First of all, I don't know why arachnids are in the pet section. That is not logical to me. Anyway, does anyone know how to discourage daddy long leg spiders from visiting my front steps? It's sort of a sheltered area and every morning there are some eigher dead or dying or just walking around like they own the place.You have no idea how creeped out they make me. It seems to be worse lately.Can anyone help please? I'm counting on you.

Daddy Long Legs are harmless to people. Daddy Long Legs do control various insect pests such as mosquitoes, flies, ants and moths.

For some insight on these fellas see,

http://www.museums.org.za/bio/spiderweb/pholicid.htm

Although I hate spiders in general, I WILL allow these around (but not in) my home. I know they cannot bite ME, and know that they DO kill any number of other insects.

Yes they can seem creepy, but they are very helpful in controlling the general pest population.

Try this saffy - next time you see a live one, try to capture it in a jar with a vented lid. Sit and watch it for awhile - being able to watch a spider from a close proximity when you know you're safe is very helpful. Although I'm usually very repulsed by spiders of any kind, daddy long legs are really quite graceful.

Giz, Is that your idea of a joke? Catch one in a jar? I can't even get close enough to sweep the dead ones off the steps. I have a can of spider killer and I spray from a distance. At least they're dead then. I am sitting here shivering at the idea of looking at one. I know they can't hurt me but YUCK. Spiders are the only thing I hate. Give me a snake,worm,rat,[well actually Alberta is a rat free province]anything else.I just wondered if there was anything they didn't like so they could be convinced to hang out somewhere else. So thanks anyway but the jar thing isn't going to happen.

Actually daddy longlegs are one of the most harmless spiders that you could ever meet. Why not just sweep them off into the lawn? Then they can go about their business and you won't have to look at them if you think they're creepy. They will never attack you, and they don't like houses much.

Harvestman spiders do live in houses, where their primary prey is other spiders. They make the cobwebs we find draped around the ceiling. These are the only kind of spiders I can tolerate, and I leave them alone out of respect for the benefit they bring. Catty(who will run shrieking from any other kind)

Saffy, you have a phobia! I just realized it reading your last post. The difference between aversion (which we all feel towards certain critters) and a phobia is that aversion causes you to want to avoid the critters, and phobia causes you to fear and hate them EVEN WHEN YOU ARE SAFE: e.g. when they're dead, or in a jar. People with severe phobias can't even look at a photograph of the thing they fear without getting anxious.

I have an aversion to centipedes: they have a toxic bite and I just don't like the way they look. I rather like spiders, their webs are beautiful and they are marvellously adapted. I catch them and put them outdoors when I find them in the house. Outdoors, I avoid breaking their webs if I can, because I find dried out mosquitoes and flies in the webs, and those are not my favorite insects.

The daddy longlegs spider can't harm you because it has short fangs, and the way the muscles work don't allow them to bite humans. (Hunting spiders have different muscles longer fangs and can bite through human skin.) There is another creature called a daddy longlegs, or harvester, but it's not a spider.

The difference: the daddy longlegs spider has head and body, with 8 legs attached to the head part (cephalthorax). The harvester has all-in-one, a spherical head/body, and of course all its legs are attached to this one part. They don't make webs.

What you have seen is probably the daddy longlegs spider, because the harvester likes really hidden places, and would not be showing off on your front steps 'as if they owned the place'. Get someone to check them up close to see if they have a 2-part body (spider) or a 1-part body (harvestman) if you're curious.

Some people want to get rid of their phobias, others accept them if they're not causing a problem. Since you have a phobia, my previous suggestion of sweeping them off your steps isn't much good. Could you ask someone in your household to sweep your front steps each morning? It would just take a minute to do, and give you peace of mind.