Sluggin' Along: South Carolina Harvestmen

The members of the order Opiliones are known as Harvestmen, but I grew up calling them "Granddaddy Longlegs" because I often found them at my grandparents' house when I was a child. Even today I associate them with my grandfather. I used to catch them and keep them in a small terrarium, but I didn't feed them, so they always died. Now I photograph them, hoping to chronicle their behavior in a more scientific manner.

For one thing, Harvestmen are an example of an arachnid (8-legged arthropod) that is NOT a spider. (Another would be a scorpion). Spiders belong to the order Araneae. Harvestmen can be distinguished from spiders by the fact that their cephalothorax is fused with their abdomen across a wider area, making it appear their body consists of a single segment. The fusion in spiders is much narrower, so the two sections are distinct. Also, unlike spiders, Harvestmen cannot form webs because they have no silk glands. They have a feeding apparatus called a stomotheca with which they can eat solid food. Spiders always liquefy their prey first. I've witnessed Harvestmen feeding on the same sunflower shells my slugs like! Contrary to spiders, Harvestmen have only 2 eyes, and they possess no venom. So they pose no danger to humans at all. They use their chelicerae for grabbing things, not stabbing. In addition, they breathe through tracheae (spiracles on the abdomen and legs) instead of book lungs (found ventrally on spiders), and they engage in direct copulation (the males have a penis). The female lays eggs with an ovipositor.

Our Harvestmen likely belong to the suborder Eupnoi (or Palpatores), superfamily Phalangoidea, family Sclerosomatidae. I believe the genus is probably Leiobunum. My best guess for the following specimens is Leiobunum vittatum, but any ID suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Specimen #1: