Growing up, I was totally freaked out by bugs. Any bugs.
But as I grew up and matured and learned more about how the natural world is a carefully balanced ecosystem, I got used to the idea of sharing space with creepy crawlies.
Mostly. My creep factor still has a habit of using the number of legs a creature has as a metric for how much I freak out.
They aren't in the high alert section with the 100+ legged creeps, but I still feel itchy when I see one chilling in the corner of my kitchen. Mostly, I've learned to give them their space, though.
Spiders aren't the only eight-legged arachnids, though. There are also Opiliones, which look spider-like, but are their own species.
Unlike spiders, harvestmen have a single fused body rather than segments, and only two eyes. They also do not produce venom or webs.
You might think that makes them less creepy, but no. Many harvestmen use mimicry as a visual defence against predators, meaning that they've evolved to mimic the look of other species.
A tiny black bunny riding on something quite similar to the giant mechanical spider from Wild Wild West.
Others have noted that it also looks a lot like the head of a black dog with glowing yellow eyes. The yellow spots aren't the actual eyes, though. Those are the small shiny dots that look like the dog's nostrils.
So on one hand: no venom. On the other hand: imagine this peering out at you from the corner of your bedroom.
No thanks.
h/t: Science Alert
