Leaf-footed Bug Visitor

My bug visitor was unusually shaped, like a slender, upside-down bell, with muscular-looking, long, rear legs. It was nearly monochrome dark. From preliminary research and images, I settled on it being a leaf-footed bug.

From “Leaf-Footed Bugs, Family Coreidae”—“Many members of this family have noticeable leaf-like extensions on their hind tibia, and this is the reason for their common name.” Another good preliminary resource is the Insect Identification site for “Leaf-Footed Bug - (Acanthocephala spp.)”.

A few days ago (about 8 AM), the intriguing bug was on a porch column, unmoving. I left it alone, but took several pictures. After about an hour, I returned, toting my camera and masking tape-backed measuring stick, to see if it was still there. The bug had moved. I aligned the ruler near it and pressed; took a couple of shots. Bug stayed put.

I decided to return after the house shadow would fall across the column for better pictures (around 3 PM). As I set some blank background nearby, the bug started to move! Upward! Out of range of my backdrop! Aha! I would just RECORD it for a little while! Then it froze. I took more pix, then left. About an hour afterward, I looked to see it had left.

Later, for help in identifying the bug, I posted the ruler-accompanied bug picture to my LinkedIn feed, emailed someone who had blogged about a similar-looking bug, and scoured big-picture bug sites. By poring SLOWLY over the big picture sites, I narrowed down my search. It helped to have an idea of the bug I wanted to ID. Good jumping off (ha) sites:

• Slide show bug lessons in “Subphylum Hexapoda Includes all insects class insecta”
• YouTube video “Taxonomy: An introduction to Insect Orders” that introduces insect categories. An example of bumblebee is around a minute into the video.
• Bugguide.net’s "Overview of Orders of Insects"
• Earthlife.net’s “The Insect Orders An Introduction each to of the 32 Orders of Insects”

I kept encountering the term “true bug”. From ASU School of Life Sciences site:

The key difference between true bugs and other insects is their mouth parts. … true bugs have specialized mouth parts used to suck juices. … The proboscis of a true bug is not retractable. Insects with movable mouthparts allow them to move food from the source to their mouth. The proboscis of a true bug is more rigid and cannot be rolled up.

Poring more into Google site and image searches, I found several sites that showed bugs with strong resemblances to my visitor.

• Bugguide.net’s “Species Acanthocephala declivis” page
• What’s That Bug’s “Leaf Footed Bug: Acanthocephala species”
• iNaturalist.org’s “Giant Leaf-footed Bug Acanthocephala declivis”

Although "What’s That Bug" did not include the species name declivis, I found declivis and three other species names (femorata, terminalis, thomasi) in the Bugguide taxonomy tab. Best match for images is delivis.

*** View my video of the leaf-footed bug that was on my porch column, leaving around mid-day. Includes motion footage, a still of it with accompanying measuring stick for size reference. Additional stills capture a seeming heel click and shadow-illusion pushups. Check out the carapace. As it turns out, I’ve been bugged a long time ago, over the same type of bug … in 2005, when I helped a friend move. I have included some of those stills also.

Leggy Bugs--Daddy Longlegs

Previously, I wrote about the crane fly as a leggy buggy. At that time, I made a passing remark about them being called daddy longlegs in the UK. (A humongous crane fly that landed on my door inspired me to photograph and write up about crane flies before writing this daddy longlegs article.)

Did you know that daddy longlegs can be three types of very long-legged bugs? "Why Are They Called Daddy Longlegs?" explains.

That name is often used to describe several different creatures. For example, it may be used to describe the long-legged crane fly, which is an insect, or long-legged cellar spiders, which are true spiders. Mostly, though, daddy longlegs is used to refer to Opiliones, which are an order of arachnids also known as harvestmen. … Harvestmen have one body section and two eyes, while most spiders have two body sections and eight eyes.

The following table lists some very basic differences among them.

	large crane fly	cellar spider	harvestman
# legs	6	8	8
wings?	y	n	n
# eyes	2	8	2
silk/web spinner?	n	y	n
body sections	head, thorax, abcomen	head/thorax (cephalothorax), abdomen	single section

View my pixstrip for rudimentary drawings of the bugs; the text indicates very abbreviated animal hierarchy.

"Who's the daddy? Are daddy longlegs actually spiders? Are they poisonous and how do you get rid of them?" has a few good passages that describe these bugs.

While the common English insect commonly referred to as a daddy long-legs is in fact NOT a spider, there is actually also a type of spider that is sometimes also referred to as a daddy long-legs and another type of arachnid that is also known as a daddy long-legs.

Brits generally use the word daddy long-legs to refer to craneflies – long-legged winged insects which are not spiders.

The article has sections for bird's eye views (grin) about comparing and contrasting the three bugs:

• What are the differences between craneflies and spiders?
• What are the similarities between harvestmen and spiders?
• What are the differences between harvestmen and spiders?

"Daddy Longlegs: Spiders & Other Critters" provides good overview differentiations also, including the following topics:

• Harvestmen & crane flies
• Cellar spiders
• Taxonomy/classification for cellar spiders, harvestmen, and crane flies

Visit BugGuide's three sites for these leggy bugs, which include tabs for taxonomy, general information, images, and US map of states indicating habitat (Data).

• Family Tipulidae - Large Crane Flies
• Family Pholcidae - Cellar Spiders
• Order Opiliones - Harvestmen

More resources:

• "Best Daddy Long Legs Explanation"
  Video includes clips and narration about all three leggy bugs, with emphasis on the cellar spider.
• "Myth: Daddy-longlegs would be deadly but..."
  Site includes side-by-side images of harvestman, cellar spider, and crane fly.
• 'Spider Identification: Cellar Spiders and Harvestman Arachnids"
  This video differentiates the two leggy arachnids—cellar spider and harvestman.
• "Cluster of Daddy Longlegs (Harvestmen) - Ajijic, Mexico"
  This video shows clumped harvestmen scattering, with text that explains basic differences between them and spiders.
• "What happens when you prod a Daddy Long Legs?"
  This video shows a cellar spider vibrating, using the movement as possibly evasion against a perceived predator.
• "Spider Anatomy"
  Arachnophobic? The diagram can be terrifying if you are, amusing if you're not.
• "Cellar Spider Catching a Crane Fly" This video features two of the three leggy bugs meeting for a meal. That's life, or not.
• Daddy longleg jerks (Far Side cartoon)
  From the body shapes (one segment instead of two distinct ones), I'd say these leggy bugs are harvestmen rather than spiders.

---

Leggy Bugs articles:

• Centipedes and Millipedes
• Caterpillars (Lepidopteran Larvae, which Become Butterflies and Moths)
• Inchworms
• Crane Flies
• Daddy Longlegs
• Walking Sticks
• Praying Mantises
• Huntsman Spiders
• Grasshoppers