Are daddy longlegs the most venomous spiders?
This question comes from a popular urban legend and gets a couple of things wrong. First, true daddy longlegs are arachnids of the order Opiliones and are not spiders at all. They also lack venom altogether, so there’s that.
The question is really about the common cellar spider (Pholcus phalangioides), sometimes called the daddy longlegs spider. Unlike its round-bodied namesake, this true spider has two visibly distinct body segments, which are characteristic of spiders, and does produce venom. According to the popular—and scientifically baseless—myth, daddy longlegs spiders are among the most venomous spiders, but their fangs are too short to bite humans. In reality, although the cellar spider can take down black widows and other potentially dangerous spiders, its own venom is not particularly potent. Its short fangs can likely pierce human skin, but the spider is not known to bite humans and is considered harmless. So, as it turns out, neither true daddy longlegs nor daddy longlegs spiders are counted among the most venomous spiders.
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