Flagellum spiders

Flagellum spiders
Phrynus mexicanus in Baja California
Systematics
without rank: Primordial mouths (protostomia) Over trunk : Molting animals (Ecdysozoa) Trunk : Arthropod (arthropoda) Sub-stem : Jawbearers (Chelicerata) Class : Arachnids (arachnida) Order : Flagellum spiders
Scientific name
Amblypygi
Thorell , 1883

The flagellum spiders (Amblypygi) are an order of the arachnids (Arachnida). More than 200 species of these animals are known worldwide, reaching a body size of 10 to 45 mm. Almost all flagellum spiders live in the tropics and subtropics, most of them in rainforests . There are two species in the Mediterranean, one of them also in Europe (Greece: Rhodes and Kos).

Due to their flat body, the flagellum spiders are able to hide under stones. They usually move slowly and feel their surroundings with their antennae, often moving sideways. They feel their prey ( crickets , moths and other small arthropods ) with the help of these legs and grab them with lightning speed with the pedipalps that have been converted into pincers .

features

Amblypygi have a flat body which, as in the spiders by a body stem ( petiole ) in a front body ( Prosoma ) and a rear body ( Opisthosoma is divided). Both body parts are clearly structured. The pedipalps are designed as catching devices that are vaguely reminiscent of those of the terrors . As with the flagellated scorpions , the legs of the first pair of legs serve as tactile organs and are very long ( up to 30 cm in the 39 mm long species Heterophrynus longicornis ); they retained a greater number of the original leg links. Only the following three pairs serve as walking legs. The flagellum spiders lack defense or poison glands.

Reproduction and development

The males of the flagellated spiders often fight harmless rivalry fights with their antennae to arouse the favor of the females. Then they turn away from the female and place a sperm packet ( spermatophore ) between them and their partner. After turning around again, they try to lure the female using the spermatophores so that it can ingest them.

Systematics

Altogether 2 suborders with 5 families and 18 genera are known in the order of the flagellated spiders, which comprise a total of more than 200 species.

• Subordination Euamblypygi
  • Family Charinidae
    • Charinus Simon , 1892
      • Charinus ioanniticus (Kritscher , 1959)
      • Charinus pakistanus Weygoldt , 2005
    • Sarax Simon , 1892
      • Sarax timorensis Miranda & Reboleira , 2019
    • Weygoldtia Miranda, Giupponi, Prendini & Scharff , 2018
  • Family Charontidae
    • Charon Karsch , 1879
    • Catageus Thorell , 1889
      • Catageus pusillus Thorell , 1889
    • Stygophrynus Kraepelin , 1895
  • Family Phrynichidae
    • Damon C.L. Koch , 1850
    • Euphrynichus Weygoldt , 1995
    • Musicodamon Fage , 1939
      • Musicodamon atlanteus Fage , 1939
    • Phrynichodamon Weygoldt , 1996
      • Phrynichodamon scullyi Weygoldt , 1996
    • Phrynichus Karsch , 1879
    • Trichodamon Mello-Leitão , 1935
    • Xerophrynus Weygoldt , 1996
      • Xerophrynus machadoi Weygoldt , 1996
  • Family Phrynidae
    • Acanthophrynus Kraepelin , 1899
      • Acanthophrynus coronatus Kraepelin , 1899
    • Heterophrynus Pocock , 1894
    • Paraphrynus Moreno , 1940
    • Phrynus Lamarck , 1801
• Subordination Paleoamblypygi
  • Family Paracharontidae
    • Paracharon ( Hansen , 1921)

Fossil evidence

Fossil evidence of this order is rare. The oldest fossil flagellum spiders were recovered from sediments of the Upper Carboniferous in England. Furthermore, individual finds from the Tertiary in Mexican amber ( Oligocene to Miocene ) and Dominican amber ( Eocene to Miocene) are known.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Harvey, MS, Whip spiders of the World , 2013; see. [1]
2. ↑ Gustavo Silva de Miranda & Ana Sofia PS Reboleira: Amblypygids of Timor-Leste: first records of the order from the country with the description of a remarkable new species of Sarax (Arachnida, Amblypygi, Charinidae). ZooKeys, 820, pp. 1–12, 2019 doi : 10.3897 / zookeys.820.30139 .
3. ↑ Gustavo Silva de Miranda, AP Giupponi, L. Prendini & N. Scharff: Weygoldtia, a new genus of Charinidae Quintero, 1986 (Arachnida, Amblypygi) with a reappraisal of the genera in the family. Zoologischer Anzeiger 273, pp. 23–32, 2018 doi : 10.1016 / j.jcz.2018.02.003 .
4. ↑ A. Petrunkevitch: Arachnida. In Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, Part P, Arthropoda 2. 1955.
5. ^ RA Crowson: Arthropoda: Chelicerata, Pygnogonida, Palaeoisopus, Myriapoda and Insecta. In The Fossil Record , Part II. London, 1967. Quoted in Poinar 1992
6. ↑ George O. Poinar, Jr .: Life in Amber . 350 pp., 147 figs., 10 plates, Stanford University Press, Stanford (Cal.) 1992. ISBN 0-8047-2001-0
7. ↑ Engel MS & Grimaldi DA (2014) Whipspiders (Arachnida: Amblypygi) in amber from the Early Eocene and mid-Cretaceous, including maternal care. - Novitates Paleoentomologicae 9: 1-17. [2]

Web links

Commons : Flagellated Spiders (Amblypygi)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Flagellant spiders in Europe and North Africa ( PDF )