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paws & plush & eyelashes

it’s Cassie!

(Aphonopelma chalcodes)

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Random fact: Although jumping spiders can't move their eyes, they can move their retinas to change their field of view. It's as if they're looking through a window.

If the spider is clear enough, you can even see the retinas moving through the cephalothorax:

Image sources: Melvyn Yeo, M.F. Land, and wmaddisn

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(Euophrys leipoldti, via iNaturalist)

Eyes rimmed with subtle red flair and legs striped top to toe, this South African jumper is ready for a night on the town – or at least, a night on the terrain!

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Ophelia says hello!

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Wide-jawed Viciria Spider, Viciria praemandibularis

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Three Jumpers from my archives.

Phidippus Putnami, adult male

Phidippus Mystaceus, adult female

Phidippus Otiosus/Regius, adult male

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(Epeus sumatranus, via Wong Tsu Shi)

This gossamer-silver jumper was tentatively identified as E. sumatranus by the photographer. Unusually, the area around her posterior eyes seems to lack the characteristic reddish tinge.

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hello again! still greatly enjoying the critter posts. did some research (read: i googled 2 things) and learned that unlike Scorpions, amblypygi don't fluoresce! that lead me to a couple questions for you (hope that's okay!!) first, i keep getting tripped up on the name. do you know why they're called tailless whip scorpions when they appear to be very different from Scorpion scorpions? and secondly, does graciela fluoresce? if so, do you have any photos? if not, do you have any little guys who do? thank you so much for sharing with us! and sorry for asking so many questions ^^;

in short, Amblypygi are called “tailless whip scorpions” because English is a boring, confusing language and nobody bothered to give them a better name.

I got this phylotree from Wikipedia.

presumably, the name “whip scorpion” came first for thelyphonidans/uropygi, also known as vinegaroons. they have a fairly scorpion-like build: a long body with crushing pedipalp claws (although not pincers like scorpions have). they also have a long whiplike flagellum, which probably earned them their name since their antenniform legs aren’t nearly as whiplike.

(Mastigoproctus tohono, a thelyphonid)

vinegaroons are more closely related to Amblypygi than other arachnids, but amblys look quite different beyond lacking a tail. regardless, “tailless whip scorpion” pretty much means “tailless vinegaroon.”

(Damon medius, an amblypygid)

“tailless whip scorpion” is nonsensical if you consider the flagellum of the vinegaroon to be its “whip,” since then you’d be calling an amblypygid a “whipless whip scorpion.” I’ve also heard amblys called “whipspider,” which is a little better than “tailless whip.”

anyway, the moral of the story is: English is a horrible language to do taxonomy in. Spanish, on the other hand, has many wonderful common names for them:

“guabá” and “canclo” are nice single word names but I like “limpia casas” meaning “housecleaner” since they probably help eat a lot of roaches and pests when they live near houses :)

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Horned arkys spider, Arkys cornutus, Arkyidae

Found on the eastern coast of Australia

Photos by deeqld

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In memory of my sweet jumping spider, Petyr, who passed away yesterday. Although he was tiny he changed my life. My time with him went by too fast. I'm going to miss him terribly. I hope he knew I loved him. My heart needs time to heal. 💔

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Male jumping spider, Hypaeus benignus?, Salticidae

Photographed in Belize by Thomas Shahan

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Tarantula feet, Selenocosmia sp. and Phormingochilus sp.

Photos by Nicky Bay // Website // Facebook

Shared with permission; do not remove credit or re-post!

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Pirate Spider, Mimetidae by Andreas Kay Via Flickr: from Ecuador: www.youtube.com/AndreasKay

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3 hours after molting Francisco has engaged Blue Juicy Mode

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tliltocatl verdezi aka the mexican rose grey tarantula.