Myths · Fact check

Are daddy longlegs the most venomous spiders but unable to bite?

Rated: False 1 of 5 on the fact-check scale

No — the evidence does not support this claim.

FalseTrue

The claim

Daddy longlegs are the most venomous spiders in the world, but their fangs are too short to bite humans.

What the evidence shows

This playground legend is false on multiple counts. 'Daddy longlegs' refers to three different creatures: harvestmen and crane flies have no venom glands at all, and cellar spiders — the one true spider — have not been shown to harm humans, with venom far weaker than a black widow's in tests. Cellar spider fangs are also similar in form to the brown recluse's, so the 'fangs too short to bite' part is wrong too.

This summary describes a fact-check originally published by UC Riverside Department of Entomology. FactGuard did not conduct this review; we summarize it and link to the original. Read the original fact-check by UC Riverside Department of Entomology →