Tailless whip scorpion
| Tailless whip scorpion |
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| Scientific Classification |
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| Suborders and Families |
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Suborder: Euamblypygi
Suborder: Paleoamblypygi
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Tailless whip scorpions are any of the species belonging to the taxonomic order Amblypygi. They are also called a whip spider because it looks more like a spider than a scorpion. They don’t get very big and are all pretty much the same color. They are mostly a dark brown and sometimes they have some red on them. The tailless whip scorpion lives in humid areas. They are very strange looking but people love to have them as a pet. They are very friendly and non-dangerous.
Body Design
The tailless whip scorpion, also known as the whip spider, can be distinguished by the length of the pedipalps. The males which have highly elongate and the “elbow” extending past the “knee” of the first pair of walking legs. While on the female they are much shorter and they do not reach the “knee”.[2]. The length of the tailless whip scorpion/spider is 2 inches long. The cephalothorax also known as the front part of the scorpion is covered by a carapace, which is a shell like covering and it is way wider then the length of the tailless whip scorpion. The longest part of the tailless whip scorpion is the legs, which are 10 inches long. [3]
People say that they grow pretty big for bugs. In Costa Rica they get to be as big as 5 to 6 inches, which is big enough to scare people off. They are very light.[4]. They are also very flat so then they can fit into small places.[5]. They are a cross between spiders and scorpions, so people call it whip spider or just tailless whip scorpion. [6]
Life Cycle
The male tailless whip scorpion places his sperm eggs where no one else can find them. Then he sets out to go find a female. Once he finds a female that he wants to take to his eggs, they have a courtship dance.[7] The courtship dance they have together is so that the male and female both know that they are not a meal that they are actually are a mate.[8]. After their dance he takes the female to his sperm packet. When the female sees the sperm packet she goes over to it and puts it into her reproductive opening. The eggs stay there until they are ready to hatch. Once they hatch, the scorplings go on their mothers back until the second molt. After the second molt they all scatter and go in their own direction. They live up to 2 or 3 years. In the egg sac there is a total of 6 to 60 eggs in them. [9]
Ecology
The tailless whip scorpion likes hot and humid tropical environments all around the world. [10].Some of the places they live in are east Africa, eastern Tanzania, and Kenya north to Ethiopia and Somalia.[11] In Arizona they live in rodent burrows that have been abandoned by other animals. They also live along dry river washes in the Arizona foot hills. [12]
They protect themselves by hiding under leaves and debris by day. Other places they like to hide out in are cracks and crevices, between rocks, under loose bark, at the bottom of trees, and tree holes.[13]. Some of these tailless whip scorpions live in caves. They only come out at night so they are nocturnal animals. Some even live in houses if they are pets. [14]
Pet Care
When a person catches a wild tailless whip scorpion and then sells it it's around 40 dollars. For one that's not wild it’s about 20 dollars. The females are always more expensive. [15][16] The tank size should be 10 to 20 gallons at least. There should be a dish with water in it so it can help with the humidity. There can only be soft materials in the tank. [17].some people put one half of damp sand and one half coconut, peat moss, a layer of cypress mulch, dried leaves, or clean decorative bark. Plants help with the humidity of the tank but they don’t need to be there. Every week the tank needs to be sprayed with water. The temperature of the tank should be 75 degrees F. to 85 degrees F. and the humidity should be 65 to 75%. [18]
Tailless whip scorpions are related more to spiders then they are to scorpions. When they walk, they walk sideways like a crab. They are not dangerous to humans and they cant harm us only pinch us. They have pinchers and if the feel threatened they will use them. They don’t really pinch that often though.[19] The cage cannot get dirty. If it does they could get a disease. It will also attract mites, fungus, mold, and other potentially harmful organisms. You will know if your tailless whip scorpion has a disease is because I won’t act like its self[20]
Gallery
(Phrynus pseudoparvulus)
Family: Phrynidae
(Damon diadema)
Family: Phrynichidae
References
- Amblypygi Wikispecies. Web. Last updated June, 23 2012 .
- Orkin . Tailless Whip Scorpion
- Tailless Whipscorpions & Sun Spiders 2006-2012 (years published).
- Kozhukhov Oleg. Tailless Whipscorpion
- Tailless Whip Scorpion . March 15, 2012 (last-update ).
- Tailless Whip Scorpion . Web. 2007 - 2011 (years published).
- admin. Tailless Whip-scorpion (Damon sp.), Lake Eyasi,… . Web. Oct 31, 2011 (Date-of-publication ).
- Tanzanian Giant Tailless Whipscorpion Giant Tailless Whip Scorpion, African Whip Spider Animal-World. Web. December 14, 2012(years published).
- Giant Tailless Whip Scorpion PetSolutions. Web 1998 - 2012 (years published).
- Tailless Whip Scorpions are BACK! 09-17-2010 (last updated).
- Tailless whip scorpion care 10-16-2012 (last updated).
