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strange spider from Chile
Hi,
I found this strange animal in the temperate rainforest of southern Chile near the city of Valdivia. Thank you very much for helping to identify this interesting creature.
Gerhard Huedepohl

Hi Gerhard,
This is not a spider, but a relative known as a Harvestman in the order Opiliones. Two years ago this month, we received a another quite similar image, also from Chile, and Eric Eaton provided this information: ” The Chilean “spider” is actually a tropical harvestman (order Opilones), possibly in the suborder Laniatores, and, even more remotely plausible, in the family Gonyleptidae. I got all this from my old Golden Guide to “Spiders and Their Kin” by Levi and Zim:-) Eric” Many Opiliones are known as Daddy Long Legs and they do not posess venom, hence they are harmless.

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