Thursday, April 16, 2009

Giant tailless whip scorpion

Could not find any baling wire in the house yesterday so that kind of stopped the work on Serenity last night. 

Art
Goal for the week 14.5 hrs
Today
attach the arms to Serenity
finish painting Serenity's hands to match the rest of the body
Other touch ups
work on sphinx

Animal
The giant tailless whip scorpion (Damon diadema) is a very unusual arachnid from Africa. They are not true scorpions but are in a distinct arachnid order. Their first set of legs have become modified sensory organs that function like antenna. They do not have venom glands but they do have pair of pedipalps with pincers that they use to break up their prey. As a defensive behavior they can break off bits of their legs when grasped, they later regenerate the legs. While there is not a lot of good data about their lifespan they have been observed to live at least ten years in captivity and mature adults continue growing throughout their lives reaching lengths of up to 8 inches. Very unusual for arachnids they show kin recognition in behavioral studies. Young will remain close to their mothers and interact with them. Related young will also stay together in a group in unfamiliar surroundings.

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