Amblypygi (Whip spiders)

Amblypygi is an ancient order of arachnid known as tailless whip scorpions. Amblypygids have no silk glands or venomous fangs.

They are found in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide and like to stay protected, hidden within leaf litter, caves, or underneath bark. Some species are subterranean, and all are nocturnal.

The first pair of legs are not used for walking and have evolved into sensory organs which are very thin and elongate, have numerous sensory receptors, can extend several times the length of the body, and are used to locate and size prey. When a suitable prey is located with the antenniform legs, the amblypygid seizes its victim with large spines on the grasping pedipalps, impaling and immobilizing the prey like mantises. The Amblypygid diet consists mostly of arthropod prey but have been observed feeding opportunistically on vertebrates. Only the remaining six legs are used for walking, often in a crab-like, sideways fashion.

Amblypygids may go for over a month without food, usually not feeding before, during, and after molting. Like other arachnids, amblypygids will molt several times during their life and is done hanging from the underside of a horizontal surface to use gravity to separate the old exoskeleton from the animal.

Due to the lack of venom the tailless whip scorpion is very nervous in temperament, retreating away if any dangerous threat is sensed by the animal.

Courtship involves the male depositing stalked sperm masses at the tip onto the ground, using his pedipalps to guide the female over them.The female then gathers the sperm and lays fertilized eggs into a sac carried under her abdomen. When the young hatch, they climb up onto the mother’s back.