Daddy Long Leg spiders, I have a mess of them in the basement shop, have never been able to get rid of them.
Fortunately, they are not considered harmful to humans. There are actually two arachnids commonly referred to around here as daddy long-legs. The ones that look like a small, brown pea with legs are also known as "harvestmen" (
photo) and don't even have venom glands (completely harmless and not actually
spiders). Where I grew up (Michigan) these were the definitive "daddy long-legs."
Around here, I frequently see the "daddy long-leg spider," which is a true spider (standard spider segmentation,
photo) and has very weak venom... and apparently
no known cases of problems to humans.
BTW, I have taught nature study groups (schoolkids) on several occasions where accompanying adults misidentified
crane flies as "daddy long-legs." How something with two huge wings is confused with an arachnid is beyond me. :dontknow:
Just an observation-- Don't mean to offend anyone, but it seems pretty obvious to me where (most) arachnophobia comes from. Every time I run across a kid who is hysterically afraid of one, there seems to be a parent with him/her who is equally hysterical. When I've been with very young children (3-6) in learning environments (like at the museum), and they aren't "being protected" by their parents, they will often touch and/or pick up spiders... often with little or no reservations. Obviously, there
are good reasons to not do this haphazardly, so that's why the fear is taught by parents. Personally, I have no aversion to spiders in or around my home, although I admit they freak me out when they surprise me. Otherwise, I couldn't care about them at all. And from that, my son isn't bothered in the least... since he was 5 y.o., he has been the resident spider relocator for my wife (1 glass + 1 hard piece of cardboard = 1 spider moved outside).