Daddy Longlegs Risk Life... and Especially Limb... to Survive | Deep Look
3,281
by Super User, 7 years ago
When predators attack, daddy longlegs deliberately release their limbs to escape. They can drop up to three and still get by just fine.
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DEEP LOOK: a new ultra-HD (4K) short video series created by KQED San Francisco and presented by PBS Digital Studios. See the unseen at the very edge of our visible world. Get a new perspective on our place in the universe and meet extraordinary new friends. Explore big scientific mysteries by going incredibly small.
We all know it’s not nice to pull the legs off of bugs.
Daddy longlegs don’t wait for that to happen. These arachnids, related to spiders, drop them deliberately. A gentle pinch is enough to trigger an internal system that discharges the leg. Whether it hurts is up for debate, but most scientists think not, given the automatic nature of the defense mechanism.
It’s called autotomy, the voluntary release of a body part.
Two of their appendages have evolved into feelers, which leaves the other six legs for locomotion. Daddy longlegs share this trait with insects, and have what scientists call the “alternate tripod gate,” where three legs touch the ground at any given point.
That elegant stride is initially hard-hit by the loss of a leg. In the daddy longlegs’ case, the lost leg doesn’t grow back.
But they persevere: A daddy longlegs that is one, two, or even three legs short can recover a surprising degree of mobility by learning to walk differently. And given time, the daddy longlegs can regain much of its initial mobility on fewer legs.
Once these adaptations are better understood, they may have applications in the fields of robotics and prosthetic design.
--- Are daddy longlegs a type of spider?
No, though they are arachnids, as spiders are. Daddy longlegs are more closely related to scorpions.
--- How can I tell a daddy longlegs from a spider?
Daddy longlegs have one body segment (like a pea), while spiders have two (like a peanut). Also, you won’t find a daddy longlegs in a web, since they don’t make silk.
--- Can a daddy longlegs bite can kill you?
Daddy longlegs are not venomous. And despite what you’ve heard about their mouths being too small, they could bite you, but they prefer fruit.
---+ Read the entire article on KQED Science:
https://ww2.kqed.org/science/2017/08/22/daddy-longlegs-risk-life-and-especially-limb-to-survive/
---+ For more information:
Visit the Elias Lab at UC Berkeley:
https://nature.berkeley.edu/eliaslab/
---+ More Great Deep Look episodes:
Stinging Scorpion vs. Pain-Defying Mouse | Deep Look
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-K_YtWqMro
For These Tiny Spiders, It's Sing or Get Served | Deep Look
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7qMqAgCqME
---+ See some great videos and documentaries from the PBS Digital Studios!
Gross Science: What Happens When You Get Rabies?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiUUpF1UPJc
Physics Girl: Mantis Shrimp Punch at 40,000 fps! - Cavitation Physics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m78_sOEadC8
---+ Follow KQED Science:
KQED Science: http://www.kqed.org/science
Tumblr: http://kqedscience.tumblr.com
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/kqedscience
---+ About KQED
KQED, an NPR and PBS affiliate based in San Francisco, serves the people of Northern California and beyond with a public-supported alternative to commercial media. Home to one of the most listened-to public radio station in the nation, one of the highest-rated public television services and an award-winning education program, KQED is also a leader and innovator in interactive media and technology, taking people of all ages on journeys of exploration — exposing them to new people, places and ideas.
Funding for Deep Look is provided in part by PBS Digital Studios and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Deep Look is a project of KQED Science, which is supported by HopeLab, The David B. Gold Foundation; S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation; The Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation; The Vadasz Family Foundation; Smart Family Foundation and the members of KQED.
SUBSCRIBE to Deep Look! http://goo.gl/8NwXqt
DEEP LOOK: a new ultra-HD (4K) short video series created by KQED San Francisco and presented by PBS Digital Studios. See the unseen at the very edge of our visible world. Get a new perspective on our place in the universe and meet extraordinary new friends. Explore big scientific mysteries by going incredibly small.
We all know it’s not nice to pull the legs off of bugs.
Daddy longlegs don’t wait for that to happen. These arachnids, related to spiders, drop them deliberately. A gentle pinch is enough to trigger an internal system that discharges the leg. Whether it hurts is up for debate, but most scientists think not, given the automatic nature of the defense mechanism.
It’s called autotomy, the voluntary release of a body part.
Two of their appendages have evolved into feelers, which leaves the other six legs for locomotion. Daddy longlegs share this trait with insects, and have what scientists call the “alternate tripod gate,” where three legs touch the ground at any given point.
That elegant stride is initially hard-hit by the loss of a leg. In the daddy longlegs’ case, the lost leg doesn’t grow back.
But they persevere: A daddy longlegs that is one, two, or even three legs short can recover a surprising degree of mobility by learning to walk differently. And given time, the daddy longlegs can regain much of its initial mobility on fewer legs.
Once these adaptations are better understood, they may have applications in the fields of robotics and prosthetic design.
--- Are daddy longlegs a type of spider?
No, though they are arachnids, as spiders are. Daddy longlegs are more closely related to scorpions.
--- How can I tell a daddy longlegs from a spider?
Daddy longlegs have one body segment (like a pea), while spiders have two (like a peanut). Also, you won’t find a daddy longlegs in a web, since they don’t make silk.
--- Can a daddy longlegs bite can kill you?
Daddy longlegs are not venomous. And despite what you’ve heard about their mouths being too small, they could bite you, but they prefer fruit.
---+ Read the entire article on KQED Science:
https://ww2.kqed.org/science/2017/08/22/daddy-longlegs-risk-life-and-especially-limb-to-survive/
---+ For more information:
Visit the Elias Lab at UC Berkeley:
https://nature.berkeley.edu/eliaslab/
---+ More Great Deep Look episodes:
Stinging Scorpion vs. Pain-Defying Mouse | Deep Look
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-K_YtWqMro
For These Tiny Spiders, It's Sing or Get Served | Deep Look
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7qMqAgCqME
---+ See some great videos and documentaries from the PBS Digital Studios!
Gross Science: What Happens When You Get Rabies?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiUUpF1UPJc
Physics Girl: Mantis Shrimp Punch at 40,000 fps! - Cavitation Physics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m78_sOEadC8
---+ Follow KQED Science:
KQED Science: http://www.kqed.org/science
Tumblr: http://kqedscience.tumblr.com
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/kqedscience
---+ About KQED
KQED, an NPR and PBS affiliate based in San Francisco, serves the people of Northern California and beyond with a public-supported alternative to commercial media. Home to one of the most listened-to public radio station in the nation, one of the highest-rated public television services and an award-winning education program, KQED is also a leader and innovator in interactive media and technology, taking people of all ages on journeys of exploration — exposing them to new people, places and ideas.
Funding for Deep Look is provided in part by PBS Digital Studios and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Deep Look is a project of KQED Science, which is supported by HopeLab, The David B. Gold Foundation; S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation; The Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation; The Vadasz Family Foundation; Smart Family Foundation and the members of KQED.
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Super User uploaded a new media, Daddy Longlegs Risk Life... and Especially Limb... to Survive | Deep Look
7 years ago
