Solifugid question

[nessa]

I recently bought a camel spider, a "galeodes arabicus". Underneath its belly, small silver scales have formed.Also, as indicated by the picture, its black. But ours is started to get a little white around where the head and belly meet. Does anyone know why? Thanks in advance.

 

[cacoseraph]

i tink you are talking about mallet organs, or something like that. those should be the scales on the underside

 

[Widowman10]

yeah, i've seen the "mallet organs" many times on mine. do you know what they are used for?? i did research but all i came up with is: we don't know:wall: their only guess was mating?? but when i mated mine, i couldn't see how they were used or being generally helpful in any way... any thoughts cacoseraph?? and any pics nessa?? oh, and nice solpugid by the way:clap:

 

[Widowman10]

looks a little skinny though... maybe mine was just a fatty because it was an eating machine...

 

[Tarantula_Hawk]

i've read they are used as sensory organs for vibrations etc... i read if from Punzo's book i think..

 

[Widowman10]

i've read they are used as sensory organs for vibrations etc... i read if from Punzo's book i think..

well why wouldn't they just use the little hairs/spines covering their legs and cephalothorax to sense vibrations? like all the other spiders? i'm not saying you're wrong or anything, just trying to figure this out logically i'm kinda lost.
punzo's book? where do you find that? online? or in libraries? i think i would like to get it and read it...

 

[KUJordan]

Yes, the "mushroom" or "mallet" organs are specialized sensory organs that are unique to camel spiders. I think they are restricted to use only for vibrational location and not for chemosensory location as are the trichobothria on the rest of the body...

 

[nessa]

the reason why im asking is because the scales werent there before. also in between his body and head, its no longer black but getting a little white... could it possibly be molting or am i not taking proper care of it?

 

[Widowman10]

my guess, emphasis on the "my guess" part is, that if you say they weren't there before and it's turning a white-ish color, that it is approaching a molt. since the mallet organs are sensory organs, maybe it is now developing them. just my guess, i think that makes sense though... feel free to correct me anyone.

 

[Tarantula_Hawk]

well why wouldn't they just use the little hairs/spines covering their legs and cephalothorax to sense vibrations? like all the other spiders? i'm not saying you're wrong or anything, just trying to figure this out logically i'm kinda lost.
punzo's book? where do you find that? online? or in libraries? i think i would like to get it and read it...

well since camel spiders are not spiders and belong to a totally different family, they dont have only hairs for vibrations but they also have these organs.. punzo's book i bought it online