Tuesday 15 December 2009

Amblypigid - whip spider, tailless whip scorpion


I stepped on this thing as I plodded, barefoot, into the kitchen late one night. It looked as if it might do something terrible to me, but it didn't, and its horrible appearance was only a phony. No venom.

Another name for it is vinegarroon. It is a lovely word, but I can't for the life of me imagine why it's applied to this creature.
It has extraordinarily long second and fourth legs, that act as sensors  to find its food in the dark. Its jaws can grab anything.

Creepy, indeed.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

wow i cant believe you stepped on a scorpion....are you all right? did it hurt you at all?