Sonic Youth Gossip - Do you have a phobia?

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- - Do you have a phobia? (http://www.sonicyouth.com/gossip/showthread.php?t=4473)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tokolosh

Yep. That's a crane fly and it's harmless.
A daddy long legs is a type of spider and it's poison can kill you.
The good thing is that it's mandibles aren't powerful enough to penetrate human skin.

are you kidding me? i had no idea those were poisonous.
praying mantises scare the shit out of me.

"In 2004 the Discovery Channel show MythBusters set out to test the daddy long-legs myth (season 1, episode 13 "Buried in Concrete"). After measuring the spider's fangs at approximately 0.25 mm (average human skin thickness is about 0.10 mm) the show's host was apparently bitten, although the bite produced little more than a mild short-lived burning sensation. [3] This appears to confirm the suspicion that pholcids can penetrate human skin, but that their venom is practically harmless to humans. Additionally, recent research has shown that pholcid venom is actually relatively weak in its effects on insects as well. [4]"