Redirected from Uropygi
A uropygid, commonly known as a "whip scorpion", "vinegarone", or "vinegaroon", is an invertebrate animal belonging to the order Uropygi in the class Arachnida, in the subphylum Chelicerata of the phylum Arthropoda.
Whip scorpions range from 25 to 70mm in length; the largest species, Magistoproctus, can reach 85mm.
Like the related orders Schizomida, Amblypigi, and Solpugida[?], the uropygids use only six legs for walking, having modified their first two legs to serve as antennae-like sensory organs. Many species also have very large scorpion-like pedipalps (pincers). They have one pair of eyes at the front of the cephalothorax[?] and three on each side of the head. Whip scorpions have no poison glands, but they do have glands near the rear of their abdomen that can spray a combination of formic and acetic acid when they are bothered. The acetic acid gives this spray a vinegar-like smell, giving rise to the common name "vinegarone".
Eggs are laid in a burrow, within a mucous membrane that preserves moisture. Mothers stay with the eggs and do not eat. The white young that hatch from the eggs climb onto their mother's back and attach themselves there with special suckers. After the first molt they look like miniature whip scorpions, and leave the burrow; the mother dies soon after. The young grow slowly, going through three molts in about three years before reaching adulthood.
Families of uropygids include:
As of 2000, over 100 species of uropygids have been described worldwide.
wikipedia.org dumped 2003-03-17 with terodump