Handbook of Nature-Study · Lesson CIX · Topic 18: Daddy-longlegs and spiders
109. The daddy-longlegs
Goal: Your child can explain why a daddy-longlegs is not an insect, and describe its legs, eyes and how it cleans itself.
You'll need
- A daddy-longlegs (on walls, tree trunks, fences and garden plants in summer and fall)
- A clear jar with a few drops of sugar water or a bit of soft fruit
- A hand lens (magnifying glass)
- A nature notebook and a pencil (colored pencils if you have them)
What's in the book
Comstock's story of "Grandfather Greybeard", whom country children asked where the cows were: his seven-jointed legs, his eyes on a little turret, how he cleans each leg through his jaws, and his food. Then Lesson CIX's leading thought, method and seven questions.
The lesson, step by step
When and where
Summer and fall, on house walls, porches, fences, tree trunks and garden plants.
Handle gently
A daddy-longlegs is harmless: it has no venom and does not bite people. But its legs come off very easily, so never pick it up by a leg. Let it walk onto a leaf or into the jar on its own. When you have finished looking, put every creature back where you found it.
Keep the big idea in mind
Comstock's "leading thought" is the one idea the lesson is meant to lead to. Read it to yourself now, and save it to share at the end, after your child has looked and answered:
These long-legged creatures have one pair of legs too many to allow them to be classed with the insects. They are more nearly related to the spiders, who also have eight legs. They are pretty creatures when examined closely, and they do many interesting things.
Legs
Where did you find the harvestman? What did it do as soon as it was disturbed? How many names do you know for this little creature?
Which is the longest pair of legs? The next? The next? The shortest?
Stilts and eyes
If you had such long stilts as he has, they would be about forty feet long. Would you lift yourself that high in the air? Does the "daddy" lift his body high or swing it near the ground?
Can you see a black dot on top of the front end of the body? If you should see this dot through a microscope it would prove to be two bright black eyes.
Mealtime and washing
Comstock's method: put a few drops of sweetened water at one side of the jar, "the children will surely have an opportunity to see this amusing creature clean his legs."
Note what care he takes of his legs. How does he clean them? Which does he clean the oftenest? Do you think the very long second pair of legs is used as much for feeling as for walking?
Nature notebook
Draw a daddy-longlegs from above: one round body (no waist, unlike a spider) and eight long legs, with the second pair longest. Then read the leading thought aloud and let it go.