Species group · Arachnids
Harvestmans
WAnimals has 2 species of harvestman, spread across 2 families (Phalangiidae, Sclerosomatidae).
- 2 species
- 2 families
- 60 countries
- 182 parks
- Length
- 4 cm – 7 cm
Ranges calculated from the profiles that record the figure, not from all 2.
All 2 species of harvestmans on WAnimals
Each one has its own full profile. This group does not replace them: it brings them together.
Conservation status
2 Not Evaluated
No species documented in this group is genuinely at risk according to the IUCN, with the data available today.
Where they live
Recorded in 60 countries. The ones with the most species in the group:
Where to see them
Did you know…?
It is not a spider: it has neither venom glands nor silk glands, it spins no webs, and it can swallow solid particles, something no spider does.
From European Harvestman
It practises autotomy: it sheds a leg when a predator grabs it, and the leg goes on twitching to distract the attacker. That is why they are so often seen with fewer than eight legs.
From European Harvestman
The name Opiliones comes from the Latin opilio, shepherd, from their habit of gathering together and from the resemblance to shepherds who used stilts to watch over their flocks.
From European Harvestman
When a predator catches it by a leg it sheds the leg deliberately and the leg goes on twitching by itself for minutes, distracting the attacker; the harvestman never regrows it.
From Common Harvestman
Unlike spiders, it has no venom glands and no spinnerets, and the belief that it is the most venomous spider in the world is entirely false.
From Common Harvestman
It is one of the few arachnids able to eat solid particles of food rather than liquefying them and sucking them up.
From Common Harvestman