Imagine you ’ve been tasked with clearing a disused shed for an upcoming project . Overgrown and undisturbed , nature has amply made itself at home and after sweeping aside the leaf litter you attempt to tackle a unknown fur that ’s grow on wall . To your surprisal , a surreptitious poke or two sends the ball of fuzz scurrying in every commission as it fall into place on you : this is no fluff ball , but an enormous swarm of daddy longlegs .
This strange and unsettling gregarious behaviour is one employed byOpiliones , a group of slender , spider - like creatures bang as harvestmen . They differ from cellar spiders , also sometimes called pa longlegs but sit within the genusPhysocyclus(and are n’t asvenomousas everyone thinks ) . Both daddy Himantopus stilt varieties are within the classArachnida , but harvestmen are n’t within the order Araneae , which contains spider .
That said , it does n’t block off these creepy-crawly crawlies from being any less many - legged and twitchy , and their human body make an strange effect when they swarm en masse , form enormous fuzzy beards that move as one across buildings . When roiled , harvestmen will throb in what ’s believed to be a defensive scheme to ward off vulture . If I approached a furry wall and it started pulsing at me I ’d probably think I ’d smoked one too manyJeffreys .
For Halloween , the Glacier BayNational Parks Servicereshared the video display put on by a cloud of Opiliones a couple of years ago as their administrative office became coat in amobile layer of fuzzmade up of the swarm ' many , many , long leg . It might look a little counterproductive if you ’re someone who rate personal space , but this crowding behaviour actually avail to keep them safe . Beyond looking freaky enough to guard off predatory animal , Opiliones are a crappy lot and by pooling their offensive odour they make themselves unpalatable to even the bold of enemies .
So , if you witness yourself faced with a construction that appears to have sprouted a face fungus , take heed . You might not want to summon the mob .
