OT: Bill Shear quote

From: "Donald Eaves" <donald@eastland.net>

It was my delight to read in our local electric co-op magazine
the following quote:

    "Daddy longlegs are not spiders at all, but a separate order
(Opiliones) of arachnids called harvestmen," explains Bill Shear,
chairman of the biology department at Hampden-Sydney College
in Hampden-Sydney, Va. "And none of them have venom glands."
    "The myth about daddy longlegs seems to have its origin in the 
publication years ago of some preliminary work done on the venoms
of Australian spiders," Shear says.  "In Australia, the name 'daddy
longlegs' is actually applied to a spider, a member of the family
Pholcidae, our cellar spiders.  Supposedly the venom was tested
and found to be very potent, but the spiders are so small that they
constitute no danger at all to humans.  Because of the same
common name being applied to two very different animals, this big
misunderstanding has resulted."

I know this isn't about irises per se.  But as a boy I played with
these things being taught (correctly, it seems) that they were a
harmless and beneficial creature and only recently was told they
were among the most poisonous of the spider family.  With the
recent discussion of ants, and knowing that anyone who gardens
is very likely to run across lots of critters of one sort or another,
and since the quote came from and iris-talk member, I thought
it apropos to post here as an OT.  Before we take action, it
would probably be well to understand the object of the action.

Donald Eaves
donald@eastland.net
Texas Zone 7

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