The Daddy-Long-Legs 
31 
more than double as long as the body. 
This lengthening is brought about, curiously, 
by the reduction of the number of joints, 
six long ones giving greater length than 
the sixteen short ones of the female. The 
females are a little larger in the species 
which we know best, being about one inch 
in length, with a wing spread of about 
two inches, while the male is not quite 
so ample in its proportions. There are 
vastly more males than females to be 
found everywhere. The daddy-long-legs 
is generally of a dullish brown colour, with 
a slightly greyish stripe across its back. 
The female deposits her eggs in or near 
grass, generally choosing a wet place, and 
the curious way in which the process is 
accomplished, perhaps, strengthens the 
idea which some people have, that the loss 
of a leg now and again is no serious 
calamity. Many a child will remember 
having caught one of these curious little 
creatures, and without the least intention 
of being anything but kindly disposed, 
has found that the struggling insect has 
left behind it one or more legs. When the 
female sets to work seriously to lay her 
