Opiliones are what we call Daddy Longlegs in the midwest. The spider ones we call house spiders, or attic spiders.
Fun fact - Daddy longlegs smell - interesting - when you pick them up. It's not bad, but it's not good. It's. Different. It smells how you would design mint if you had only smelled chewing gum instead of the plant.
Not sure what chemical it is that makes them mint flavored.
According to Wikipedia, all species have stink glands, but I have never noticed any smell about them. They sometimes will eject a leg when handled, and the leg will continue twitching for a while, similar to what some lizards do.
They have a musky scent for sure. It's far more noticeable when you encounter a clump of opiliones. I can't say Ive ever smelled anything minty though.
I grew up in Seattle and we call Opiliones daddy long legs, and we didn't have a name for Pholcidae, the first time I ever saw one was in Hawaii under a couch as an adult.
Fun fact - Daddy longlegs smell - interesting - when you pick them up. It's not bad, but it's not good. It's. Different. It smells how you would design mint if you had only smelled chewing gum instead of the plant.
Not sure what chemical it is that makes them mint flavored.