Half an hour turning over logs this afternoon in a very small local wood found 12 Harvestmen of the species Rilaena triangularis, this is my highest count so far this year for this species in this tiny wood. #Harvestmen #Arachnids
Opiliones (Harvestmen) Large chelicerae useful for identification Leg-like pedipalps of various morphologies, useful for identification Odoriferous gland for defense pruposes 2 median eyes sitting on an ocularium Prosoma & opisthosoma broadly joined, often merged together Dorsal side often covered by a +/- long scutum (shield) Legs often elongated, with tarsus split in numerous tarsomeres (up to 100) Anus often can be way more forward than in other arachnids Genital opening thrust forward between the legs and also bears the tracheal respiratory system Legs’ coxae well-developed & forming a stomotheca (a pre-oral chamber before the mouth) Note: Harvestmen show a wide diversity of morphologies concerning the prosoma-opisthosoma fusion and their ventral side, so the one here doesn’t exist & is a fusion of several types to reflect the broad average of what you can find among these arthropods.
Palpigradi Large projected forward chelicerae No eyes, presence of specific sensory organs at the body front (called “frontal organ” & “lateral organ”) Prosomal carapace subdivided from front to back into: propeltidium, mesopeltidium, metapeltidium Last pair of legs 8-segmented Last 3 segments of the opisthosoma smaller & forming a postabdomen Telson modified into a flagellum of 15-ish segments, can easily break Ventral sacs (if Eukoeneniidae, absent in Prokoeneniidae). No external respiratory system, the animal is small enough for gas exchanges to occur through the weakly sclerotinized exoskeleton Genital plate extending backward Long pedipalps, used for walking, retention of 3 claws at the appendage’s end The first pair of legs is 12-segmented and mainly used as sensory appendages while walking
Solifugae 2-segmented super enlarged chelicerae 2 median eyes on a high spot Prosomal carapace subdivided from front to back into: propeltidium (larger & raised), mesopeltidium, metapeltidium Patella is usually longer than the femur Tarsus divided into tarsomeres, usually 3 tarsomeres but sometimes more (like 6 among solpugids) Double trochanter on the 3° & 4° walking legs Soft 10-segmented opisthosoma 3 pairs of tracheal openings on the underside of the opisthosoma malleoli/racquet organs on the coxae & trochanter of the last pair of legs, acting as sensitive organs close to the ground 1 pair of tracheal openings between the 2° & 3° walking legs First pair of walking legs significantly shorter than pedipalps Long & strong leg-like pedipalps, covered with highly sensitive setae Adhesive organ at pedipalps’ tip
The mite body plan Although not forming a single monophyletic group and having a morphological diversity way too vast to be exhaustively synthesised in a single drawing, all chelicerates called “mites”, from flour mites to ticks, share a broad body plan easily recognizable, even tho there are many variations depending on which group you’re looking at. The prosoma’s part bearing chelicerae & pedipalps is detached from the body and is called “gnathosoma” Prosoma & opisthosoma fused, forming a new body part called “idiosoma”. Some groups have dorsal shields. The front half bearing the first 2 pairs of legs is called “propodosoma”, and the back half “hysterosoma) Small eyes can be present, most often on the idiosoma forward sides Legs’ segment count is HIGHLY variable depending on the considered group Anal plate Genito-ventral plate Breathing through tracheae if present (openings usually directed to the front half of the body) Legs’ coxae can be fused to the idiosoma in some groups Caruncle/ Pre-tarsus Sternal plate
Some apulmonate arachnids: Opiliones (Harvestmen), Palpigradi, Solifugae and the mite body plan
#Cheliceratime #arachnid #harvestmen #solifuge #palpigrade #mite #tick
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A black harvestman with pale orange patches on its abdomen facing left on a pale grey stone. It has long black legs and dark pedipalps held bent into a triangle shape in front of it. The most striking feature of this harvestman is the double row of long, blunt-tipped spines running down its back.
A tiny orange harvestman sitting head down on the underside of a pale grey rock with its legs mostly scrunched up around it.
A tiny orange harvestman facing right on a pale grey rock walking speedily along with its pedipalps partly raised.
A successful trip to Plymouth last week to see a couple of unusual harvestmen: Nemastomella bacillifera & Scotolemon doriae. Many thanks to @johnwalterswildife.bsky.social for joining us & finding them, we certainly wouldn't have found the Scotolemon without his expert knowledge. #harvestmen
Huge thanks to those submitting records via iRecord. Will be doing some verifying tomorrow #harvestmen @britishacademy.bsky.social #arachnids
Platybunus pinetorum.
Megabunus diadema.
Hawthorn Shieldbug.
Brachypterous female Ectopsocus petersi.
Wiston Churchyard, Lanarkshire (2/2): … Platybunus pinetorum, Megabunus diadema, Hawthorn Shieldbug & female Ectopsocus petersi. #harvestmen #shieldbugs #barkflies #CemeteryWildlifeWatch recording activity on #iRecord.
Rilaena triangularis
Rilaena triangularis
Another day another Harvestman and a new grid reference on the map. #Harvestmen #IRecord #Oxfordshire
Rilaena triangularis
Rilaena triangularis
Nemastoma bimaculatum
Rilaena triangularis
Ten minutes yesterday turning over logs at a new site for me, and two species of Harvestmen found. #Harvestmen #Arachnids #Irecord
A long-legged harvestman on a piece of wood facing right. The top of the harvestman's body is grey with pale golden spots and stripes towards the rear while the underside is pale. The pedipalps are grey, covered in short viscid hairs and held folded in front of the animal in a characteristic triangle shape.
Harvestman Mitostoma chrysomelas from a churchyard on yesterday's bike ride with @jeremybartlett.bsky.social
#arachnids #harvestmen #invertebrates
Palloptera scutellata.
Platybunus pinetorum.
Chilenocaecilius ornatipennis.
Buff Footman caterpillar & Larch Ladybird.
Colinton Cemetery, #Edinburgh, Part 2: Palloptera scutellata, Platybunus pinetorum, Chilenocaecilius ornatipennis. Buff Footman caterpillar & Larch Ladybird. #diptera #harvestmen #barkflies #moths #CemeteryWildlifeWatch recording activity on #iRecord.
A little baby harvestman on the underside of a pale whitish stone facing left. The harvestman is mottled shades of grey and brown with quite a rotund body and a pair of beady black eyes. This one may be a juvenile Odiellus spinosus.
A little baby harvestman on the underside of a pale stone, head uppermost. The harvestman's body is mottled shades of grey with a darker, central 'saddle' area on its back. There is the beginnings of a trident in the form of a single pointed tubercle on the edge of the carapace in front of the eyes. Really not sure what this one is - maybe an Odiellus spinosus.
A tiny baby harvestman facing left on the underside of a pale whitish piece of old loose render that has come off a wall. The harvestman is mottled shades of brown and grey and has a darker central 'saddle' area on its back. There are pale, smooth rings around the eyes and the beginnings of a trident. This one could well be a juvenile Paroligolophus agrestis.
Finding quite a few little baby harvestmen at the moment. Most are to small to identify to species at the moment, all looking rather cute though! #arachnids #harvestmen #invertebrates
A juvenile harvestman that crawled off a log that I was using in a moth photoshoot recently. Only about a couple of millimetres long, does anyone have any idea of the species? #harvestmen @vannabartlett.bsky.social @meganshersby.bsky.social
A tiny pale grey baby harvestman wandering over some dark soil on a stone. To the top and bottom of the photo are numerous little round harvestman eggs, pale grey in colour.
Close-up of the baby harvestman which has short, pale translucent legs and a slightly darker body with faint grey markings. In the bottom left corner is a cluster of small, round pale eggs.
Close-up of the harvestman eggs which are pale and round. Within several of them you can clearly see the pair of dark eyes of the tiny baby harvestman inside waiting to hatch out. In several you can also just make out the legs wrapped around the body.
Cuteness overload: adorable baby harvestman, newly hatched, alongside a cluster of eggs - the eyes of the babies are clearly visible inside the unhatched eggs and you can just make out the legs. They were found under a stone in my local cemetery. #arachnids #harvestmen
This harvestman has made it on the Internet mainly due to the singular look of its back. Previously named Metagryne bicolumnata, it was moved to its own genus, Neokayania, in 2022. Size: around 5mm of body length but several centimets of leg span Time period: Holocene (present day) Conservation status: Least concern/Near threatened The animal drawn is a harvestman with super thin & long legs, way longer than its small boxy body. The main body also comprise 2 raised areas making it looks like a bit like a bunny cartoon head
What time is it? It’s #Cheliceratime!
We've catched up on the arachnids of#Febugary2026, Neokayania bicolumnata being our first harvestman entry!
All the basic infos are here but if you want to learn more, there’s more below!⬇️
#harvestmen #arachnid #sciart #bugsky #invert
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I found this five legged Harvestman yesterday under a stone in a local town gardens. It was really tiny and was dwarfed by the woodlice it was sharing its home with. I have tried keying it out this morning with no luck. Any ideas anyone? #Harvestmen #Arachnids
A sheet of white paper with black ink drawings of four species of harvestmen. Top row, left to right: Rialena triangularis with its large ocularium, Homalenotus quadridentatus with its flattened body with chequerboard pattern and Nemastoma bimaculatum scrunched up into a little black ball. Bottom row (off to the left): Lophopilio palpinalis with its spiky ocularium and spiny trident.
I've been back at the drawing board this week, working on some harvestman line drawings. Not the easiest of invertebrates to draw. These were copied from a series of my own reference photos. #arachnids #harvestmen #invertebrates
A small, matt black harvestman with two pale spots set towards the front of the body just behind and to the side of the ocularium. It is sitting hunched up with its legs pulled in on the underside of a light brown piece of wood.
A strikingly marked harvestman with a large ocularium with a ridge of blunt tubercles over the eyes. The body is brown with a darker broad rectangular patch (the saddle) down the middle which has numerous pale spots across it. The sides are lighter, also with pale spots. The legs are pale with dark rings. The harvestman is sitting on a brown plastic tray with some bits of dark brown leaf debris as it was sieved from leaf litter.
Took advantage of the sunshine yesterday and cycled out to Ladybelt Country Park yesterday and found two species of harvestmen - Nemastoma bimaculatum and Rilaena triangularis. #arachnids #opiliones #harvestmen
A male Dicranopalpus larvatus on a pale piece of wood. The harvestman has a black and white body, dark legs and eyes and forked pedipalps.
A female Dicranopalpus larvatus on a piece of wet wood. Her body is a purplish-brown colour with some light spots. Her eyes are dark and she has forked pedipalps.
A little wander round Earlham Cemetery in Norwich today produced 5 species of harvestman including these two Dicranopalpus larvatus which were found under fallen branches. #harvestmen #opiliones #arachnids
Paroligolophus agrestis on a gravestone. A fairly short-legged harvestman with a smooth pale ocularium and a pinkish body with the saddle outlined with black blotches.
Juvenile Rilaena triangularis on the underside of a piece of wood. This harvestman has a very large ocularium and the body is mottled brown with white spots.
Opilio canestrinii on a gravestone. This is quite a pale individual, almost pinkish with paired dark and light bars on the abdomen. The trochanters are pale and it has long legs.
Dicranopalpus sp male on a gravestone. It has a small dark body with long legs held out at right angles. This one looks like Dicranopalpus caudatus but it would need to be dissected to be sure.
A little wander round Earlham Cemetery in Norwich today produced 5 species of harvestman, 4 shown here. It was rather chilly and we had snow lying just a couple of days ago - shows how hardy these arachnids are. IDs in alt text. #harvestmen #opiliones #arachnids
Spent some of Sunday looking through the wet collection at BENHS HQ. Most specimens from the late 60s and early 70s in great condition! Their members days offer us to look through specimens and utilise brilliant microscopes @britentsoc.bsky.social #arachnids #harvestmen #entomology #invertebrates
Californian Trap Door Spider burrow: image thanks to Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication
For day 15 of our #Advent Calendar, we're diversifying from winter #spiders to include #harvestmen #Opiliones....
Huge thanks to @markavery.bsky.social for writing a lovely review of my recently published book on the #spiders and #harvestmen of #Yorkshire:
markavery.info/2025/11/16/s...
Available to buy: www.naturebureau.co.uk/spiders-harv...
Dicranopalpus ramosus sens. lat. : England : VC25 East Suffolk : TM3389 : August 2025
Opilio canestrinii : England : VC25 East Suffolk : TM3389 : August 2025
Couple of #harvestmen from end of last summer: Dicranopalpus ramosus sens lat and Opilio canestrinii. Found together on garden trug used to collect apples. Probably fell in from same apple tree! Both very common in Britain: they were probably around your house this past summer too. Bungay, Suffolk.
@vannabartlett.bsky.social Having looked through your guide I think this is a female Dicranopalpis ramosus. Spotted this morning. #harvestmen #norfolk
A harvestman: it has 8 legs, but it's not a spider. It's one of the Opiliones, and doesn't make a web, or even produce silk. And it has no fangs or venom; it's a scavenger, not a predator. The body is all one piece, cephalothorax and abdomen united in a boxy body without a waist. This one, in sunlight, is brown on top with a black patch, cream on the bottom half. It "flies" over an air plant, held up on its extremely long legs. The leg joints where they meet the body are black, so are the knees.
Walking on stilts. A Harvestman, also called "Daddy Long Legs" Arachtober 2025, Day 16. www.flickr.com/photos/wande... #Arachtober2025 #Arachnids #Harvestmen #Opiliones #Invertebrates
A small, squarish beastie, rounded at the rear, with 8 black legs; the second pair, counting front to back, is much longer than the others, at least twice their length. (These, the harvestman uses as sensory organs, "feeling" his way.) Each leg has a knobby connection to the body. A couple of the legs are broken off; the harvestman was found this way, under a piece of bark. In front of the eyes, looking separate from the bulk of the body, which is mottled black, is a trellis-like arrangement, light-coloured, barely pale brown. It's on my desk, striped, varnished pine.
A strange harvestman, (one of the arachnid "daddy long-legs") Posted to the Arachtober pool for Arachtober 2025 Day 1. Sorry; damaged, but living still. www.flickr.com/photos/wande... #Arachtober2025 #Arachnids #Harvestmen #Invertebrates
Photograph of a harvestman arachnid on a leaf.
Another photo of the harvestman on a leaf.
Photograph of a rock face beside a creekbed with a wattle flowering. This is where the harvestman was.
Photograph of a track through orange rocks with some shrubs. This is only a few hundred meters from where the harvestman was.
Dry creekbeds are often ignored but they can have really amazing and unexpected species! My second favourite thing I saw last year (after the Synamphisophus) was this very unexpected Triaenobunus in a dry creekbed in the semi arid Ikara Flinders Ranges. #opiliones #harvestmen #arachnid
Odellius spinosus
Paraligolphus agrestis
Weeding the front drive this afternoon turned up several Paraligolphus agrestis and one Odiellus spinosus #harvestmen @vannabartlett.bsky.social @meganshersby.bsky.social @britishspiders.bsky.social
