Metaphalangium albounilineatum is Daddy longlegs, Daddy-Long-Legs, Harvest-Spiders, Shepherd Spiders and Grandfather Graybeards
Every winter we have a few fun creatures living in the garden shed along with our plants. There are always Daddy Long Legs. Last week I was out there transplanting seedlings and it crawled up onto the shelf where I was working, wandered around the plants and then discovered me. Yikes! Quick turnaround and back down into the pots on the floor. These gentle creatures have no venom or poison with which to stun their prey (or us). They are not spiders (arachnid). And, they do not spin webs. They are Opilliones (or Opiliones) which means aphid sucker meaning they are perfect guests in a garden shed where aphids abound. Here's a National Geographic video of a Daddy Long Legs ingesting an aphid and winning a fight with a large beetle. Their food consists of aphids, beetles, caterpillars, ants, earthworms, flies, mites, small slugs, snails and spiders according to Galveston County Master Gardeners . "The name Harvestmen comes from their being seen in late sum...