Daddy long legs are not daddy long legs. Has my whole life been a lie?

[EightToSixer]

I’m middle aged and I’ve thought my whole entire life that daddy long legs were large flying bugs that look like spiders but fly around particularly at dusk and dark.
Discussion with FIL yesterday and it turns out that daddy long legs is a type of arachnid and that what I thought was a daddy long legs is actually a crane fly?!?

I’m a well educated middle aged woman, how did I only just find this out? Why has nobody corrected me all this time?

Make me feel less stupid by telling me what you didn’t know!

Daddy long legs were always the flying things to me. The spiders are "skinny legs" in our house. I never came across any skinny legs as a child, but plenty of daddy long legs. We've moved into an older house now and are overrun with skinny legs.

Weirdly, I don't mind daddy long legs, even though they're like flying spiders, because they're not spiders, but I hate skinny legs.

Same thing happened to me just last week. always thought crane flys were daddy long legs as that's what everyone- well my parents and dh- have always called them. Was a bit surprised to find out 'big skinny spider' is actually a DLL

Nigellaseeds I agree crane flies are ginny spinners! No one else seems to though... Is it a regional thing I wonder?

Crane flies are Jimmy long legs where I live

@burritofan

I’ve just googled them and I am satisfied that what I thought was a daddy long legs IS a daddy long legs.

I am LESS THAN THRILLED about this news of their poisonous soft-toothed gnawing, like a man trying to thumb in a softie but with spider poison.

Also Wikipedia tells me they’re also known as “gyrating spiders”

I'm DYING at this description

Daddy long legs to me is a crane fly. I know that there are various different names all over the world, whether cellar spider long-legged type spider, harvestman (nb - not a spider, to whoever called it one upthread) or cranefly.

Iirc the Aussie version is venomous? I remember hearing of someone in Australia warning a Brit about the daddy long legs in the shed/or somewhere similar, and the Brit being very "wtf, it's an annoying insect?"

Fwiw DW distinguishes between a DLL (cellar spider) and a flying DLL (crane fly). She is aware that cellar spiders are not just crane flies with their wings pulled off!

We call the non flying cellar spider types daddy long legs. Crane flies are Johnny Spinners. I have no idea why or if it’s an area thing. Although my youngest son has names for the cellar spiders depending on size. Daddy Mammy legs, Mammy Daddy legs and Baby Daddy legs! 😂

Right, if Australia doesn't have DLLs (the flying/thithering type) I'm definitely moving there. Deadly spiders, snakes, aggressive kangaroos be damned. What I'm really scared of is fucking crane flies/DLLs/ginnyspinners. Yes, I know they're harmless. Try telling my amygdala that.

It's all lies! They're everywhere 😫

australian.museum/learn/animals/insects/crane-flies/

@Shellfishblastard

Wondering if all of us calling them Jenny Long Legs are in Scotland?

Just to say - this name was only ever given to crane flies in my house. Never any type of spider.

Growing up in England they were daddy long legs…. Moved to Scotland as a teen and heard Jenny long legs for the first time and got very confused! Guess what my name is….

Right, if Australia doesn't have DLLs (the flying/thithering type) I'm definitely moving there. Deadly spiders, snakes, aggressive kangaroos be damned. What I'm really scared of is fucking crane flies/DLLs/ginnyspinners. Yes, I know they're harmless. Try telling my amygdala that.

Everything in Australia is out to get you, whether it flies or not.

@Froppysue but do you have long legs?

@whoami24601

Nigellaseeds I agree crane flies are ginny spinners! No one else seems to though... Is it a regional thing I wonder?

Well with my mum, that makes 3 of us!

@QueenHofScotland why yes, yes I do

used to be loads congregating at my school in South London. Bastards.

I used to be scared of them. I told my mum I could hear them in my bedroom and she said no you can't they are mute! I meant I could hear their wings. But for some reason saying they were mute made them even scarier!