven't seen one in a while.

Also, I'm not afraid of crane flies, but they freak me out because, as I said, they look like GIANT MOSQUITOS! (I know they aren't, but that's what they look like anyway.)