Ohhh I caught a solifugid, Pics inside!

[Scorpiove]

Caught this little guy crawling on the wall in the entry way. About 2 years ago I caught a scorpion in the same entry way. Tis a good place to go arachnid hunting . He only gave me this one little threat pose (I think it was one anyways) after that I had no problem or he had no problem being on my hand. Well anyways here are the pics.

P.S. Malhavocs this could have been yours (for free even) but you moved back to Canada! I think I will release it back into the big wild desert in the morning .

Edit: HMMM after looking at my own pics I noticed that it isn't the first pair of legs that are modified to grasp smooth surfaces but its the pedipalps! Wow

 

[lucanidae]

Those modified palps aren't for grasping smooth surfaces, they are for sensing and catching prey. They even have a glue gland that secretes sticky substances to better catch the prey with.

 

[Wade]

They do use them for climbing at times, however. I observed one about 5 feet up a steel light pole in Rio Rico AZ a few years back, climbing palp over palp.

Wade

 

[cacoseraph]

cute little guy

 

[Scorpiove]

yeah they actually do use them to climb I've watched plenty of them do it. I never have seen them use them to grasp prey yet, but I'll take your word for it . Unfortunately the one in the pic is dead now, I feel kind of guilty after you say that cacoseraph because I fed it to one of my vinegaroons .

 

[lucanidae]

Cool and weird that they use them to climb! None of mine have ever climbed up the glass sides of their tanks before. I wonder what smooth surfaces they found in the desert to climb before humans arrived. They might use them for that purpose, but seems hard to believe they would have evolved for that task.

 

[Scorpiove]

Those are some good points they probably evolved them primarily to eat. But smooth things in desert places I can think of are cacti and maybe other succulents. Well you have to think hmmm what was around before the continents broke up that was smooth because solifugids exist in atleas north american and africa, and the middle east and they would have had to evolve this feature before the land broke up as seeing it wouldn't have evolved separately..... Unless ofcourse the African ones can't climb heh.

 

[Galapoheros]

Ha, ...fed to a vinegaroon. They'll eat anything, stinkbugs, scorpions, geckos... I've seen them climb glass allot. But that usually happens when they are in a panic. They have some kind of organ doodad at the end of those pedipalps that they can expose and retract with amazing speed. You would think it would be very sticky but I'm guessing it works some other way. It's very strong. They can grab fast and hard and let go with ease. Really weird. I've gotten a glance at it. With the flashing glimpse I got of it, it looks to be "fan" shaped like the head of a flatworm.

 

[Scorpiove]

Ha, ...fed to a vinegaroon. They'll eat anything, stinkbugs, scorpions, geckos... I've seen them climb glass allot. But that usually happens when they are in a panic. They have some kind of organ doodad at the end of those pedipalps that they can expose and retract with amazing speed. You would think it would be very sticky but I'm guessing it works some other way. It's very strong. They can grab fast and hard and let go with ease. Really weird. I've gotten a glance at it. With the flashing glimpse I got of it, it looks to be "fan" shaped like the head of a flatworm.

Yeah it is so strange almost like a circus act when they climb with their pedipalps. I don't think I'll ever do that again though poor little thing I really should have let it go :\. Its just that.... my vinegaroon was you know hungry . (When are they not? :? )

 

[Scolopendra55]

Their very hard to keep in captivity.

 

[rattler_mt]

oddly enough these guys are quite common in northeast Montana. always though that was odd given our extreamly cold winters........-40 before windchill keeps out more than Californians

very cool critters. never tried to keep one very long though.

 

[jwasted]

neat little guy. I whould like to get one.