Kenneth Chapin, a biologist from UCLA spent several weeks lurking in darkened caves in Puerto Rico, in the company of 300,000 bats and other creepy-crawlies, in the name of scientific research. He was investigating the poorly understood whip spider, whose scientific name is Amblypygi.
Along with bats, snakes, scorpions and cockroaches, the whip spider looks like something out of a nightmare. Even worse, the nocturnal insect is actually related to both spiders and scorpions, generally sharing more characteristics in common with the latter — in fact, they are sometimes also called tailless whip scorpions — even though they are technically classified as arachnids.
Unlike other spiders, however, whip spiders do not build webs and they have pincer-like claws, called pedipalps, that resemble those of the preying mantis. Amblypygids use the claws to clasp onto their prey and drag it into their bodies, to be diced up into consumable pieces by their shearing mouthparts. They possess six long, thin legs — rather than the typical arachnid eight — and get their name from their peculiar whip-like motion.
The results of doctoral candidate in ecology and evolutionary biology Kenneth Chapin's research, published this week in Journal of Arachnology, indicates that while the species is terrifying-looking, it does not pose a threat to humans.
"They look terrifying, but are actually delicate, timid and afraid of you," Chapin said. "I was more excited than terrified."
Indeed, whip spiders have no way of causing stings, or in any way hurting a human being. Amblypygids do not produce venom, and their pedipalps, though formidable, are only used for capturing small prey — like crickets and grasshoppers — though sometimes they have been known to consume hummingbirds as well.
Whip spiders got their first real moment in the spotlight during the movie version of "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," in which Hogwarts professor Mad-Eye Moody tortures one with a curse until Hermione Granger begs him to stop.
Very little was known about whip spiders until 2000, Chapin explained. He also found that whip spiders take care for their young; after mating, the female lays eggs and protects them. When the eggs hatch, the mother carries them on her back for several weeks, and for some species, even for months.
Whip spiders also possess a strong sense of direction and can make their way back to their territory. They aggressively defend their turf from members of their own species, which can lead to fights in which the defeated is cannibalistically consumed by the conqueror.
There are 151 known species of Amblypygi distributed in tropical and subtropical climates worldwide. In the U.S., they can be found in the Southwest and Florida.
Earlier this year, eight new whip spider species were discovered by researchers in the Brazilian Amazon, which almost doubled the number of known whip spider species in the region.
