acarus

Learned borrowing from New Latin acarus, from Ancient Greek ἀκαρί (akarí, “cheese mite, tick”).

der

water strongly boiled; wherein the Seeds are extinguished by fire and decoction, and therefore last long and pure without such alteration, affording neither uliginous coats, gnatworms, Acari, hairworms, like crude and common water

1658, Sir Thomas Browne, The Garden of Cyrus, Folio Society, published 2007, page 205:

The number of Acari found in raw sugar is sometimes exceedingly great, and in no instance is the article quite free from either the insects or their ova (eggs).

1868, Robert Niccol, The Sugar Insect, "Acarus Sacchari", Found in Raw Sugar, page 4:

2003, G. Leigheb, Mite bites, Andreas D. Katsambas, European Handbook of Dermatological Treatments, Springer, page 342,
Besides the acarus of human scabies (Sarcoptes scabiei hominis) (0.3-0.5 mm), many other acari which are parasitic on animals or which infest various plant species, foods, organic waste or soil may occasionally attack man (facultative parasitism vs. obligatory parasitism in the case of scabies).

(zoology, acarology) Any member of the subclass Acari (aka Acarina): thus, a mite or a tick; specifically, any mite of the genus Acarus.


tick

From Middle English *tik, tek, tyche (“light touch, tap”), from the verb (see Etymology 3 below). Compare Dutch tik (“a pat, tap”), Middle High German zic (“a slight touch”).

cog

(computing) A jiffy (unit of time defined by basic timer frequency).

I'll be back in a tick.

(colloquial) A short period of time, particularly a second.


mite

From Middle English mite, from Old English mīte (“mite, tiny insect”), from Proto-West Germanic *mītā, from Proto-Germanic *mītǭ (“biting insect”, literally “cutter”), from *maitaną (“to cut”), from Proto-Indo-European *mey- (“small”) or *meh₂y- (“to cut”). Akin to Old High German mīza (“mite”), Middle Dutch mīte (“moth, mite”), Dutch mijt (“moth, mite”), Danish mide (“mite”).

stock mite

Lepidoglyphus, Acarus, Tyrophagus, Tydeus, Cheyletus, Tarsonemus spp.

Any of many minute arachnids which, along with the ticks, comprise subclass Acarina (aka Acari).


arachnid

From international scientific vocabulary, from French arachnide (1809, Lamarck), from New Latin, from Ancient Greek ἀράχνη (arákhnē, “spider”) with the suffix -id. By surface analysis, arachn- + -id.

der

Any of the eight-legged creatures, including spiders, mites, and scorpions, of the class Arachnida.

Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
international scientific vocabulary


daddy longlegs

en-noun

daddy longlegs (plural daddy longlegs or daddy longlegses)

daddy longlegs (plural)
daddy longlegses (plural)
daddy-longlegs (alternative)
daddy-long-legs (alternative)

/ˈdædɪ ˈlɒŋ(ɡ)lɛɡz/

From daddy + longlegs. First attested in 1810s. Preceded by father longlegs, attested from 1740s.

Daddy longlegs adults are weak flyers, falling onto the water surface in the lightest of breezes, and even on calm days.

2004, Bill Hansford-Steele, African Fly-fishing Handbook, page 316:

(UK, Ireland) The cranefly; any insect of the suborder Tipulomorpha.

Unlike spiders, daddy longlegs do not have a clearly marked division between thorax and abdomen. They are further distinguished from spiders in that they do not produce venom or silk.

2002, Maurice Burton, Robert Burton, The International Wildlife Encyclopedia, volume 10, page 636:

Daddy longlegs aren′t even really spiders.

2004, Clay Thompson, Marshall Trimble, The Valley 101 Great Big Book of Life, page 33:

(Australia, Canada, New Zealand, US) Any (non-spider) arachnid of the order Opiliones, mostly with long thin legs.

Another spider neighbor that is commonly found in homes is the daddy longlegs. The daddy longlegs is often called a cellar spider.

2010, Lou Bensinger, Tiny Invaders in Your Home, page 10:

daddy long-legs spider
daddy long-legs spider

(loosely) The daddy long-legs spider, any spider of the family Pholcidae.


solifugid

From https://www.dictionary.com/browse/solifugid:
: "variant of solpugid (Late Latin solifuga, by folk etymology from Latin salpūga"


anancy

From Anansi, a mythical spider (god) from West African folklore.

(Jamaica) A nonpoisonous spider, daddy longlegs.


vinegaroon

vinegaroons (plural)
vinagron (alternative)
vinegarroon (alternative)
vinegerone (alternative)

/ˌvɪnəɡəˈruːn/

Borrowed from Spanish vinagrón, from vinagre (“vinegar”) + -ón (augmentative suffix). Influenced by vinegar.

suffix

I have found dead vinegaroons […] kille by a harvester ant sting successfuly placed in the intersegmental membranes of the vinegaroon's crushing, claw-like pedipalps[.]

2016, Justin O. Schmidt, The Sting of the Wild, Johns Hopkins University Press, →ISBN, page 113:

A whip scorpion (arachnid of order Thelyphonida), which when threatened may eject a liquid containing acetic acid.


grampus

From Middle English *grampas, grappays, grapas, graspeys, from Anglo-Norman grampais, Old French graspois, craspois (“whale, (salted) whale meat; blubber; seal”), from Medieval Latin craspicis (literally “fat fish”), from Latin crassus (“fat”) + piscis (“fish”).

der

giant whip scorpion (Mastigoproctus giganteus)


arachnoid

Mid 18th century borrowing from New Latin arachnoīdēs, from Ancient Greek ᾰ̓ρᾰχνοειδής (ărăkhnoeidḗs, “like a cobweb”), from ᾰ̓ρᾰ́χνη (ărắkhnē, “spider web”) + -ο- (-o-) + -ειδής (-eidḗs, “-oid, -like”). By surface analysis, arachn- + -oid.

ᾰ̓ρᾰχνοειδής

af

/əˈɹæk.nɔɪd/

Relating to or resembling spider webs; covered with or composed of soft loose hairs or fibers.

(anatomy) Relating to the arachnoid mater.


arachnoid

der

ᾰ̓ρᾰχνοειδής

/əˈɹæk.nɔɪd/

(neuroanatomy) Ellipsis of arachnoid mater.

(astronomy) A round network of fractures in the crust of Venus.


arachnoid

19th century from translingual Arachnida + -oid.

/əˈɹæk.nɔɪd/


harvestman

From harvest + -man.
(sense 2): There are various hypotheses and folk etymologies for why the arachnids are called harvestmen, but the most likely explanation is the shape of their legs, which resemble sickles or scythes.
More information
The association with harvesting or haymaking is found across Europe; compare words for “harvest spider” in other languages: Dutch hooiwagen (literally “hay-cart”), Welsh medelwr (literally “reaper, harvester”), Irish Pilib an fhómhair (literally “Philip of the harvest”), Danish mejer (literally “mower, reaper”), French faucheur (literally “scyther”), Spanish segador (literally “reaper, harvester, mower”) and agostero (literally “August-er”), Czech sekáč (literally “reaper, mower; warrior”), Polish kosarz (literally “reaper, mower, haymaker”), Russian сенокосец (senokosec, literally “little haymaker”) and косиножка (kosinožka, literally “little scythe-leg”), Ukrainian косарик (kosaryk, literally “mower”), Hungarian kaszáspók (literally “scyther-spider”), Serbo-Croatian pauk kosac (literally “reaper spider”), and even modern Hebrew קוצר (kotsér, originally “shortener”, literally “reaper, harvester”). Further compare German Schneider (literally “cutter; tailor”), Swiss Zimmermann (literally “carpenter”) and Welsh teiliwr (literally “tailor”). (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

Near-synonym: carter

A male harvester; any harvester (person who works to gather in the crops at harvest time).

An order of terrestrial, non-venomous arachnids with often very long legs: Opiliones; any individual of this order.


pseudoscorpion

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-pseudoscorpion.wav

An arachnid belonging to the order Pseudoscorpiones, also known as Pseudoscorpionida or Chelonethida


schizomid

(biology) Any of many tropical arachnids, of the order Schizomida.


camel spider

Any fast-moving, predatory desert arachnid belonging to the order Solifugae having massive paired chelicerae and a long body covered with tactile hairs.


palpigrade

A small invertebrate arachnid of the taxonomic order Palpigradi.


uropygid

Any arachnid of the order Thelyphonida; whip scorpion; vinegaroon.


book-scorpion

book-scorpions (plural)
book scorpion (alternative)

So called because they may be found among dusty books, where they prey on booklice etc.

A pseudoscorpion; an arachnid belonging to the order Pseudoscorpiones.


arachnidan

(zoology, archaic) arachnid (any of the Arachnida).


solpugid

(zoology) Any arachnid of the order Solifugae


arachnidial

(zoology) Of or relating to the Arachnida.


phalangid

(arachnology) Any harvestman of the order Opiliones (syn. Phalangida) or its constituents.


ammotrechid

(zoology) Any solifugid in the family Ammotrechidae.


assamiid

Assamiids are endemic to the Old World. There are several Erecinae-like groups in many countries of central Africa, reaching South Africa, where they are rare and confined to the northeastern portions. Assamiids are completely absent from Madagascar, Europe, the Pacific islands, and the Americas.

2007, Ricardo Pinto-da-Rocha, Harvestmen: The Biology of Opiliones, page 175:

(zoology) Any of the harvestmen in the family Assamiidae.


caddid

(zoology) Any arachnid in the family Caddidae.


charinid

(zoology) Any arachnid in the family Charinidae.


chernetid

(zoology) Any pseudoscorpion in the family Chernetidae.


chthoniid

(zoology) Any pseudoscorpion in the family Chthoniidae.


cosmetid

(zoology) Any member of the family Cosmetidae of harvestmen.


eophrynid

(zoology) Any extinct arachnid in the family Eophrynidae.


eremobatid

(zoology) Any arachnid in the family Eremobatidae.


gonyleptid

(zoology) Any harvestman of the family Gonyleptidae.


hubbardiid

(zoology) Any arachnid in the family Hubbardiidae.


menthid

(zoology) Any pseudoscorpion in the family Menthidae.


minuid

(zoology) Any harvestman in the family Minuidae, a synonym of the Kimulidae.


nemastomatid

(zoology) Any harvestman of the family Nemastomatidae.


oncopodid

(zoology) Any harvestman/daddy longlegs in the family Oncopodidae, a synonym of the Sandokanidae.


phalangiid

(zoology) Any member of species of the family Phalangiidae of harvestman spiders.


phalangodid

(zoology) Any member of the family Phalangodidae.


podoctid

(zoology) Any harvestman of the family Podoctidae.


pseudogarypid

(zoology) Any pseudoscorpion in the family Pseudogarypidae.


sabaconid

(zoology) Any member of the family Sabaconidae of harvestmen.


samoid

(zoology) Any member of the family Samoidae of harvestmen.


sclerosomatid

(zoology) Any harvestman of the family Sclerosomatidae.


sironid

(zoology) Any harvestman of the family Sironidae.


sternophorid

(zoology) Any pseudoscorpion in the family Sternophoridae.


stylocellid

(zoology) Any harvestman of the family Stylocellidae.


travuniid

(zoology) Any harvestman of the family Travuniidae.


triaenonychid

(zoology) Any harvestman of the family Triaenonychidae.


tridenchthoniid

(zoology) Any pseudoscorpion in the family Tridenchthoniidae.


trogulid

(zoology) Any harvestman of the family Trogulidae.


thelyphonid

(zoology) Any member of the arachnid order Thelyphonida.


opilionid

(zoology) Any of the harvestmen/daddy longlegs in the order Opiliones.


postembryo

The postembryos of most species exhibit long periods of immobility interrupted at lengthy intervals by feeble contractions of the legs and rudimentary mouthparts.

2013, Fred Punzo, Desert Arthropods: Life History Variations:


whip scorpion

Any arachnids in the order Thelyphonida, which resemble scorpions (though not true scorpions) and have a whip-like tail.


mule killer

(US, Southern US) Any of various unrelated arthropods, including whip scorpions, velvet ants, mantises, wheel bugs, and walking stick insects, that have been erroneously believed to kill livestock by stinging them or being swallowed.


leiobunine

Here we test a hypothesis that diversity of reproductive structures in leiobunine harvestmen (daddy longlegs) of eastern North America reflects two sexually coevolved but non-overlapping precopulatory strategies, a primitive solicitous strategy (females enticed by penis-associated nuptial gifts), and a multiply derived antagonistic strategy (penis exerts mechanical force against armature of the female pregenital opening).

2015 September 10, “Biomechanical Diversity of Mating Structures among Harvestmen Species Is Consistent with a Spectrum of Precopulatory Strategies”, in PLOS ONE, →DOI:

(zoology) Any harvestman of the subfamily Leiobuninae


goniosomatine

As we mentioned above, females of goniosomatine harvestmen increase their foraging activities during the period of egg production and leave the cave habitat on a daily basis, while males and NOFs may remain stationary inside the cave for three or more days [43, 33 ].

2015 September 3, “Egg Production Constrains Chemical Defenses in a Neotropical Arachnid”, in PLOS ONE, →DOI:

Any harvestman of the subfamily Goniosomatinae.


jerrymander

British soldiers in Egypt used to have jerrymander fights, pitting one against another.

1935, Sir John Arthur Thomson, Biology for Everyman, page 367:

My Squadron Leader's crew adopted a family of jerboas and my Troop Corporals chose a black, spider-like monster, about 3 in. long with short legs and enormous jaws, which they called a "jerrymander".

1965, J. L. Cloudsley-Thompson, Desert Life, page 31:

They also are known by the British terms jerrymander and jerrymunglum.

2009, Gary R. Mullen, “Solpugids (Solifugae)”, in Medical and Veterinary Entomology, page 401:

(British, dated) Synonym of camel spider (arachnid of the order Solifugae)


microwhip scorpion

en-noun

microwhip scorpion (plural microwhip scorpions)


nigger killer

nigger killer (countable and uncountable, plural nigger killers)

nigger killers (plural)
nigger-killer (alternative)

“Nigger killer!” ejaculates M‘Fadden, “let go there!”

1855, Francis Colburn Adams, Our World: Or, the Slaveholder’s Daughter, New York: Miller, Orton & Mulligan, page 388:

If a man does not provide well for his slaves, it soon becomes known; he gets the name of a “nigger killer,” and loses the respect of the community.

[1862, Frederick Law Olmsted, The Cotton Kingdom: A Traveller’s Observations on Cotton and Slavery in the American Slave States, 2nd edition, volume 1, New York: Mason Brothers, page 102:

But he had never seen the Bola before, had never heard of her, and therefore was not aware that her skipper, Captain Rackwell, was known from Conakry to Old Calabar as the Nigger Killer.

1932, Robert Simpson, “So-So Krooboy Palaver”, in Adventure, volume 84, number 6, page 18:

There are no innocent white people, because every one of them is a potential nigger-killer, if not an actual one.

1985, Bessie W. Jones, Audrey L. Vinson, The World of Toni Morrison: Explorations in Literary Criticism, page 96:

(contains an ethnic slur) Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see nigger, killer (a killer of black people).


ricinuleid

A ricinuleid grabs its prey with the relatively small pincers of its pedipalps, lifts its hood, and then passes the prey to its jaws. The hood is lowered as the ricinuleid chews away.

2009, James B. Nardi, Life in the Soil: A Guide for Naturalists and Gardeners, page 113:

(zoology) Any member of the Ricinulei (hooded tickspiders).


hooded tickspider

hooded tickspider (plural hooded tickspiders)

Any of the arachnids in the order Ricinulei, which are not true ticks or spiders.


jerrymunglum

The well known Galeodes, is very common in arid countries, and is popularly known as a "Jerrymunglum." It is a harmless arthropod.

1929, Walter Scott Patton, Alwen M Evans, Insects, Ticks, Mites and Venomous Animals of Medical and Veterinary Importance:

Your correspondence about contests staged between scorpions and spiders recalls a small military cantonment in Hyderabad (Deccan) in 1893. We were a small community, and one of our after-dinner amusements was to stage jerrymunglum v. Scorpion contests within the confines of an inverted finger bowl.

1948, Country Life, volume 104, page 488:

Jerrymunglums are relatives of the spiders and scorpions and are not true insects.

1959, Nesta Pain, Grassblade Jungle, page 174:


pycnogonoid

(zoology) Any member of the Pycnogonida; a sea spider.


trigonotarbid

Around 70 different species of trigonotarbids have been recognised, mostly from the Carboniferous period, but some representatives are even older than the Rhynie Chert, pushing the origins of spider-like land animals back into the Silurian Period.

2018 March 7, Elsa Panciroli, The Guardian:

True spiders have not yet arisen, but trigonotarbids are arachnids that are superficially very similar.

2022, Thomas Halliday, Otherlands, Penguin, published 2023, page 215:

Any a group of extinct arachnids (order Trigonotarbida) of the late Silurian and early Permian periods, resembling spiders but without silk-producing spinnerets.


cladonychiid

Any harvestman of the family Cladonychiidae


laniatorean

Any harvestman in the arachnid suborder Laniatores


travunioid

Any harvestman of the superfamily Travunioidea


phalangioid

Any harvestman of the superfamily Phalangioidea


whip spider

Any member of the order Amblypygi of arachnids.


scorpion spider

scorpion spider (plural scorpion spiders)

A whip spider or vinegaroon, any spider of order Uropygi (now often Thelyphonida)


hubbardiine

Any arachnid of the subfamily Hubbardiinae


spricket

Any member of the family Rhaphidophoridae, a group of orthopterans also called cave crickets.