Phrynus longipes
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''Phrynus longipes'' is a species of amblypygid (also referred to as whipspiders or tailless whipscorpions) native to the
Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
region. They are protective of their territory, using their pedipalps to deter predators or unwanted visitors. Being nocturnal
predator Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common List of feeding behaviours, feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation ...
s, they take shelter during the day and hunt primarily at night. ''Phrynus longipes'' feeds on primarily arthropods, but has been observed to prey upon small vertebrates.


Description

The body of ''Phrynus longipes'' rarely exceeds three quarters of an inch. The front legs have been recorded at sizes of almost ten inches long. They have two sets of four legs – like almost all
arachnid Arachnids are arthropods in the Class (biology), class Arachnida () of the subphylum Chelicerata. Arachnida includes, among others, spiders, scorpions, ticks, mites, pseudoscorpions, opiliones, harvestmen, Solifugae, camel spiders, Amblypygi, wh ...
s. However, only the last six legs are used for walking while the first two are employed as sensors. ''Phrynus longipes,'' like all amblypygids, produce no
venom Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...
or
silk Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is most commonly produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), c ...
. ''Phrynus longipes,'' similar to many other amblypygid species, exhibits
sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where sexes of the same species exhibit different Morphology (biology), morphological characteristics, including characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most dioecy, di ...
, using sexually dimorphic pedipalps for territorial display and combat.


Distribution and habitat


Distribution

''Phrynus longipes'' occurs in a number of localities throughout the Caribbean, with the male
holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...
being from
Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...
. They have a preference for warm and wet climates. ''Phrynus longipes'' are typically found in the forests of
Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...
and the northernmost point of
South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
.


Habitat

''Phrynus longipes'' is found in wet subtropical forest. Different homes (such as
cave Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...
s,
tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...
s, and
shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...
s) provide different evolutionary advantages and disadvantages. Despite their ability and willingness to live in a wide variety of homes, ''Phrynus longipes'' has been shown to prefer to live near or in massive tree stumps. It is believed this is the case as most of the prey for this specific species also tends to gather around large tree stumps.


Diet

''Phrynus longipes'' are primarily
nocturnal Nocturnality is a ethology, behavior in some non-human animals characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnality, diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatur ...
, and are considered ambush predators. They feed mostly on small
insects Insects (from Latin ') are hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of jointed ...
and other arthropods as their primary source of food, but occasionally prey upon small vertebrates such as
lizards Lizard is the common name used for all squamate reptiles other than snakes (and to a lesser extent amphisbaenians), encompassing over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The ...
and
frogs A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough skin texture due to ...
. Cave populations primarily prey on cockroaches. One ''Phrynus longipes'' was recorded feeding on a
hummingbird Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the Family (biology), biological family Trochilidae. With approximately 366 species and 113 genus, genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but most species are found in Cen ...
in the British Virgin Islands. This specific example was the first recorded instance of a bird being preyed upon by an amblypygid.


Mating and reproduction

The length of a sexual interaction between ''Phrynus longipes'' varies - it can be as short as one hour but as long as eight hours. They mate via indirect sperm transfer utilizing a scelrotizied
spermatophore A spermatophore, from Ancient Greek σπέρμα (''spérma''), meaning "seed", and -φόρος (''-phóros''), meaning "bearing", or sperm ampulla is a capsule or mass containing spermatozoa created by males of various animal species, especiall ...
. Pre-mating behavior is highly conserved and oftentimes performed by the male as he tries to court the female. These behaviors include jerking motions and
pedipalp Pedipalps (commonly shortened to palps or palpi) are the secondary pair of forward appendages among Chelicerata, chelicerates – a group of arthropods including spiders, scorpions, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. The pedipalps are lateral to ...
movements. Following these interactions, the spermatophore will be deposited into the female - ultimately resulting in fertilization and the development of an egg sac.
Polygyny Polygyny () is a form of polygamy entailing the marriage of a man to several women. The term polygyny is from Neoclassical Greek πολυγυνία (); . Incidence Polygyny is more widespread in Africa than in any other continent. Some scholar ...
is the most common mating pattern amongst ''Phrynus longipes'' as the males are free to mate with many females. The females, due to their caring for the egg sac, are prohibited from mating freely with multiple males. In the cases where polygyny does not occur, ''Phrynus longipes'' has been observed to take part in mate-multiply behavior. This means that one male will mate multiple times with the same female in order to ensure full paternal-ship of every clutch. This type of
monogamous Monogamy ( ) is a relationship of two individuals in which they form a mutual and exclusive intimate partnership. Having only one partner at any one time, whether for life or serial monogamy, contrasts with various forms of non-monogamy (e.g. ...
mating better ensures that the male will have plentiful offspring of his own.


Social behavior

''Phrynus longipes'' have not been observed displaying
prosocial behavior Prosocial behavior is a social behavior that "benefit other people or society as a whole", "such as helping, sharing, donating, co-operating, and volunteering". The person may or may not intend to benefit others; the behavior's prosocial benef ...
s. Rather, the majority of their social behavior comes in the form of agonistic interactions over territory. They have been shown to choose around half of a square meter of land and protect it. Aside from this behavior, they exhibit minimal protective behavior and social interaction. ''Phrynus longipes'' exhibits defense mechanisms for their territory. These behaviors are often highly conserved and can often follow unique patterns of repeated behaviors. Further, competition among ''Phrynus longipes'' is a common occurrence. They often initiate disputes with a series of
pedipalp Pedipalps (commonly shortened to palps or palpi) are the secondary pair of forward appendages among Chelicerata, chelicerates – a group of arthropods including spiders, scorpions, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. The pedipalps are lateral to ...
movements. If the dispute is not resolved then physical violence ensues. Some fights end with the two opponents walking away unscathed, while others result in the loser being consumed by the winner.


Predators

Amblypygi including ''Phrynus'' species have been recorded as being preyed upon by reptiles and mammals, as well as other arachnids.Chapin, Kenneth J. (2016). ''Behavioral ecology of cave and epigean Phrynus longipes'' (PhD thesis). University of California Los Angeles.https://escholarship.org/content/qt01w109xj/qt01w109xj.pdf However, cave populations of ''Phrynus longipes'' tend to be the dominant predator in their ecosystem. In territorial conflicts, ''Phrynus longipes'' have been shown to kill and eat each other.


References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q10628861 Amblypygi Arachnids of North America Animals described in 1894 Cave arachnids