Uropygi Information

[Elytra and Antenna]

The is probably the only complete compendium of vinegaroon information ever assembled in any language: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1616462205 There are also over 250 photos including SEMs.

 

[MrCrackerpants]

The is probably the only complete compendium of vinegaroon information ever assembled in any language: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1616462205 There are also over 250 photos including SEMs.

Very nice job, Orin. I need to get a copy of this.

 

[Ganoderma]

Anyone noticed couples protecting each other or their home? Normally I see them run but recently I saw a pair that was defending their burrow to the death. Interesting the female was also defending the male and cover his body repeatedly. Anyonevwitnessed this amongst the family, or random occurrence? I've noted that the females are quite good mothersa s well.

This is typopeltis crucifer in Taiwan

Bad picture, will look for others on hard drive later
http://biotataiwan.org/images/Typopeltis-crucifer3.jpg

 

[Spleenslitta]

I'm looking for some quite specific info about Vinegaroon and Amblypygis and this seems to be the right place to ask.
I know about the most common info on both species but there are a few things i just cannot find.
I saw the PDF files in the original post but they are textwalls written in scientific terms that i can barelly translate since english is not my first language.

Question 1: Which type of chelicerae do vinegaroons have? Jacknife, scissors or those 3-segmented chelate chelicerae mentioned on wiki?
If you got any close up pics or videos of those chelicerae lying around that would be great. The amblypygis seem to have the jacknife type.

Question 2: Do any of the amblypygi or vinegaroon types have better vision or a unique ability that sets them apart from the rest of their familytree?

These questions might seem trivial but it's surprisingly important for me and you would save me from trawling the internet for days since there is so little information
on these creatures in comparison to spiders.
Thank you in advance.

 

[schmiggle]

Don't know about vinegaroon chelicerae, but I believe both groups have very poor vision, amounting to the ability to see changes in ambient light, if anything. I'm pretty sure there are no exceptions to that latter rule.

 

[Spleenslitta]

Thanks Schmiggle. I found some tiny tiny vinegaroons with some more abilities but sadly not what i was looking for.
The big question is the type chelicerae they have though. Been trawling youtube for days looking for a good close up pic but no luck so far.

 

[schmiggle]

I'm thinking jacknife. See this picture:

I know it isn't super clear, but I think it's clear enough to see that the chelicerae are certainly not the scissor variety and probably not the three-jointed variety.

Edit: definitely jacknife. See the following, in particular the section regarding chelicerae:
http://lanwebs.lander.edu/faculty/rsfox/invertebrates/thelyphonus.html

 

[schmiggle]

By the way, I don't really know what you mean by a "unique ability," but many phrynus species need prey toward their pedipalps using their antenniform legs.

 

[Spleenslitta]

Thank you Schmiggle. I finally got the answer i was looking for and the final touch on the maincharacter in my novel can finally be decided. Hopefully my novel can put a bit of food on my table someday in the future.
I was hopefull for scissor chelicerae but i doubt we can convince mother nature to change her mind with the arguement that the vinegaroon would look cooler with that tiny designchange.

Onwards to writte chapter 3.
By unique ability i was thinking about....for example how there are tiny vinegaroons that have a rear antenna that they use as a gigantic "ear" rather than a tasteorgan to feel for prey.
Or how the jumping spider is capable of jumping 50 times it's own bodylenght. Things that can be described as different than the rest of their species.

Thanks again Schmiggle.

 

[Gogyeng]

Very nice thread and excellent reference material. Still going strong after 11 years !

 

[Jeremy Huff]

Very nice thread and excellent reference material. Still going strong after 11 years !

Yeah but I can’t see any of the photos.

 

[msburgundy]

There was a book published in 2018, Amazing Arachnids by Jillian Cowles, that has some great information and photos.I bought it specifically for the vinegaroon section but it's a great book overall

She goes into a lot of detail about the mating and maternal behaviors especially, though I believe the focus is on M. tohono and M. giganteus specifically as the book is centered around arachnids in the American southwest

 

[FlamingSwampert]

I'm interested whether Mastigoproctus giganteus have valid subspecias.

Mastigoproctus giganteus giganteus (Lucas, 1835)
Mastigoproctus giganteus scabrosus (Pocock, 1902)
Mastigoproctus giganteus mexicanus (Butler, 1872)

Does anyone know if these are still valid? Now we have m. giganteus, m. tohono, and m. floridanus, but I've never seen any m. giganteus subspecies for sale.

 

[Elytra and Antenna]

If you get rid of the other subspecies the nominate is no longer a subspecies.