Artwork by Joshua Venturo
“There’s a Daddy-long-legs eating my pepperoni!” That’s what Caleb said as we sat by the Glen Ellis river in New Hampshire, eating our dinner of “pizza rice.” Caleb quickly snatched his pepperoni away from this lanky thief. As he said, “I want my pepperoni.”
The Eastern Daddy-long-legs lives east of the Rocky Mountains in the US. In the evening, Daddy-long-legs will climb up trees in search of extra heat from the sun. They can be found clustered together in knotholes, seemingly trying to keep warm during the winter. Daddy-long-legs eat tiny bugs, mites, and plant juices, and, as we learned, pepperoni! They have four pairs of legs, but these can easily break off and cannot be regrown.
The Daddy-long-leg's life cycle begins with a female laying an egg under the soil in the fall. When spring arrives, the young spider crawls out of the ground. By the time fall comes again, the new Daddy-long-legs is ready to lay more eggs and the cycle begins all over again!
Next time you are out in God’s creation, take time to look out for more tiny, interesting creatures that He has made!
Information from: Milne, Lorus, Margery Milne, and Susan Rayfield. National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Insects and Spiders. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1980.