
The caption on
this photograph at Aussie Farmer
says “Death by Daddy long legs.” Now, what they call Daddy Long Legs in
Australia is a different creature from the fairly harmless insects we
call Daddy Long Legs in the U.S. This is a
cellar spider,
which is sometimes called a Daddy Long Legs in Australia. And it’s
captured a brown snake. Farmer Patrick Lees took the picture on his
property in Weethalle, New South Wales. He said
a group of spiders later gathered around the snake.
The
Australian Museum's arachnology collections manager Graham Milledge
said while it was not clear exactly how the snake had died, it was quite
possible the spider was responsible.
"The most likely scenario
is that the snake got entangled in the spider's web. Usually what
happens then is the spider will try to wrap the snake and then they'll
bite it," Mr Milledge said.
The Australian Museum lists the
daddy-long-legs spider as carnivorous and predatory. The venom is not
particularly potent, despite rumors it is one of the world's most
poisonous.
It’s pictures like these that get those rumors started, I’d bet.
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