Harvestman Minibeast Adventure with Jess

Hello, adventurers! I'm Jess.

It's time for a Minibeast Adventure!

# Feelers out, what's about?

# Creeping, sleeping, under stones, here and there

# Nesting, resting, minibeasts are everywhere

# Minibeasts are everywhere Look and listen, stop and stare

# Minibeasts are everywhere A Minibeast Adventure

# Feelers out, what's about?

# Minibeasts are everywhere Look and listen, stop and stare

# Miniworlds for us to share A Minibeast Adventure

# With Jess! #

Welcome to my tree house.

Have a look at these.

Most people think they're spiders,

but they're not.

They're harvestmen.

Some people are a little bit scared of them,

but I think they're amazing.

There's really nothing to be scared of.

Shall we have a closer look?

Our harvestman certainly does have long legs.

So you can see why people call it a daddy-longlegs.

It's almost as if it's walking on stilts.

And look how tiny its body is.

Can you see that little bump on its head?

That's where its eyes are.

It has two eyes, like we do,

but it doesn't have very good eyesight.

So it mostly feels its way around

with its long, sensitive legs.

Harvestmen hear, taste and smell using their legs.

One more amazing thing about harvestmen is that

sometimes you can find a harvestman with seven legs instead of eight

and that's because they have a special trick,

a life-saver if something's trying to catch them.

If something grabs their leg, they can drop it and run away.

Now, that's really cool,

but it's also kind of sad because they don't grow back

and, as we know, they use those long legs

for smelling, tasting and hearing.

So that's like losing your nose, mouth and ears.

So we need to treat them very carefully.

Now, there's a very good chance

that there's a harvestman living near you.

Shall we go and find one?

Come on.

Whatever the weather, we're off together on a Minibeast Adventure!

Hi, Nathan. Hi, Daisy.

-Hi, Jess.

-Hi, Jess.

Great to see you! Hi.

Today, we're going on a harvestman adventure.

-Do you know what a harvestman is?

-No.

Have you ever seen a daddy-longlegs?

-No.

-No.

-No?

Well, maybe I can show you some today, then.

Get your feelers ready.

ALL: Feelers out, what's about?

We're off on a Minibeast Adventure.

Shall we look down here?

There's a spider, there.

Yeah, there is a spider web there.

Yeah, a tiny spider.

-I saw an even bigger one.

-Did you? Where?

-Is that one of those ones?

-Is that one?

Oh, wow.

That's incredible.

Look at this.

What is that?

Spider.

A spider?

It does look a lot like a spider, doesn't it?

But this isn't a spider,

this is what we've been looking for.

This is a harvestman.

What does it look like?

-Big.

-It looks like a spider but it's not a spider.

No, it's not a spider.

What do you think it's doing with this big long leg here?

I think it's broken.

It has actually got one leg missing, you're right.

It's supposed to have eight legs, like spiders,

because it is closely related to spiders.

Would you like to hold it, Daisy?

-Yes.

-Here you go.

It's just feeling you to see if you're safe to walk on.

DAISY GIGGLES

It likes it.

-THEY LAUGH

-That tickles.

-That tickles!

-It is quite ticklish.

Would you like to hold it, Nathan?

Why's it bended its knee?

-It's putting it under so he can clean it with his mouth.

-Oh.

NATHAN SCREAMS

THEY LAUGH

-Does that tickle, Nathan?

-Yeah.

He's feeling your ear.

-Can you see what colour its body is?

-Blue.

Navy blue.

Navy blue, it is, isn't it?

Why are those dots on him?

Well, that's a very good question.

It's got lots of dots, hasn't it?

And its leg bends in all of those different places.

Like this?

A bit like that, yeah.

-Actually, it's more like this.

-Knees.

-Knees, yes. And how many knees do you have?

-Two.

Two, one on each leg.

How many knees does the harvestman have?

Can you count them?

-Six.

-Yeah, it's got lots of knees on each leg, hasn't it?

It's leg bends in lots of different places.

What do you think your legs would be like

if you had lots of knees, like that?

Like...

Do you think you'd be like that?

Do you think you'd have long legs if you had lots and lots of knees?

Would they be really long?

One there, one there, one there...

-One everywhere.

-Yeah.

Even on your head.

And on your eyes.

Well, he hasn't got any knees on his head,

but that would be funny, wouldn't it?

If your legs grew like a harvestman's legs,

you'd be able to cross roads by stepping from one pavement

to the other without treading on a crossing at all.

Lots of people think that harvestmen are spiders,

but they're not spiders.

So we're going to have a look at a harvestman and a spider

to see if we can see the differences.

What can you see that's different about harvestmen and spiders?

Well, the legs are very different.

Spiders' legs are hairy but harvestmen's legs are...

..not hairy.

Well, it looks like the harvestman's body is smaller than the spider's.

-What about the shape of them?

-Oval.

Yeah, the harvestman has an oval body.

What does the spider's body look like?

It's an upside-down triangle shape, kind of.

Yeah, and it's got a head and then a body, hasn't it?

It's got sort of two bits, can you see that?

The harvestman, its head is sort of part of its body

and it's all one big circle, like that, isn't it?

Spiders make their homes out of webs.

Yes, they make their homes out of webs.

Harvestmen can't make silk and they can't make webs.

Spiders do make webs from their silk.

So if harvestmen can't live in webs because they can't make silk,

-where do they live?

-In a bush?

In bushes, yes. We did find one in a bush earlier, didn't we?

Wow, that's so cool.

I loved that Minibeast Adventure,

it was funny how they crawled all over us, wasn't it?

Maybe you could go on a harvestman adventure, too.

There's a good chance there's one living near you,

but you need to look very carefully.

As we discovered, they're nothing to be scared of.

In fact, they're really amazing.

Feelers out, what's about?

Happy hunting, adventurers!