The caption on this photograph at Aussie Farmer says “Death by Daddy long legs.” Now, what they call Daddy Long Legs in Australia is a different creature from the fairly harmless insects we call Daddy Long Legs in the U.S. This is a cellar spider, which is sometimes called a Daddy Long Legs in Australia. And it’s captured a brown snake. Farmer Patrick Lees took the picture on his property in Weethalle, New South Wales. He said a group of spiders later gathered around the snake.
The Australian Museum's arachnology collections manager Graham Milledge said while it was not clear exactly how the snake had died, it was quite possible the spider was responsible.
"The most likely scenario is that the snake got entangled in the spider's web. Usually what happens then is the spider will try to wrap the snake and then they'll bite it," Mr Milledge said.
The Australian Museum lists the daddy-long-legs spider as carnivorous and predatory. The venom is not particularly potent, despite rumours it is one of the world's most poisonous.
It’s pictures like these that get those rumors started, I’d bet. -via Uproxx
(Image credit: Patrick Lees)