Damon sp.? (Tailess whip scorpion) Unkown

Banshee05

Arachnolord
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do u have a better pix of the pedipalpal spines? Looks more like another Phrynichinae...like Phrynichus, not like Damon.
 

Banshee05

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more from above :)
I need to see the spination...the straight dorsal view.
 

Banshee05

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yes, this is better.
However, an ID is still not possible, but it is Damon species belonging to the west African group (medius, johnstonii, tibialis, etc.)
 

schmiggle

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yes, this is better.
However, an ID is still not possible, but it is Damon species belonging to the west African group (medius, johnstonii, tibialis, etc.)
Yay! I was right :)
What differentiates between the west African sp.? Locality?
I seem to remember that it's almost impossible to differentiate without a specimen in hand, but I could be wrong.

The identity affects care. If it's D. medius, it should be able to survive in savannahs and thus can tolerate somewhat lower humidity; otherwise, humidity as high as possible should be the rule. That, at least, is how I understand this source:
http://www.panarthropoda.de/sub/allgemeines/damongattungen.php
 

Banshee05

Arachnolord
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he asked about the differences in West African species, right? The differences between West and "the rest" are different at all.
e.g. medius and johnstonii are mostly similar in all relevant features you might be able to see with untrained eyes, but you may see the differences in the frontal process (directly in front of the media eyes), which are more or less pronounced. Other differences on spination and ventral sac covers are more difficult to see.
The best and all-in-one paper dealing with this, is Weygoldt's major revision:
Weygoldt, P. (1999). "Revision of the genus Damon C.L. Koch, 1850 (Chelicerata: Amblypygi: Phrynichidae)." Zoologica 150: 1-45.

others are:
Weygoldt, P. (1999). "Sperm transfer, spermatophore morphology, and female genitalia of three species of whip spiders: Charinus seychellarum Kraepelin, 1898, Damon medius (Herbst, 1797), and Phrynichus scaber (Gervais, 1844) (Chelicerata, Amblypygi)." Zoologica 150: 47-64.

Weygoldt, P. (2008). "Spermatophores, female genitalia, and courtship behaviour of two whip spider species, Charinus africanus and Damon tibialis (Chelicerata: Amblypygi)." Zoologischer Anzeiger 247(3): 223-232.

Weygoldt, P. (1997/98). "Mating and spermatophore morphology in whip spiders (Phrynichodamon sculliy [Purcell, 1901], Damon gracilis nov. Spec., Damon variegatus [Perty, 1834], and Euphrynichus bacillifer [Gerstaecker, 1873]) (Arachnida: Amblypygi: Phrynichidae)." Zoologischer Anzeiger 236: 259-276.

Weygoldt, P. and P. Hoffmann (1995). "Reproductive behavior, spermatophores, and female genitalia in the whip spiders Damon diadema (Simon, 1876), Phrynichus cf. ceylonicus (C.L. Koch, 1843) and Euphrynichus alluaudi (Simon, 1936) (Chlicerata: Amblypygi)." Zoologischer Anzeiger 234: 1-18.

Prendini, L., et al. (2005). "Systematics of the Damon variegatus group of African whip spiders (Chelicerata: Amblypygi): Evidence from behaviour, morphology and DNA." Organisms Diversity & Evolution 5(3): 203-236.
 
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