I am not usually one to disturb wildlife but I am doing my bit to dispel the myth that these little critters are harmful. They are very docile, as you can see, and completely harmless. I was totally fascinated by this critter and was asking so many questions that I think my guide put it on my face to shut me up! 🙂
It IS an arachnid but NOT a spider. Arachnids have 8 legs and include various orders: spiders, tickes & scorpions being the most well known. This is a “tailless whip scorpion”, although it is actually also NOT a scorpion. It belongs to a different order known as amblypygids. It is very special because it only has 6 walking legs. The other two are very long and act as feelers, which is quite necessary, as unlike many spiders, they do not have good eyesight and are nocturnal.
They also do not have any venom and kill their prey by grabbing them with their pedipalps and then chewing them up with their strong mouthparts. I guess it is these vicious looking pedipalps, (which are used for grabbing, not biting), that have given them a bad rap. One of the Harry Potter movies didn’t help this critter’s cause either! (Now you know where you have seen it before).
So for my friends and family who like to buy me spiders made from a wide variety of materials, I have moved on. My spider collection is going to have to make way for amblypygids (although they might be more difficult to find).