Solifugae Reference- Family: Genera

[Alex S.]

Bellow I have posted a reference list to the families and genera of the Solifugae (solfugids, sunspiders, windscorpions). Arachnopets is a good place to show the sheer variety of these awesome arachnids.

Note: List may not always be current do to taxonomic changes.

Solifugae- Family: Genera

Melanoblossidae:
Daesiella
Dinorhax
Lawrencega
Melanoblossia
Microblossia
Unguiblossia

Eremobatidae:
Arenotherus
Chanbria
Eremacantha
Eremobates
Eremochelis
Eremorhax
Eremospina
Eremothera
Hemerotrecha
Horribates

Karschiidae:
Barrella
Barrus
Barrussus
Eusimonia
Karschia
Rhinippus

Rhagodidae:
Rhagodax
Rhagodeca
Rhagodelbus
Rhagodella
Rhagoderma
Rhagoderus
Rhagodes
Rhagodessa
Rhagodeya
Rhagodia
Rhagodiija
Rhagodima
Rhagodinus
Rhagodippa
Rhagodira
Rhagoditta
Rhagodista
Rhagodixa
Rhagodoca
Rhagodolus
Rhagodomma
Rhagodopa
Rhagodopsus
Rhagodorimus
Rhagodorta
Rhagodula
Rhagoduna

Hexisopodidae:
Chelypus
Hexisopus
Mossadamessa
Siloanea

Gylippidae:
Acanthogylippus
Anoplogylippus
Bdellophaga
Gylippus
Hemigylippus
Lipophaga
Paragylippus
Trichotoma

Solpugidae:
Enea
Ferrandia
Metasolpuga
Oparba
Oparbella
Oparbona
Prosolpuga
Solpuga
Solpugassa
Solpugeira
Solpugella
Solpugema
Solpugiba
Solpugista
Solpugisticella
Solpuguna
Solpugyla
Zeria
Zeriassa

Mummuciidae: (was sub-family of Ammotrechidae):
Mummucia
Mummucina
Mummuciona
Mummucipes
Procleobis

Ammotrechidae:
Ammotrecha
Ammotrechelis
Ammotrechella
Ammotrechesta
Ammotrechinus
Ammotrechona
Ammotrechula
Branchia
Campostrecha
Chileotrecha
Chinchippus
Cordobulgida
Dasycleobis
Eutrecha
Gaucha
Gauchella
Happlodontus
Innesa
Metacleobis
Mortola
Neocleobis
Nothopuga
Oltacola
Pseudocleobis
Saronomus
Sedna
Tetracleobis
Uspallata
Xenotrecha
Saronominae

Galeodidae:
Paragaleodis
Galeodarus
Galeodellus
Galeodenna
Galeodes
Galeodessus
Galeodibus
Galeodila
Galeodopsis
Galeodora
Galeodumus
Othoes
Paragaleodiscus
Roeweriscus

Ceromidae:
Ceroma
Ceromella
Toreus

Daesiidae:
Amacata
Biton
Bitonissus
Bitonota
Bitonupa
Blossia
Blossiana
Daesiella
Daesiola
Eberlanzia
Gluvia
Gluviella
Gluviema
Gluviola
Gluviopsida
Gluviopsilla
Gluviopsis
Gluviopsona
Gnosippus
Haarlovina
Hemiblossia
Hemiblossiola
Hodeidania
Namibesia
Syndaesia
Tarablossia
Tarabulida
Triditarsula
Triditarsus

[johns]

I was tempted to buy a Galeodes arabes from Todd, they are awesome, Alex!:D I went and saw the female of the species at about 4.5 inches.. and I thought it was a must have.


It was using its chelicerae to slice and dice a cricket..
Ultra-cool, yeh?

Unfortunately, I only had a limited amount of money, and I settled on a 1/4 inch Brachyphelma smithi, after obsessing over nearly everything in his store...:rolleyes:

[BileDrunk]

Whoa Alex! You are definitely doing your homework! Much credit for your hard work bro! ;)

Atrax

[Alex S.]

Hey John, yeah, Galeodes arabs is an awesome species! Incredible feeding behavior.

Thanks, Gary!

Alex S.

[genious_gr]

WOW! And I though there were only a few of them!!!!
GREAT WORK BTW!

[blackacidevil]

With that many Genera, I'm surprised they are not more common, in my wild at least and in the Hobby. I guess they are just a bit too hard to culture.

[Alex S.]

Originally posted by genious_gr
WOW! And I though there were only a few of them!!!!
GREAT WORK BTW!

Thanks! There are approximately 1000 species of Solifugae worldwide.

Alex S.

[Alex S.]

Originally posted by blackacidevil
With that many Genera, I'm surprised they are not more common, in my wild at least and in the Hobby. I guess they are just a bit too hard to culture.


Yes, solifugids can be hard to culture. They are rarely bred in captivity and overall do not adapt to captive conditions very well. They are also very short lived arachnids with the longest lived species (Galeodes, Solpuga, Rhagodes) usually living no longer than a year.

Alex S.

[metallica]

good appetite

[Nikos]

Metallica, what is this "net-like" thing in the left side of the photo?

[metallica]

it's a fake cactus

[BaltimoreBoy]

WATCH IT cacti could impale your bug... What kidn of insect is that by the way:?

[the new guy]

while i was deployed to the middle east, a bunch of us were playing cards and one of these bugs started chasing us. it was really really fast. we had to run to get away from it. if we would have walked, it would have caught up to us very easily. it must have chased us around for about 5 minutes. we later caught it and put it in a box with a bunch of other insects. that thing destroyed every living thing in there. after the death box had lost its fun some guys decided it would be best to freeze it in liquid oxygen. they then used a 2 part epoxy to preserve it in time. i believe the common name for these insects is the camel spider. if you ever see one, be ready to run.

[BaltimoreBoy]

where can i get one of those?

[MR.SMITH]

Originally posted by BaltimoreBoy
What kidn of insect is that by the way:?

It is actually an Arachnid, not an insect.

[BaltimoreBoy]

i love when i ask a question and people can CORRECT the question i asked but they cant ANSWER my question!! what kind of arachnid is it? aand where can i get one

[dennis]

Originally posted by BaltimoreBoy
i love when i ask a question and people can CORRECT the question i asked but they cant ANSWER my question!! what kind of arachnid is it? aand where can i get one

Dude, simply read where the friggin post is about!!! And people won't answer your question because maybe they don't know the answer. Geez, take it easy!

[MrDeranged]

Originally posted by BaltimoreBoy
i love when i ask a question and people can CORRECT the question i asked but they cant ANSWER my question!! what kind of arachnid is it? aand where can i get one

Did you try reading the post? What do you mean "What kind of arachnid is it?" As the title of the thread says it's a member of Solifugae. As to where you could get one, you might want to check out the many online dealers of arachnids...

Scott

[MR.SMITH]

Originally posted by BaltimoreBoy
i love when i ask a question and people can CORRECT the question i asked but they cant ANSWER my question!! what kind of arachnid is it? aand where can i get one

The fact is, I didn't feel like answering your question. ;P

I will answer part of it now,
Art Cerda has solifugids, look at his ad in the classifieds.

[BaltimoreBoy]

dont even bother answering it smitch :D

[MrFeexit]

Originally posted by BaltimoreBoy
where can i get one of those?

Iraq or Afghanistan for sure

[BaltimoreBoy]

i dont want anything that comes from those countries... cept bin laden ;)

[Silver.x]

Then again you just said you wanted it right before that remark about Bin Laden. Either someone doesn't have a concrete story or someone is purposely ignorant.

[barefootpeddler]

Hey~ I have a question about camel spiders. Well, maybe anyway.

I had the opportunity to ask a couple relocating back to the US after living in Kenya for eight years how the spiders are in Kenya.
I was curious. They talked of a camel spider. The references I found at the International Arachnology Society website say this is especially fast and not venomous, but will seem to chase you. What it is actually doing is trying to stay in the shadows you cast.

Anyway, the people from Kenya called it a camel spider, yet described a camel spider with significant venom that would cause a reaction- a severe reaction would lead to stomach paralysis(?) they said.

Clearly I am confused. Can you tell me anything about camel spiders?

Thanks for any help.

[Alex S.]

Out of the approximately 1000 species of solifugid only one species, Rhagodes nigracinctus of India, posses venom glands. It is known to cause paralysis in small mammals and reptiles.

Alex S.

[JonDaAzn]

i know hatari has a couple, they exist in the southwestern us too

[Elytra and Antenna]

I picked four up from Hatari years ago and the females only lived four months (males lived a week) and laid a few hundred eggs each but none of the eggs ever hatched. All I ended up with were a few OK pics (here is one with eggs still in the abdomen). I had heard there was a good book with actual info. on rearing them but have never seen it or any reference and it may just be a rumor. If anyone is selling the book or has it for sale please pass along the info. or send me a bill. http://www.angelfire.com/oh3/elytraandantenna/USInsects/arthropods/images/SolpugidEggs.jpg

[risingconvictio]

Solifugids don't chase, except in perception of course... and although will bite readily, are not dangerous. They are native to my apartment, it seems, and we find them several times a month... and are turned into a quick meal for my desert hairy scorp.

We haven't had much success keeping them in captivity. We did manage to keep one for a few weeks, but it just stopped eating one day and then quickly died. We aren't going to continue with such experiments.

[sschind]

Take this wityh a grain of salt but I am going to relay a few observations that few of my customers mad about the camel spiders in Iraq. They were stationed there at various times.

3 different customers reported them as achieving lengths of close to 12". Most "experts" claim no more than 5 or 6

one guy said they would chase you down for the shade your shadow provides and that they could outrun you.

this guy also said that when he came home he found an eggsack in his duffle bag and it hatched into 20 babies and he claimed he sold them on ebay for 250.00 each. I did a search for closed items and found no references but it may have been past the period where closed items are no longer accesible.

Like I said, I don't know how much truth there is to any of these comments but I am passing it along.

Steve Schindler

[Alex S.]

Take this wityh a grain of salt but I am going to relay a few observations that few of my customers mad about the camel spiders in Iraq. They were stationed there at various times.

3 different customers reported them as achieving lengths of close to 12". Most "experts" claim no more than 5 or 6

one guy said they would chase you down for the shade your shadow provides and that they could outrun you.

this guy also said that when he came home he found an eggsack in his duffle bag and it hatched into 20 babies and he claimed he sold them on ebay for 250.00 each. I did a search for closed items and found no references but it may have been past the period where closed items are no longer accesible.

Like I said, I don't know how much truth there is to any of these comments but I am passing it along.

Steve Schindler

There is very little truth to most of those comments. Various species of the genus Galeodes (Family Galeodidae) compete for the largest solifugid species known. A very large, female specimen may reach 3 inches in body length and 6 to 7 inches in legspan. These stories of 12-inch solifuges are extreme exaggerations. The theory of solifuges chasing people for their shadow does have some truth, as there have been several accounts of this situation. I have never seen this behavior first-hand as I only collect Solifugae at night. Solifugid eggs need precise conditions for proper development, something a duffle bag definitely could not provide.

Alex S.

[DR zuum]

Two soldiers i know here,told me the same on the shadow aspect and 12" size could it be possible its a unknown variety?Maybe a species not known of driven from its habitat because of the war ?But all sources say its fake none hit 12". I did a search and found nothing indicating they get to this size,the range i found was from 1 inch to 6 inches as max*.

But after searching i wouldnt mind getting some of the Rhagodidae species.I've seen these around in the desert and never really had a interest in them,but after reading and researching a bit on them,they are very interesting creatures. This site was pretty informitive,a work in progress but still a lot of photos,species info,distribution,taxonomic overviews,keys to the families and subfamilies etc. http://www.solpugid.com/index.htm

*Rod Crawford(arachnologist),Burke Museum
Warren Savary(arachnologist)Mark W. Moffett(writer and photographer)National Geographic these 2 found a new species. Excerpt below

((In an article in the July issue of National Geographic magazine, writer and photographer Mark W. Moffett tracks "wind scorpions" in the Middle East and closer to home. While in Baja California, Mexico, Moffett and arachnologist Warren Savary spotted a new species in a research station's collection.

"Just as we were about to leave … I spotted one jar that had something I thought I hadn't seen before," said Savary, a research associate at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. "I pulled it out and said, 'Oh my God!'"

The new species has a horn on the top of its mouthparts, something that no other species in North America has. "It was pretty easy to see that it was new," Savary said. The arachnologist plans to name the species after Actaeon, a mythical Greek hunter who was transformed into a stag. ))

[Alex S.]

Hi Dr zuum,

Undoubtedly, the soldiers did see very large solifuges, but people tend to greatly exaggerate when they see such an “unusual” animal for the first time, especially for someone that has never encountered one of the smaller species of Solifugae. For someone who has never seen a solifugid and then suddenly sees a female Galeodes with a 6-inch leg-span, the memory of the arachnid’s size may be very exaggerated. Although, when dealing with any branch of science, you should never say something is impossible. Yes, it is possible there could be an un-described solifugid species with a 12-inch leg-span, and as awesome as that would be; I still say it is very unlikely.

The Solifugae are definitely interesting creatures. Personally, they are my favorite arachnids. Although short-lived, a single specimen can be very interesting to observe in captivity. They are voracious predators. Rhagodidae is an incredible family that contains very unique species, especially in the area of morphology.

I believe Warren Savary is one of the leading authorities on the order. The website is awesome. It’s a great reference. What is more awesome, though, is that he has discovered a new, and very unique, solifugid species!

Alex S.

[skreem61]

I agree with Alex S. People had never seen a Chicken Spider up until just recently, and no one believed that a spider that large would live communally. There are so many undiscovered species of spiders and scorpions, who knows maybe there is an unclassified species of Solfigae that could possibly even exceed the ones seen in Iraq.

Also has anyone thought about the fact that these creatures can run extremely fast and great distances, being a factor to why they don't do well in captivity. Maybe they need a lot of space to run? If you caged up a cheetah in a five foot cage, how long do you think it would survive?

[C_Strike]

i would LOVE to have a solifugid, they look awesome, i can't imagine them having much fear either, hehe.
I just wouldn't until more research was done into the care, and upbringing of them. I don't wanna get any purely because its only gonna die unnaturally from what iv heard/read.
Maybe in the future!

[Ganoderma]

Does anyone know of any dichotomous keys for Uropygi? I am trying to learn teh different species and am having a real hard tiem finding ID info on them!

here is a link i found that is of relatives but not the ones i am interested in.
http://www.publish.csiro.au/samples/SmallerArachnidOrdersSample.pdf

My main interest is of the family Thelyphonidae. here is a nother link with soem species, not sure how credible it is though?
http://insects.tamu.edu/research/collection/hallan/Uropygi1.txt
that links contact person: http://insects.tamu.edu/research/collection/hallan/acari/Thelyphonidae.htm

any help would be excellent!

[Grampus]

For more info on solpugids this is a great website-

http://www.solpugid.com/Introduction.htm

It's where Alex got his info, and it has tons of other stuff too. The site is not completely finished, but it seems that it is being worked on and steadily updated. Enjoy!

[LeilaNami]

Here are a couple nice taxonomy sites for Solifugae

Taxonomy key 1 (http://insects.tamu.edu/research/collection/hallan/Acari/Family/Solifugae1.htm)
Taxonomy key 2 (http://www.solpugid.com/taxonomy.htm)

[claymore]

I recently bought one but i don't know the the exact species.

Heres a pic...
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii37/claytonparish/P9210171.jpg
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii37/claytonparish/P9210170.jpg
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii37/claytonparish/P9210216.jpg

Any help would be appreciated!

I also can't find anything on the net about freqnecy of feeding and molting info either....

Thanks
Clay

[Tarantula_Hawk]

It's certainly from the family Galeodidae, and i would say its Galeodes granti (since its the main specimen bought and available in the pet market and it has typically black banded pedipalps, and all around it looks pretty much like it). Its just a general guess though.
Dont overfeed it. The more he eats, the less he lives (due to its high metabolic rate). I'd say once or twice a week.
Molting varies from species to species so i dont really now the frequency. Fact is solifuges are pretty hard to keep in captivity as in most cases they die soon, so information lacks. Maybe someone here who has kept this species long enough can tell you the average frequency of its molting.
There's lots of discussion regarding how to best keep solifuges. I'd advise you to go and read the other solifuge sticky ("solifuges actually live longer than we think). You'll find some info and feedback there from various people.

Hope this helped ;)

[Aracnobreed]

Thanks for the link :D