# lime spiders **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 29, 2003, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lime-spiders/191551 "2003-07-29T00:06:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lime-spiders/191551/1 "2003-07-29T00:06:12Z")
Today we saw a lime green spider (all green) in my dads car. My son freaked out. We were wondering, are lime spiders poisonous? ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lime-spiders/191551/2 "2003-07-29T00:12:19Z")
There are only two poisonous spiders in the US. The Black Widow and the Brown Recluse. Neither are lime green. ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lime-spiders/191551/3 "2003-07-29T00:14:48Z")
ahh. Will tell him. (I killed it) ---
**Author:** ![antechinus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@antechinus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antechinus)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lime-spiders/191551/4 "2003-07-29T02:02:00Z")
Wow I thought [lime spiders](http://www.limespiders.com/press.html) were extinct. This great band got their name from a pretty ordinary drink: “a foamy, fizzy drink mixed from sugary green cordial, soda and vanilla icecream.” Lime spiders are not poisonous, but if you drink to many you wont feel real good. ---
**Author:** ![Stan\_Doubt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@Stan\_Doubt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stan_Doubt)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lime-spiders/191551/5 "2003-07-29T02:19:58Z")
Bravo, Antechinus! I knew an Aussie would be along with the straight dope. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lime-spiders/191551/6 "2003-07-29T03:08:39Z")
Well, let’s be a little more specific: _all_ spiders are poisonous. However, only a few have venom that can affect humans. This is because either their venom is too weak or not designed to work on human systems, or because their fangs are too small or too fragile to penetrate human skin. In addition to the widow and the recluse, there are two other potentially dangerous spiders in North America: the hobo spider, and the yellow sac spider. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lime-spiders/191551/7 "2003-07-29T03:20:06Z")
I have heard that the daddy longlegs spider carries the most potent venom of any U.S. spider, but that its pitiful little fangs can’t do anything with human skin. I’m not absolutely certain on this point, but it’s scary fun to think about. I’ve seen lime spiders on my car, too. Cute little buggers. ---
**Author:** ![Jon\_the\_Geek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@Jon\_the\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jon_the_Geek)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lime-spiders/191551/8 "2003-07-29T04:04:51Z")
Technically, daddy longlegs aren’t spiders, they’re… darnit, I can’t find it. I’ll dig a bit more, but I’m sure someone else will post what they are before I get to it 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Jon\_the\_Geek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@Jon\_the\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jon_the_Geek)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lime-spiders/191551/9 "2003-07-29T04:11:33Z")
Ah, of course I found the perfect link immediately after posting that: [http://spiders.ucr.edu/daddylonglegs.html](http://spiders.ucr.edu/daddylonglegs.html) Summary: Daddy longlegs (at least what I think of when I say it, although there’s some confusion on the issue) are in the order Opiliones, not Araneae (the order of spiders). Daddy longlegs spiders (which I guess you probably were correctly referring to) are spiders that look kinda like daddy longlegs. Daddy longlegs don’t have venom glands or fangs. Daddy longlegs spiders DO have short fangs… which are very similar to brown recluse fangs (also short). The problem with the myth is… well, how would we know? If they can’t inject the venom into humans, we can’t tell whether it will be deadly to humans. That article also says there’s no scientific reason to assume that their venom is deadly to humans. It’s POSSIBLE, but it’s purely conjecture. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lime-spiders/191551/10 "2003-07-29T07:56:30Z")
> [@](#): > > Well, let’s be a little more specific: all spiders are poisonous. However, only a few have venom that can affect humans. There are at least some common household varieties which can affect humans, but which are still far short of killing. They give you a raised welt like a mosquito bite, but pale in color, and larger and itchier. Fortunately, they bite a lot less often than mosquitoes. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lime-spiders/191551/11 "2003-07-29T11:38:36Z")
I’d assume they analyzed the poison and found it similar to the poison produced by other very venemous spiders/insects. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lime-spiders/191551/12 "2003-07-29T12:33:45Z")
Picking nits 101: Spiders are venomous, not poisonous. Venomous means that the toxin must be injected, poisonous means the toxin just needs to be touched - i.e. poison ivy. ---
**Author:** ![Achilles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dc4da7/32.png) [@Achilles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achilles)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lime-spiders/191551/13 "2003-07-29T12:45:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Doctor Jackson \* > \*\*Picking nits 101: > Spiders are venomous, not poisonous. Venomous means that the toxin must be injected, poisonous means the toxin just needs to be touched - i.e. poison ivy. \*\* I’ve got to agree with the doctor here. I used to eat DaddyLong Legs when I was about 3 - 4. My mom says that I would really go at it, maybe 10-12 in a row, before she could stop me. I was a weird little kid, but I was never poisoned. ---
**Author:** ![antechinus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@antechinus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antechinus)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lime-spiders/191551/14 "2003-07-29T23:23:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Doctor Jackson \* > \*\*Picking nits 101: > Spiders are venomous, not poisonous. Venomous means that the toxin must be injected, poisonous means the toxin just needs to be touched - i.e. poison ivy. \*\* Ahh, thats what threw me. So the OP was talking about arachnids…ahhh…I see now. Spiders → venomous, gross fizzy drinks → poisonous (possibly). I was wondering what a green fizzy drink was doing in the car. 😉