#2289 - Phalangium opilio - European Harvestman
Other photos from elsewhere on the trip.
AKA brown harvestman and daddy longlegs. They've also been called Dentizacheus minor, Phalangium brevicorne, Phalangium cornutum, Phalangium cornutum and Phalangium longipalpis.
Phalangium might refer to fingers, or possibly refers to the military phalanx, often armed with long pikes. Opilio means 'sheep-slave' and is probably a reference to the stilts that shepards used to walk around on to keep track of their herds. Opiliones is now the name for the entire order.
Anyway - this species is common in Eurasia, and has been introduced to New Zealand, North Africa, and North America. It thrives in human-altered areas, such as croplands and gardens, so seeing this one out in the Rangipo Desert may have been a little unusual, but it was near the Desert Road and a siding where gravel was stockpiled, so...
Like most harvestmen, this special is a nocturnal carnivore and scavenger, and a useful predator of insect eggs in croplands. During the day they hide up among vegetation or on vertical surfaces, preferring warm slightly moist areas, and come down to feed. Young instars might not descend to the ground - possibly to avoid larger harvestmen.
There's also been a recent discovery about harvestman eyes - until now it was thought they only had a single pair, on the spiny tubercle in the third photo - but it turns out they also have vestigial median and lateral eyes.
Rangipo Desert, North Island Volcanic Plateau, New Zealand
