• Email Us: [email protected]
  • Contact Us: +1 718 874 1545
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Medical Market Report

  • Home
  • All Reports
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Meet The Tailless Whip Scorpions: Prehistoric-Looking, Nocturnal, And Strange

November 21, 2024 by Deborah Bloomfield

Even for nature lovers, there are some animals out there that give even the most dedicated naturalist the heebie-jeebies. Tailless whip scorpions might just do the trick with their impressively prehistoric-looking bodies and frankly too many limbs. 

What is a tailless whip scorpion?

Tailless whip scorpions, also known as whip spiders, belong to the order Amblypygi and have over 200 species. The name Amblypygi actually means “blunt rump” in reference to their lack of a tail. Tailless whip scorpions are neither spiders nor scorpions, but they are considered arachnids, in the class Arachnida. They are an ancient order and are thought to have been roaming around since the Devonian period around 416 million years ago, though relatively few species have survived to the modern age. They are often confused with whip scorpions or vinegaroons that belong to the order Uropygi. Unlike other arachnids, tailless whip scorpions only possess six legs for walking and can move sideways like a crab. 

Advertisement

The other front two legs are elongated to become antenna-like and are highly sophisticated sensory structures, they can be around two and a half times the lengths of the other legs and are sometimes known as “whips”. These are used to tell the animal about its environment and even pick up the vibrations of their prey – this is especially useful since most tailless whip scorpions have very poor eyesight or are blind. The tailless whip scorpions also have spiny pedipalps which they use to capture their next meal. 

Tailless whip scorpion on a tree trunk in a pet care set up. The long front legs are modified into antenna-like structures that are stretched out before it. They are very long and thin.

Modified front legs help the animal take in information about its surroundings.

Image Credit: Dendrophila/Shutterstock.com

Where do tailless whip scorpions live?

The tailless species have a wide distribution and live in North and South America, across Africa, and Asia. Their flat bodies allow them to creep into crevices and beneath boulders during the day, and then emerge at night to hunt.

What do tailless whip scorpions eat?

These creatures have very strong jaws but do not produce venom and are harmless to humans. Because of this, they are often kept as pets. In the wild, they have a varied diet and will feed on large insects, worms, crustaceans, and even small vertebrates. They can also engage in fierce fights over territory that can see the loser eaten by the victor. 

How do tailless whip scorpions breed? 

Courtship between a male and a female begins with a slow dance that can last several hours. A capsule full of sperm called a spermatophore is placed on the ground by the male for the female. The females can lay up to 60 eggs and will even carry their offspring for several days after hatching. It is thought that in the wild the animals have a lifespan of between 5-10 years, but have been known to live much longer in captivity. 

Deborah Bloomfield
Deborah Bloomfield

Related posts:

  1. The best PlayStation Classic prices and sales for September 2021
  2. Elon Musk announces Tesla to move headquarters to Austin
  3. Rebound Relationships: What They Are And Why They Can Work Better Than You Think
  4. The Cosmic Coincidence That Gives Us The Total Solar Eclipse

Source Link: Meet The Tailless Whip Scorpions: Prehistoric-Looking, Nocturnal, And Strange

Filed Under: News

Primary Sidebar

  • Martian Mudstone Has Features That Might Be Biosignatures, New Brain Implant Can Decode Your Internal Monologue, And Much More This Week
  • Crocodiles Weren’t All Blood-Thirsty Killers, Some Evolved To Be Plant-Eating Vegetarians
  • Stratospheric Warming Event May Be Unfolding In The Southern Polar Vortex, Shaking Up Global Weather Systems
  • 15 Years Ago, Bees In Brooklyn Appeared Red After Snacking Where They Shouldn’t
  • Carnian Pluvial Event: It Rained For 2 Million Years — And It Changed Planet Earth Forever
  • There’s Volcanic Unrest At The Campi Flegrei Caldera – Here’s What We Know
  • The “Rumpelstiltskin Effect”: When Just Getting A Diagnosis Is Enough To Start The Healing
  • In 1962, A Boy Found A Radioactive Capsule And Brought It Inside His House — With Tragic Results
  • This Cute Creature Has One Of The Largest Genomes Of Any Mammal, With 114 Chromosomes
  • Little Air And Dramatic Evolutionary Changes Await Future Humans On Mars
  • “Black Hole Stars” Might Solve Unexplained JWST Discovery
  • Pretty In Purple: Why Do Some Otters Have Purple Teeth And Bones? It’s All Down To Their Spiky Diets
  • The World’s Largest Carnivoran Is A 3,600-Kilogram Giant That Weighs More Than Your Car
  • Devastating “Rogue Waves” Finally Have An Explanation
  • Meet The “Masked Seducer”, A Unique Bat With A Never-Before-Seen Courtship Display
  • Alaska’s Salmon River Is Turning Orange – And It’s A Stark Warning
  • Meet The Heaviest Jelly In The Seas, Weighing Over Twice As Much As A Grand Piano
  • For The First Time, We’ve Found Evidence Climate Change Is Attracting Invasive Species To Canadian Arctic
  • What Are Microfiber Cloths, And How Do They Clean So Well?
  • Stowaway Rat That Hopped On A Flight From Miami Was A “Wake-Up Call” For Global Health
  • Business
  • Health
  • News
  • Science
  • Technology
  • +1 718 874 1545
  • +91 78878 22626
  • [email protected]
Office Address
Prudour Pvt. Ltd. 420 Lexington Avenue Suite 300 New York City, NY 10170.

Powered by Prudour Network

Copyrights © 2025 · Medical Market Report. All Rights Reserved.

Go to mobile version