Here are some more gems from Igor. You may know this creature as the camel spider (it's got a bunch of names--wind scorpion, sun spider, sun scoropion, et al), but it is neither a spider nor a scorpion. It's in its own fancy order of arachnida (Solifugae).Here are two charming descriptions from Wikipedia. First, on feeding:
Prey is located with the pedipalps and killed and cut into pieces by the chelicerae. The prey is then liquefied and the liquid ingested through the pharynx.
Mmm. Slurp slurp.
Next, on mating:
[On Solpugids in general] Reproduction can involve direct or indirect sperm transfer; when indirect, the male emits a spermatophore on the ground and then inserts it with his chelicerae in the female's genital pore. To do this, he flings the female on its back.
Romantic creatures, these Solpugids.
Thanks for the photos, Igor.
Yikes, no wonder it has such a painful bite. I saw one of those on the front porch last night. We see them frequently, but this one was BIG, a good three inches. Scared the heck out of me... they're *fast*!
ReplyDeleteScary! I think I'll pass!
ReplyDeleteIt's a DRIDER!! Well, sorta...
ReplyDelete/geek
--TwoDragons
They're such neat animals. I've kept two as pets, but they don't do too well in captivity and no one knows why, yet.
ReplyDeleteOnce I finish my degree, I'll probably take the chance to study them more in depth. :)
Sweet! Do they all have 10 legs? Or are the "first ones" antennaes?
ReplyDeleteDie spawn of Satan! DIIIIIEEEE *chucks her show at the screen*
ReplyDelete*picks up her show, and proceeds to chuck her SHOE at the monitor*
ReplyDelete((yay for not being able to spell))
Try sitting around the fire in the African bush at night, bare foot, and see one scuttling across the paving towards you. You will find you possess athletic abilities you did not know you had.
ReplyDeleteThat last shot looks like a muppet. Fraggle rock, anyone?
ReplyDeleteDrider! I love it.
ReplyDelete