Daddy Longlegs Risk Life. .. and Especially Limb. .. to Survive, Deep Look

When predators attack, daddy longlegs deliberately release their limbs to escape. They can drop up to three and still get by just fine. SUBSCRIBE to Deep Look DEEP LOOK: a new ultraHD (4K) short video series created by KQED San Francisco and presented by PBS Digital Studios. See the unseen at the very edge of our visible world. Get a new perspective on our place in the universe and meet extraordinary new friends. Explore big scientific mysteries by going incredibly small. We all know its not nice to pull the legs off of bugs. Daddy longlegs dont wait for that to happen. These arachnids, related to spiders, drop them deliberately. A gentle pinch is enough to trigger an internal system that discharges the leg. Whether it hurts is up for debate, but most scientists think not, given the automatic nature of the defense mechanism. Its called autotomy, the voluntary release of a body part. Two of their appendages have evolved into feelers, whic