Solifuge ID

[Richard_uk]

I know, I know! Identifying things from a photo can be next to impossible, but I thought I would give it a go anyway!

I bought this fella this afternoon. I had never seen one in the flesh and it was so ugly I just had to have it. It is unbelievably aggressive for its size. I opened the tank to drop in a cricket and it actually ran over to me. One to watch out for! The poor cricket lasted mereley seconds.

Anyway, a pic.

 

[G. Carnell]

that is filthy!!

looks like this:
http://www.tarantulaspiders.com/images/gallery/solifugids/rhagodes%20sp.-egypt2(f){tg}.jpg

 

[Richard_uk]

Cheers George,
Thats the one! You would love this guy! I really can't believe how fearless this thing is.
I have just read though that some Rhagodes sp are the only solifuge that are venomous so I will have to be careful just in case. Not that I want to get bitten anyway, those jaws look mighty powerful!

 

[G. Carnell]

venemous.. CRIPES! P)

lucky its got stumpy legs or it would have had you by now

 

[Alex S.]

Awesome solifugid. Members of the family Rhagodidae are often stout-legged with large bodies and unusually colored relative to other Solifugae. The supposedly venomous species is Rhagodes nigrocinctus from India. Your specimen is most likely one of the large African rhagodids, which are not venomous. Once again, beautiful specimen. The Rhagodidae are an amazing a very unique family.

Alex S.

 

[mimic58]

Man that is one nasty looking motha

 

[cacoseraph]

i think i just got three of those

how is yours doing?

what setup are you using?

i desperately want to hold mine, but the fact they keep attacking the SUBSTRATE has given me pause for thought!

 

[bistrobob85]

Wow, now that's a shocking looking animal!! Cacoseraph, did you just say that they were attacking the substrate?!? What is it you use?!?

 

[Black Hawk]

*cough*live cricket substrate*cough*

JK, yeah they are vicious, VERY sensitive to ground vibrations, and RAVENOUS eaters. i'd give my right arm for one. unforunately they don't live long, and they have never been successfully breed in captivity. don't get bite they, argueably, have the strongest bite to body mass ratio of any animal. don't hold it! i've been looking for one forever but i guess it just wasn't ment to be.

 

[Richard_uk]

cacoseraph:
Is attacking the substrate or is it just doing a bit of landscaping? Mine seems to dig both with its legs, pulling soil backwards and with its jaws, pushing the soil forwards.
I keep mine on a dry peat/sand mix. It came from Egypt so I figure this might be the best substrate to use. It does "seem" happy.
Mine is extremeley active and is sensitive to vibration. If I even move he comes running out from under his hide. I'm not surprised they have a short life, they are so active they must run out of energy!
You say you want to hold one? What are you ... crazy!!! Have you seen these guys snag a cricket and rip it in half?

I noticed a few interesting things wich no one has ever commented on before.

My solifuge has got pectines like a scorpion, but instead of being seperate organs, the pectinal teeth seem to stick out of the back pair of legs.

My solifuge flouresces under blacklight, similar to a scorpion. Though only the head and legs glow, not the main segment of the body.

 

[cacoseraph]

not crazy, just special

cacoseraph:
Is attacking the substrate or is it just doing a bit of landscaping? Mine seems to dig both with its legs, pulling soil backwards and with its jaws, pushing the soil forwards.
I keep mine on a dry peat/sand mix. It came from Egypt so I figure this might be the best substrate to use. It does "seem" happy.
Mine is extremeley active and is sensitive to vibration. If I even move he comes running out from under his hide. I'm not surprised they have a short life, they are so active they must run out of energy!
You say you want to hold one? What are you ... crazy!!! Have you seen these guys snag a cricket and rip it in half?

I noticed a few interesting things wich no one has ever commented on before.

My solifuge has got pectines like a scorpion, but instead of being seperate organs, the pectinal teeth seem to stick out of the back pair of legs.

My solifuge flouresces under blacklight, similar to a scorpion. Though only the head and legs glow, not the main segment of the body.

i've seen it bulldoze but i've also seen it become extremely aggitated and bite the substrate. the biggest difference between the two activities is that when it's bulldozing it mostly keeps its body parallel to the ground, but when it's "attacking" it's body whips all over the place and spends at least as much time vertical as horizontal

i noticed the weird attachments to the back legs, but i couldn't see what they were... i thought i was just imagining them

and that's awesome about blacklighting!

you might want to try giving it the opportunity to burrow. i'm keeping mine on hard packed reconstituted coconut fiber and one has made a multi-exit burrow, one has made a double exit sort of short burrow and the other one isn't doing anything.
(p.s. they don't really seem to spend much time in the burrows, so it might have been more in line with excavating for food, rather than actually making a living area)

i also got a feather leg but the dang petstore guy concentrated fire misted it right as i bought it and the poor little thing hasn't seemed to recover from it

i'm tempted to get more, even though i know they are dang near disposable bugs... i don't even want to say how much i bought them for as it was so low someone might break their teeth gnashing them =P

 

[pronty]

Nice bug

I saw black solifugids for sale at b.t.b.e. (Germany) and I would like to order one or two but they are kind of expensive considering that they don't live very long.

 

[Anthony]

Now that is the kind of bug you must respect.

 

[Black Hawk]

the petines are arranged cool one the back like an upside-down "v" like ^ . while i was lookin around at them, this was kinda cool. i shows those of us who don't have one how they feed http://www.insectia.com/beta/e/vq_c210111.html

 

[cacoseraph]

has anybody noticed their soli "panting"?

i doubt they are actually panting as they probably have passive breathing (although they are so active... maybe not)

but i've noticed when mine is eating and sometimes during active perions (23.5 hours of the day...) it's cephlathorax and abdomen seem to rhythmically pulse, both of them expanding then contracting

for eating i could believe it had something to do with suction getting chewed food inside them

 

[Alex S.]

My solifuge has got pectines like a scorpion, but instead of being seperate organs, the pectinal teeth seem to stick out of the back pair of legs.

These organs on the last pair of legs are not pectines, they are called malleoli or "racquet organs". Their function is not completely known. They may be used in a similar way to scorpions pectines, sensing the presence of chemical changes on the ground.

Alex S.

 

[Black Hawk]

that's interesting, i didn't know that Alex, see what i'm missing? haha that is really cool though :clap:

 

[stevo]

my black solifugid is the only one that pants when it moves about, the reason for this is i think is because the abdomen is long and not supported well by its stumpy legs therefore its abdomen moves like a caterpillar so its not dragging it about!!! :?
i only find this in the rhagodidae species out of mine! though my other solifugids do not do this, they manage to carry there abdomen well and dont drag it like the bulldozer black!!

 

[Runaway987]

does anyone know where I could get one in the UK? How much are they? Does the lifespan vary betwen species much?
many thanks

Runaway987

 

[Alex S.]

Smaller species, such as those within the family Ammotrechidae or Eremobatidae, tend to have shorter life spans while larger species, such as Galeodidae or Solpugidae, have longer life spans.

Alex S.