Wednesday, February 1, 2023
SCIENMAG: Latest Science and Health News
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME PAGE
  • BIOLOGY
  • CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
  • MEDICINE
    • Cancer
    • Infectious Emerging Diseases
  • SPACE
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • CONTACT US
  • HOME PAGE
  • BIOLOGY
  • CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
  • MEDICINE
    • Cancer
    • Infectious Emerging Diseases
  • SPACE
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • CONTACT US
No Result
View All Result
Scienmag - Latest science news from science magazine
No Result
View All Result
Home SCIENCE NEWS Biology

Whip spiders only look terrifying, UCLA biologist reports

March 16, 2016
in Biology
0
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
IMAGE

Would you be willing to spend each night in the company of 300,000 bats — all in the service of science?

UCLA biologist Kenneth Chapin did just that, for several weeks in 2012 and 2014, while conducting research in darkened caves in Puerto Rico. In addition to bats, the habitats were home to snakes, cockroaches and spiders.

He was studying whip spiders, a poorly understood relative of spiders and scorpions. Unlike other spiders, whip spiders do not build webs, and they have very long claws.

"They look terrifying, but are actually delicate, timid and afraid of you," said Chapin, a UCLA doctoral candidate in ecology and evolutionary biology. "I was more excited than terrified."

A whip spider made a prominent appearance in the movie version of "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," when a Hogwarts professor tortures the animal with magic. (In the J.K. Rowling book that the movie on which the movie is based, the creature is described as a spider that doesn't actually exist in nature.)

Scientists know of more than 150 species of whip spiders, whose scientific name is Amblypygi.

Many of Chapin's findings, along with those of other scientists, were published March 14, 2016 (PDF) in the cover article of the Journal of Arachnology. The report synthesizes more than 50 studies of whip spiders.Among the findings:

  • Whip spiders care for their young. After they mate, the female lays eggs and protects them. When babies hatch, they crawl onto their mother's back; the mother carries them for a number of weeks, and in some species, may care for them for several months or more.
  • Fathers seem to have a limited, if any, role in the lives of their babies.
  • The spiders fight to protect their territory, and are aggressive with one another.
  • They eat crickets, cockroaches, grasshoppers, small lizards and hummingbirds. Some even eat members of their own species, often at the end of a fight between two adults.
  • Whip spiders are eaten by bats and large lizards.
  • They have a good sense of direction and can find their way back to their territory.
  • They live on all continents, especially in warmer climates, including in deserts, caves and tree trunks. In the U.S., they live in the Southwest and Florida.

Very little was known about whip spiders until 2000, said Chapin, who is interested in how they evolved to live in different environments.

###

His co-author is Eileen Hebets, a professor of biological sciences at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.

Media Contact

Stuart Wolpert
[email protected]
310-206-0511
@uclanewsroom

http://www.newsroom.ucla.edu

Share25Tweet16Share4ShareSendShare
  • Logo

    New study shows snacking on mixed tree nuts may impact cardiovascular risk factors and increase serotonin

    127 shares
    Share 51 Tweet 32
  • Null results research now published by major behavioral medicine journal

    546 shares
    Share 218 Tweet 137
  • Cambridge-led consortium receives $35m to boost crop production sustainably in sub-Saharan Africa

    65 shares
    Share 26 Tweet 16
  • Almost all of Africa’s maize crop is at risk from devastating fall armyworm pest, study reveals

    64 shares
    Share 26 Tweet 16
  • Study seeks to improve pediatric patient safety by addressing language barriers

    65 shares
    Share 26 Tweet 16
  • Connections between peripheral artery disease, negative social determinants of health like poverty may lead to earlier diagnosis, intervention in at-risk Blacks

    64 shares
    Share 26 Tweet 16
ADVERTISEMENT

About us

We bring you the latest science news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Latest NEWS

New study shows snacking on mixed tree nuts may impact cardiovascular risk factors and increase serotonin

Null results research now published by major behavioral medicine journal

Hydrogen peroxide from tea and coffee residue: New pathway to sustainability

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 205 other subscribers

© 2022 Scienmag- Science Magazine: Latest Science News.

No Result
View All Result
  • HOME PAGE
  • BIOLOGY
  • CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
  • MEDICINE
    • Cancer
    • Infectious Emerging Diseases
  • SPACE
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • CONTACT US

© 2022 Scienmag- Science Magazine: Latest Science News.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In