Other Common Names
English: daddy-long-legs/daddy-longlegs, granddaddy-long-legs, harvest spiders, shepherd spiders, phalangids, opilionids.
French: faucheurs
German: Weberknechte
Size
Variable; body sizes range from a few millimeters to a few centimeters. Legs are several times the size of the body in the more familiar "daddy-long-legs" forms of the Phalangioidea.
Identification
Easily separated from spiders by the broad fusion of the two body segments, so that the body appears to be composed of a singular segment. Also, as they do not possess silk glands, harvestmen can't form webs. Uniquely among the arachnids fertilization is direct: males possess a penis (also referred to in the literature as pene, aedagus or intermittent organ).
Range
Global, except Antarctica.
Habitat
All habitats (except possibly deserts) in Canada & the USA: forests, grasslands, wetlands, mountains, caves, chaparral, and anthropogenic habitats.
Season
Not likely to be found in winter months in northern/montane regions, except as overwintering populations in refugia (e.g., caves).
Life Cycle
Egg, juvenile, adult. Some reproduce by direct fertilization (males possess a penis); others reproduce parthenogenetically (i.e., without males).
