KSDK ST. LOUIS - Daddy-long-legs, which look like spiders with thin legs much longer than their bodies, are generally seen as harmless. But according to many versions of a popular rumor, daddy-long-legs are actually among the most venomous of all spiders but their fangs are too small to bite humans.
Questions about whether daddy-long-legs bite, if the spiders are venomous or poisonous, and if they are the most venomous spider are also among the most popular Google searches about daddy-long-legs in the last 20 years.
While “daddy-long-legs” could refer to a few different creatures, only one of which is actually a spider, none of them produce venom that’s potent enough to harm people.
When people refer to a daddy-long-legs spider, they’re most likely referring to a cellar spider or a harvestman, which is an arachnid but isn’t actually a spider, according to the University of California, Riverside Department of Entomology. The two may look similar from a distance, but cellar spiders have two distinct segments of their body while harvestmen have just one.
In either case, they are not dangerous. Harvestmen don't produce venom and can't bite people because they don't have fangs, UC Riverside says.