Scared of spiders, but not of daddy longlegs

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Like most people, I have a fear of spiders. My mouth goes completely dry when I see a big spider, and I kind of freeze up. It's the way they look that frightens me, they are really not an attractive creature, and are too big and heavy to make a cobweb and they come in your house and cause havock because we have a phobia of them. Also, we get those little wispy spiders in our house too, I'm not scared of them as such, but I wouldn't want to touch one, and I get rid of them if they are big and near my bed, by using a feather duster.

But, I have no fear of daddy longlegs (can't remember what the real name of them is). They look just like those wispy spiders, but with wings, and I bravely pick them up and bring them to my room to nurture them, just like I do with moths. It seems daddy longlegs have the same sort of characteristics as moths, and aren't creepy like spiders and don't make cobwebs.

Is anyone else afraid of spiders but not at all of daddy longlegs? Is this weird?

...daddy longlegs have wings?

This is news to me.

Also, technically, daddy longlegs are not arachnids, but they still creep me out.

Daddy long-legs are harvestmen, not spiders, so there is no reason to have the same fear other than their superficial similarities I suppose. They *are* an order of arachnids however despite what the above user stated

Daddylong legs are satan's own dragonflies. Horrid little things.

The things that get called daddy long legs in the UK are crane flies. They are insects. I feel the exact opposite way as the OP. I *detest* crane flies but have no objection at all to spiders. I even own several tarantulas

We have crane flies here too (Southern California), and my cats love to hunt them when they get into the house. Ours look like gigantic mosquitoes. When I was growing up we called them mosquito hawks, and there was a myth that they hunted mosquitoes. I've learned since that they don't. They seem to be harmless, except I've read that their larvae are considered garden pests. But we don't have a lawn to damage, so they're no problem for us. Just good, entertaining cat prey.

Spiders OTOH I do not like. We have LOTS of black widows and brown widows where I live, and they are a problem for us at our house, where we're lucky just to keep them out of the house but have to be very careful working outside or even in the garage.

We call these (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pholcidae) Daddy Long Legs - and they aren't nearly so scary to me as other types of spiders.

Ours also look pretty much like giant mosquitos which I think is why I don't like them, they just look creepy. I hate mosquitos even more, anything that wants to suck my blood can **** right off tbh, lol. That is just bad form. My cats (should say cat really, the other one died recently :/) love to hunt them too, in fact any kind of flying insect. I love the expression they get on their faces as they are eating them - like "ew this is disgusting but I caught it and I AM going to eat it!".

I don't mind spiders which aren't likely to seriously injure or kill me so my tarantulas are good and most UK spiders aren't so bad - the most dangerous we have is the false widow (Steatoda nobilis if you are interested ) and we don't even really get those in my part of the country. I don't think I could sleep at night if I knew there were black and brown widows hanging about outside and potentially coming into my house. I would be walking round the neighbourhood armed with a blowtorch and wearing a set of leathers, gauntlets, boots which had been duck/gaffa taped up at the ankles and wrists, lol. Kill them ALL with fire! They are really pretty but I just couldn't deal with them existing within a mile of me.

They are dreadful. I've recently had several geckos squatting in the unoccupied portions of my house, as I don't cool the entire house... and I haven't seen any spiders or crane flies since those creepy little pink lizards showed up. I suppose I prefer the geckos.

Spiders are the best defense against bed bugs,people spray their houses,kill off the spiders then the roaches and bed bugs take over since they are resistant to poison.There is an old saying" If you wish to live and thrive then let the spider run alive". Before screen wire the only thing between you and Mosquitos was the web the spider had spun across the open window.In Huckleberry Finn Huck accidentally kills a spider and he knows it will bring him bad luck.I've been bit by both brown recluse and black widow and I'm not afraid of spiders.I empathize with all the creatures that are feared and stomped on and misunderstood,I know exactly how they feel.I really like the fuzzy jumping spiders and I think the big garden spiders are beautiful and when the sun hits the web and dew is on it ,it's like jewels sparkling and tarantulas are quite handsome.I would also love it if those big geckos were on my porch like Meems' porch.Lizards are awesome!

There are three different things called by the Daddy or Grandaddy Long Legs name, so not sure which you mean.

Around here its the Arachnid which looks like a oval ball suspended in the air on long legs, and which doesn't spin a web & just kinda roams around. I have always been less creeped out by those. Maybe because I don't see anything obvious which could bite or sting you. But I like spiders in general being of similiar mind to above poster and do not kill those I find in the house, though I do not want to pick them up with my hands either. I often get them on me going thru brush around the yard and don't freak out but try to remove them without harming them. Usually by catching the silk and letting them repel down to the ground.

Once in South Carolina, doing one of those highway cleanup details, the guy I was partnered with went into the weeds for a big piece of trash. I saw him suddenly stand erect in a strange posture and freeze. His eyes got big as golf-balls and he was staring down at this huge bright Yellow and Black spider ( like 3 inches from leg tip to leg tip) sitting right in the middle of his chest. It turns out he had a fear of spiders and could barely speak. I had trouble speaking too since I was laughing so hard (I was aware it wasn't poisonous). He finally got out, "What do I do!?" and I, having a brilliant idea, suggested he brush it off.

Most spiders dont bother me except these ones!! ! [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MVowDx0M74&feature=fvwrel[/youtube]

I knew someone who doesn't like daddy longlegs but it OK with spiders. I'm not bothered by either but I do jump when anything crawls on me unexpectedly & I don't want to touch spiders unless I'm sure it's nto poisonous.

"Although they belong to the class of arachnids, harvestmen are not spiders, which are of the order Araneae rather than the order Opiliones."

Ah, well, I was close.

Total opposite. If there's a daddy longlegs in my bathtub, I'll just not shower for two weeks. Other spiders, not so much.
There seem to be three different creatures being discussed here, though. The one with wings, it's not a spider. Here we call it a mosquito-eater. The harvestman is different from what I think of when I say daddy longlegs. They're flatter and have six legs and are therefore insects. Perhaps my nomenclature is wrong, but I refer here to the spindly spiders with the tiny teardrop shaped body and 8 legs suspended from it, arcing upwards. They do spin webs.

Yes I think you're right. Daddy longlegs means completely different things in different countries. That is one of the problems with common names - binomial nomenclature ftw!

I love those Orb Weavers with the Mexican looking patterns on their backs, but I'm scared of most of the other species of spiders.