JORDAN CADIOT
Introduction
In march 2014 a friend (who i thank a lot!) gave me a young amblypygi, i didn't know these animals at all at this time, i've never seen any, never heard of it, but i already loved them when i saw the little one. Since that day i always had some, this individual -named Ana- has grown well and gave birth many time, other females of the same species too, and new ones lately.
I kept many species of invertebrates, reptiles and amphibians, i've bred most of them, but i have to admit the one i most proud of is the amblypygi, not only because it's an animal i really love, who is not very common in captivity (but we see more of them now!), but also because since i have some, i've been able to capture many different behavior such as molts (before, during and after the process); feeding; and obviously breeding (you can find all the images i took on this page, it's updated gradually).
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Now, my goal would be to breed other species and get as many interesting images (i think they are!) as i got with Damon diadema. An other thing that is as important -maybe more- is to go find these animals in their natural environment, obviously. Seeing them in the wild could really give keys for raising them properly in captivity, and learn their behavior, how they live and in what conditions.
I have to say i don't consider myself as a specialist, biologist, scientist or something else, i'm just a passionate with a real and strong interest for these animals (and many others). All the informations you'll read here are from my own observations, from books, and answer i had from people who knows them well, i think of Florian Reveillion for example (the link to his website http://www.shny.fr/amblypygi/fr/index.html).
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In 2016 someone asked me if i was interested to write an article illustrated with my pictures in a french reptile magazine "Situla", which i did of course! What a joy (and pride) to get in my hand such a magazinee with my own article illustrated by my own pictures, about an animal i care about a lot!
For the paper version you can find it on the Situla N°29, beside an article about the Zamenis longissimus (esculapian snake), Varanus exanthematicus, rattlesnakes of the west american deserts (by Mister Daniel Heuclin), and an article about the genus Echinotriton. For the web version, you won't have to look for it because it's right here!
It's not totally the same tho, since the article i wrote i took better images which are here but not in the magazine. I also added informations to develop some things, or to describe new observations.
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You can find all my images about amblypygids in the Gallery.
Amblypygids are strange and atypicals arachnids, terrifying for some but fascinating for others.
They are not very known from the people, but we can see more of them now in the "reptiles and invertebrates" world, one species mostly : Damon diadema. This species is easy to keep, community housing possible, and breeding them is easy also.
Despite the fact they are nocturnal, they are still interesting to observe, when they move, the way they catch preys, the molting process, and of course the breeding which is pretty much the same as scorpions.
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Systematics and characteristics
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Amblypygids (Thorell, 1883), also known as "whip spider" or "tailless whip scorpion", are an arthropods order who belong to the arachnida class. They are neither spiders nor scorpions, it's a different order called "Amblypygi".
This order is divided in two sub-order : Paleoamblypypgi and Euamblypygi.
Paleoamblypygids (Weygoldt, 1996) : Only one species : Paracharon caecus from the Paracharontidae (Hansen, 1921) family.
Euamblypygids (Weygoldt, 1996) : 4 families : Charinidae (Catageus sp. ; Charinus sp. Sarax sp.) ; Charontidae (Charon sp. ; Stygophrynus sp.); Phrynichidae (Damon sp. ; Euphrynicus sp. ; Musicodamon sp. ; Phrynicodamon sp. ; Phrynichus sp. ; Trichodamon sp. ; Xerophrynus sp.); Phrynidae (Acanthophrynus sp. ; Heterophrynus sp. ; Paraphrynus sp. ; Phrynus sp.)
Update January 2020 :
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I have published two PDF files on my website in november 2019, one is the "List of amblypygids and their location" (https://jordancadiot.wixsite.com/jordancadiot/amblypyges-par-pays?lang=en), and the other is "Amblypygids species by country" (https://jordancadiot.wixsite.com/jordancadiot/especes-d-amblypyges-par-pays?lang=en).
At first you could think that these two files are similar, but the interest to have a file grouping the amblypygids species by countries is useful when we try identify a wild specimen for example. Someone find an amblypygid in a precise country and would know the species, we only have to check the file, find the country and see which species are known there. Some countries countain numerous genus and species, so it will be complicated sometime to determine the exact species but the genus should be possible.
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Amblypygids have pedipalps (different shape and size from a species to an other) that we could compare to the front legs of praying mantis because they have the same utility and work the same way : they deploy it to catch a prey and keep it in while the cheliceras do their job.
Pedipalps are also their only weapon to defend themselves if escape is not enough, they oppening it and pinch, it's not dangerous for us, Human, and not very painful.
The first pair of legs is particular, they are called "antenniform legs", they are two or three time longer than the walking legs. These are sensitive organs with small hairs on it. When they "rest", the antenniform legs are creased above the body but when the amblypygi is moving, these two legs are fully open to feel the environment and preys.
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Geographical distribution, habitat and mores
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We can find amblypygids almost everywhere in the world : America (north, central and south), Africa, Asia, Oceania, Philippines, and in Europe too (Greece precisely).
They are called "cave spiders" but they do not live only in caves, they also live in forest, tropical forest and drier places for some of them. They hide under rocks, trees, and bark. Some species had been found in termitary and ant-hill.
The thinness of their body permit them to reach unaccessible corners for many other animals, a good thing for running away from their predators.
They are nocturnal and lucifugous, so they live in dark and humid places. They do not "build" their hide like tarentulas dig their burrows for example.
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In 2020 i had the occasion to see a lot of them in French Guiana, mainly in a cave in the middle of the forest, what a joy! Here are some pictures of the habitat and some individuals found there.
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There is not only amblypygids that lives into cave. Inside this one there was a nice bat colony, numerous kind of crickets also whom i presume are the main source of food for the amblypygids, then lizards, toads, cockroaches, opiliones, and we also found a tarantula exuviae.
Of course there is also amblypygids outside caves. They usually live in trees, under trunks, stones. You only have to walk at night in the jungle to see some with your headlight.
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You can find more images of them In situ in the page of the same name (https://jordancadiot.wixsite.com/jordancadiot/in-situ). I share here the observations made by people whom have documentation about these observations, which is images (photos and videos), location, hour, temperature etc... If you have interesting documentation i'd take, it is only used for my website so the data can be found in one place.
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Amblypygids in 7th art
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Arthropods have often been used in movies, amblypygids too.
Many people saw their first amblypygi on the big screen, and didn't even know it, but those who remember never miss the chance to say it! Indeed, we can see an amblypygi in the fourth movie of Harry Potter (Harry Potter and the goblet of fire) :
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Care in captivity
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I have owned and bred only Damon diadema for now, so i will talk about this species mostly as i have no experience with others.
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Update January 2020 :
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It has evolved well by now! I wrote this in 2016, here we are 4 years later, with new species, new observations, new images, and most of all a real passion for these animals that doesn't stop growing. I can't get bored of them!
It's always such a pleasure to observe them, manipulate them, breed them and to photograph them. I am writing this on january 5th, 2020, and in a month day by day i should probably, and finally, see my first ever wild amblypygids, in their natural biotop, which will be French Guiana. And beeing able to observe them and photograph them in the wild will only, i think, make my love for these aliens bigger!
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Update August 2021 :
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New species this time again, and what a species! I now own one of the most wanted species, the biggest in the world, colorful, and one of the only two species that are able to make sound by stridulating their cheliceras, its name is Acanthophrynus coronatus and it comes from Mexico. It's a wonderful species yet not that simple to breed and to keep in the long run. The main issue is about the molts. The more they grow the heavier they are, all the process is happening correctly but at the very end, when all the legs are out of the exuviae and they have to hang on a support, they simply can't do it because of their weight so they fall on the ground which is fatal because their legs are heavily harmed and they almost can't move, then die. I have been warned of this problem and i faced it with two of my specimens. I didn't think it would have happened that early (a little bit more than a year of growth) and i was very disappointed to only be able to notice the damages, nothing could have been done to save them. An other one manage to molt and hang well to "dry", and i have two more a bit smaller so i cross my fingers for my last three to grow with no issue! I'll try to find a solution so that problem doesn't happen anymore but i'm not sure i can do anything sadly.
But i'm getting lost!
So, now i own 9 species of 5 different genus. Which are:
- Damon diadema / Damon medius
- Heterophrynus sp. Colombia (désormais décrite comme Heterophrynus javieri)
- Euphrynicus bacillifer
- Charinus acosta
- Phrynus pseudoparvulus / Phrynus marginemaculatus / Phrynus decoratus / Phrynus longipes
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Update August 2021 :
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I'm adding to the previous list the following species :
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- Acanthophrynus coronatus
- Phrynus exsul
- Phrynus goesii
- Paraphrynus robustus
- Euphrynichus amanica
Damon diadema is the first species i owned, and the first i bred. Since 2016 i had many babies. I kept around fifteen individuals born at home four years ago, they are now ready to breed! The other babies i had have joined other "bug lovers" for the majority, for some other the natural selection did its work (communal keeping for the juveniles, so there is a risk of cannibalism), and many other are peacefully growing at home. I still receive messages sometimes to buy me amblypygids, but now it's easier to find big specimens at fair price (wild caught specimens).​
I also had a success breeding with Phrynus marginemaculatus, a small but beautiful species with a dark body and some spots of colours, and red legs. Not especially complicated to keep in my experience, however, despite the success of the first breeding, the same female lost its eggs twice in a row after it. It happens sometimes that females lose their eggs, at different moment of the incubation, but the reason is still unknown. I think stress and/or incorrect parameters (temperature and humidity mostly) could be closely related. No matter the reason it's still frustating and disappointing to see a female lose its eggs, but it's how it is! A fourth try is on its way, i've placed the couple back together some days ago and many spermatophores have been layed by the male, patience now!
And to reassure you, about the first breeding, i still have 9 individuals on 16 born (the natural selection did its work once again). They are peacefully growing and are now a bit more than two years old. I think i'll try to breed some of them in a near future, after the next molt probably.
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A successful breeding too for Phrynus decoratus, a species about the same size than P.marginemaculatus, lighter, but very nice also!
But the young didn't grow as well as P.marginemaculatus, sadly only 2 juveniles on 13 born are still alive.
The couple are back together too and many spermatophores have been layed, fingers crossed!
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Fail and disappointment for Charinus acosta. A very tiny and parthenogenetic species that can be found in Cuba.
I had specimens of this species three times, only one developped eggs, but sadly she lost them and died few days after. However, i don't give up! I was planning on buying some others on spring 2020, but a person who follow me on the socials network and also keep amblypygids kindly gifted me two individuals born at his home. One died but the other is still alive, and i watch every day in the hope to see eggs! Patience!
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Breeding is on its way for my two couple of Euphrynichus bacillifer. Each couple have been placed together in the beggining of 2020, and both have been really fast because few hours after there was a spermatophore on each side. To be continued!
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Breeding is on its way too for my couple of Damon medius i placed together in july 2019. But it takes time for these two! I found a spermatophore few days after, but since nothing, no other spermatophores, and still no eggs eather, five months after... I'm not hopeless though, they are still in the same terrarium. To be continued here too!
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My Heterophrynus sp. are still too young to breed, they are peacefully growing in their own terrarium for now.
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It's the same for my Phrynus longipes.
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And for the last species, Phrynus pseudoparvulus, i think i must have two males or two females. I tried three time on two years to place them together, and the three time ended up on a fight... Luckily i stayed in front of the terrarium the three times to observe their behavior, and i did well because they would have killed themselves if i hadn't been there to separate them, damn kids!
Obviously, the third try was the last. They will stay on their own terrarium now and i'll try to find other specimens to hopefully breed this species.
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Overall, the balance is rather positive!
I hope to get new species at spring and summer 2020, we'll see!
About the keeping of these species, in my opinion and my experience, there is no particular issue, i keep all of them the same way and it seems to work well so far.
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Update August 2021 : ​
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Many breeding since the last update.
The species that are breeding "easily" and many times a year are Damon diadema, Euphrynichus bacillifer, Phrynus marginemaculatus, Phrynus decoratus. Second brood while i'm writing for Damon medius and Phrynus longipes, same for Phrynus goesii that come from Guadeloupe and has been sent to me with the goal of assuring its presence in captivity.
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Terrarium :
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Here are two examples of natural terrariums (45cm*45cm*45cm et 45*cm*45cm*60cm) :
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This kind of terrarium is pleasant to watch but for nocturnal animals like amblypygids, the observations will be possible only by night with a lamp. They are naturally fearful, most of the time the amblypygi will go to hide in the second after you put light on its terrarium, but you might see it moving, cleaning, eating, or more rarely molting.
It is not necessary to make such a terrarium to keep and breed them successfully, plus, it's easier to make a follow-up in smaller sized terrarium with only few pieces of bark, you'll see it more often, and will be able to control the feeding easily.
For one specimen of Damon diadema, a 20cm*20cm*30cm terrarium seems to be a minimum size. The housing is simple : few centimeters of a humid substrate, and barks placed on each other. Be careful to leave enough space for the molting process.
When i have a pregnant female i prefer to avoid any stress from an other specimen so i place her in an other terrarium. It happens that females lose their eggsac without any reason, so i'm doing all i can to avoid stress.
My pregnant females are placed in 20cm*20cm*30cm exo terra terrarium.
It is not necessary in this case to leave place for a molt because a female with eggs won't molt, so i'm using all the space to place hides.
With this species you can try to raise them in group, if there is always food the risk of cannibalism is low but will always be present, during molting process for example, when amblypygids -as the majority of arthropods- are the most vulnerable.
A 45cm*45cm*45cm terrarium with many hides should be enough for two or three specimens. Mine are two maximum (a male and a female) in 30cm*30cm*30cm terrarium, here are two examples :
Juveniles can be kept the same way as adults. You can house them in group, which makes the feeding a lot easier, but the follow-up is more precise when you keep them one by one. I used to keep the first babies i had individually but now i house them together in a 5.8L braplast box (these are plastic boxes with a lid, the size is 18cm*18cm*19cm), i only have to place an aeration grid, put humid substrate, some barks and it's ready!
New born can stay many months together in a box like this, well fed with many hides, there is not much risk of cannibalism, but it's still here!
On the pics below it's the grid i'm using to make the aeration in the boxes, the mesh size is small enough to avoid fruitflies to escape (i feed the babies with this kind of prey).
It can also permit amblypygids to hang up for the molt.
Once the babies are too big to stay together i separate them, still in this kind of box but with less barks.
A specimen can stay more than two years in a braplast box.
For the smaller species there is the bottle solution which works as good as the other. I take a bottle of 1.5L and i cut the top, i place a net held by an elastic to close the bottle. And then i put humid substrate and barks (again, be careful to leave enough space for the molts).
Eventually, for the very tiny species like Charinus acosta (or other species from this genus) or new born of Phrynus sp. for example, a fruitflies pot (small boxes sold with drosophila cultures in it) is good, and the lid is already made with a net.
Temperature :
Damon diadema should be kept between 18°C and 26°C.
On a long period, lower ou higher temperature could be damageable, and might kill the animals.
It can also be problematic for molts or for pregnant females who might lose the eggs.
Lighting :
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A lighting is not necessary, ambiant light is enough but it can be usefull if you want to make a natural terrarium with plants. If so, you'll have to place very dark hides as amblypygids are nocturnals and even "lucifugous" (avoiding light).
Humidity :
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It's important to always have a medium/high humidity, amblypygids are sensitives to dryness and if they are left severals days with a low humidity they might die, especially youngs that are weakers than the adults. Plus, a low humidity will be damageable for molts, the amblypygi would stay stuck in its exuviae and die in the worst scenario, or would manage to end the molting process but probably lose some legs (which won't prevent it to live well if "only" 1 or 2 legs are missing, plus, they will be regenerated the following molts).
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Humidity is primary for juveniles and pregnant females.
To keep a high level of humidity you only have to place few centimeters of peat (or something like that) that will be kept humid by vaporizations. They are shy animals so you have to avoid as much as possible to disturb them, just a vaporization is a stress factor so to avoid having to humidificate many times a week you have to control the ventilation : bigger the aeration of the terrarium is, faster the humidity will decline. At the opposite, when there is less aeration, the humidity will be high longer.
The best way is to vaporize and feed right after, once or twice a week to not disturb them too much.
Food :
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Amblypygids are not big eater, one or two preys by week is enough (you can vaporize at the same time to avoid disturbance and stress like said in the previous paragraph ("Humidity"). Don't leave preys who could attack the amblypygids (while molting mostly), it's also why you have to avoid leaving hides unacessible to amblypygids but where preys could hide.
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They hunt but sometimes they are not experts in it, if the prey is too fast the amblypygi will have trouble to catch it, so you can give fresh dead preys sometimes (don't leave them too long in the terrarium of course).
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We can feed them with many kind of insects : cockroaches, crickets, grasshoppers ect... You only have to give preys smaller than your amblypygi. They can catch bigger preys but they might not eat it entirely if they are often fed.
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Juveniles can be fed with fruitflies (wingless is better, easier to catch), and new born crickets or cockroaches.
Crickets are most likely the better prey : they are small enough when they just hatched to feed youngs Damon diadema, and adults are big enough for adults amblypygids; it's a prey that constantly moves and doesn't hide much like cockroaches can do. The only disadvantage is their "voracity", if they are left in the terrarium without controlling it there is risks that they attack the amblypygids, mostly when they molt, so it's important to control when you give preys.
Update january 2020 :
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What about the food 4 years later?
Now i feed all my amblypygids with red runners cockroaches (Shelfordella lateralis) -well, those who have the size to eat this species, the Charinus acosta for example are fed with collembolas and tropical isopods-, it's a cockroach big enough adult to feed the biggest amblypygids, and the new born are really small, which is good for the juveniles of different species! And, as i wrote about the cricket, this roach is moving all the time, it doesn't hide himself much which is a good point. I also had a breeding of Blaptica dubia but i gave it all to a friend because i wasn't using them, or rarely. Compare to the red runner, the dubia roach is very shy, it hides all the time and it's not practical at all to feed amblypygids that hunts with the movements of their prey.
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The other benefit of the red runner is its ease to breed! A big container, heated and with many hides (carton of eggs), all kind of food, and they will multiplicate. So it's very practical when you have to feed tiny amblypygids and big ones at the same time because every size of roaches are available into the container, thus, i can feed my juveniles Phrynus marginemaculatus with new born red runners, and my bigger amblypygids with adults red runners or smaller ones according to what i need. I have many amblypygids at home but since my red runners are multiplicating all the time, i didn't have the need to buy preys anymore, and that's great!
Well, i should talk about THE wrong side of this roach species : They are super fast escapists. I can take every precautions in the world, each time i feed my animals there is some roaches who manage to go out in the room, and i know that only the following night most of the time as they come out of their hide by night. But it's alright, if there were to be an invasion it would already be done by now, i hope so!
So, breed red runners (plus you find these easily, big quantity and not very expansive) and you won't be bothered to feed your amblypygids and other arachnids, but if you live with someone, your parents for example, you have to hope they will be merciful about the escape cockroaches (in my case i'm lucky! My father picks up the escapists during the night sometime!)
​Sometimes we can observe them hunt and they are usually good at it even if they can miss. We can see how the antenniform legs are used, they come from behind the prey to disturb it and make it move to the pedipalps which are wide opened and ready to capture the roach, it's really interesting to watch.
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Handling :
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Handling is possible and without risk for the owner but risky for the amblypygi. They are fragile animals that can sometimes be really fast, especially when movements are too brutals.
But, i have manipulated my individuals many time, youngs or adults, and i observed that they often placed themselves in a "resting posture" once in hand (what i call "resting posture" is when they place their antenniforms legs folded back above their body, so they don't move -because when they do their antenniforms legs are fully deployed-), like these pictures (an adult female, an adult male and a juvenile):
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So i do not recommend useless manipulations, it will prevent from stress and will also avoid casualties.
Update January 2020 :
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I still don't recommend manipulations, to avoid stress and accidents as writen four years ago. But i must admit that i'm not the best person to say that because i do manipulate my amblypygids quite often, and i share many videos and pictures of amblypygids on myself, which could influence other people to manipulate them too. Well i don't think there's anything wrong about that, you just have to be careful.
Charinus acosta
Euphrynichus bacillifer
In my case, i manipulate my animals for various reasons. The first one is my own pleasure, i like to manipulate these aliens, watch their antenniform legs sens the environment and watch them moving on myself, they fascinate me.
The second is to observe them in a better way. They are naturally shy which makes the observations inside the boxes or terrariums a bit complicated, holding them makes it easier to observe them!
The third reason is to photograph them. As you probably know now, i like to take portrait of the animals i meet, captive or wild, and of course the amblypygi is one my favorite subject. To photograph them properly it's necessary for me to manipulate them sometime.
The fourth reason is educational. Arachnids are still unknown from the general public. The educational side is transmitted by the videos that shows a pregnant female for example, it's not common to see a kind of spider with eggs under the abdomen, it brings curiosity, it makes people interested, it brings questions (well it also brings comments such as "burn it!"; "what is this disgusting thing" and more!). With the videos showing females with babies on the abdomen too, or with pictures and videos of the molting process, it's not something we see every day and that is common to a person who's not close to arthropods world.
But the educational side is sometime transmitted in live. When people come to my house and are curious about my animals it's a good opportunity to take out an amblypygid and manipulate it to show and talk about it. And as often people are quite reluctant to amblypygids (to all not very common beasts actually), handling some in front of them allows to put them more at ease and sometimes pass the step of taking an arachnid on the hands and maybe put away an unfounded fear from these animals, often transmitted during childhood by the bad reputation that spiders and others have.
I've hesitated to quote a last reason, but it coincides with the previous one, it's sharing. What's the point of taking care of not common and not very known animals, of taking hundred of pictures of them, of raising many different species and to devote a real passion for these beasts if i don't share all of this? The knowledges are made to be shared and transmitted in my opinion. It's always a pleasure to talk about my aliens and answer the questions!
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Molts :
The molting process is definitely the most dangerous step in an arthropods' life, they are totally vulnerable because they have no way to defend themselves or run from a predator. Even once out of their exuviae they stay vulnerable during minutes/hours because their body is soft, It takes few hours for arthropods to get their body hard again after a molt.
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Amblypygids grow slowly, they molt every 1 or 2 months the firsts instars, and as they grow, the molts will be separated by many months.
They don't have a precise number of molt like phasmids, mantids or other invertebrates, amblypygids are molting all their life. Many years can separate two molts!
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They can molt by day or by night, the molting process is quite long, i had the chance to see one of my specimen doing it from the beginning, it took a bit less than an hour.
Update January 2020 :
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Since 4 years and with tens of individuals i had the chance to see molts multiple times. Most of them during the night, and at spring/summer (i don't know if it's just a coincidence or if the weather as something to do in it (temperature mostly) but i think it's interesting enough to be mentionned).
I've been able to take new pictures, videos, and even timelapses, not a great quality but that shows pretty well all the molting process.
I don't have much to say about molts so i'm just going to leave you with the images i took. Though, i don't have much to say but maybe one thing at least. I will try to describe the signs before a molt, because i've noticed some.
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Before a molt i've observed that amblypygids takes place on the support, upside down, sometimes days before. They were standing like this at night and were going to hide during the day.
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They weren't eat but still had a big abdomen!
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When the exuviation is near the amblypygids stands upside down, and a sign that the molt is about to begin is the posture of the limbs, they are like "relaxed", i don't know how to describe this! As if we hang ourselves on a pole for example, and we leave our arms loose, our body hangs in the vacuum, well it’s a bit the same if you want. They are just hung and the body "hangs". The antenniform legs are relaxed as well.
Images now!
Update August 2021 :
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Two new timelapses made with my reflex thistime, the quality is much better!
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On the left, a male and its exuviae. The colour of the amblypygi after a molt is wonderful, they keep this metallic blue during few hours, and step by step the normal colour is coming back.
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On the right, a juvenile freshly molted, we can see it by its colour, before beeing blue and then brown again they are white, because of the lack of the chitin that takes few hours to be regenerated (it gives the colour and makes the exoskeleton solid).
Phrynus longipes
Phrynus marginemaculatus
Stygophrynus sp. Borneo
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Damon diadema
Heterophrynus javieri
Euphrynichus bacillifer
Update May 2019 :
I've been able to observe, by chance the first time, a liquid moving inside the body of an Heterophrynus sp. Who molted few hours before, he was still blue. I noticed it when i took pictures and videos with my phone, with the good light (strong and from the back) i saw "through" its body and i could see the fluid which is actually the hemolymph (invertebrates blood). So i took a first video of this in august 2018, i published it many month later, in the beginning of may. I told myself that i had to take an other video of this but with my DSLR this time, to get a way better quality! And it actually happened three weeks after, at the end of may, i've been able to observe this magnificent phenomenon once more.
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I published a text with the video when i shared it on the social media, here it is :
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"This week one of my amblypygi has molted. I saw it many days before, getting ready for the process, and tuesday in the middle of the night i knew he was going to molt in the next hours. I couldn't wait for him to start to take pictures and videos because i couldn't have slept if so! But, the next morning, he did molted, and he had this magnificent blue ! The sunrays were coming perfectly through the window, so i took my material, DSLR, macro lens, raynox lens, tripod, and i started filming.
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I published a video few days ago of fresh molted amblypygi and the hemolymph moving in its body, but with my phone. And i must say that with the DSLR quality, it's something else, kind of mesmerizing, i was like a child when i filmed it!
I really love these aliens! :D"
It takes few hours for arthropods to get their body hard again after a molt, the chitin has to be regenerated in the new exoskeleton. The chitin takes some time to be restaured, this is a molecula that is found in arthropods body (fungi too for example), it makes it solid, combine with calcium carbonate. The exoskeleton is not only made of chitin but also of sclerotin, which participate to make the body hard, but also gives the brown color, it's tanning.
During this time amblypygids are magnificent (well, they always are right?), they are white when they just came out of the old skin, then their body is turning blue, different shade of blue. And when they are still blue the skin is a bit translucent, so with the good light you can see a fluid moving inside the legs, I was totally amazed when I saw this!
Some images behind the scene !
Update August 2021 :
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I made a new video of this phenomenon, with an Acanthophrynus coronatus this time.
Breeding :
Sexing
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First, you have to know the sexual dimorphism, with juveniles it's impossible, you have to wait many molts before beeing able to see the following caracteristics : the sexual dimorphism is pretty obvious in Damon diadema : males have longer pedipalps than females (it also work for the species with large pedipalps like Euphrynichus sp. for example). This pic shows the size difference :
There is an other way to sex this species (it works for some others too) and it's visible sooner than the size difference of the pedipalps, but it requires to manipulate : on the ventral face at the top of the abdomen there is what we call a genital operculum (this operculum hides the gonopod and the "book lungs") : males genital operculum has a heart-shaped, females genital operculum has a trapeze shaped. We can also notice that females have small red hairs on it.
Update January 2020 :
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Here is an other example of sexual dimorphism with the genital operculum, this time on the species Euphrynichus bacillifer. The difference is not as visible as Damon diadema but we can see some setae (hairs) on the operculum of the female, which allow us to know the gender with certitude.
Update August 2021 :
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New one that shows the genital operculum of Damon medius pair.
Housing couple
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Amblypygids can sometimes be agressive and hurt eachother, this is why you have to place them in a terrarium big enough and provide many hides so they don't have to be in contact every time.
To avoid cannibalism (even if it's rare), feed the both individuals well before they meet.
The better way is to place the male and the female directly side by side and observe the reactions, they will probably react in the seconds after you placed them together, by moving away to hide. They can attack when they are together, you'll see it easily : both have their pedipalps open and "throw" themselves on eachother, if this happen you'd better separate them and try again later. It's possible that they haven't reach the sexual maturity yet, which arrive around 2 years.
If they are ready to mate there will be a courtship, it's a bit difficult to see as they do it mostly by night. They start "touching" with their antenniform legs, the male make them vibrating quickly, then he oppens its pedipalps and touch the female with it. They can stand face to face doing it during hours, after that the male turn around and open its genital operculum to lay a spermatophore, he replaces himself in front of the female and take her to the spermatophore, if she's ready she will go over it and take it in her genital operculum to fecund herself.
Update January 2020 :
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I can now put images on this key moment of the breeding :
Self fecundation of the female (Phrynus decoratus here) with a spermatophore.
I had the chance to see the all thing with my own eyes, and fortunately I had my phone to record it! I wasn't expected to witness this precise moment -when the female fertilize herself- but only a bit of the courtship behavior. I knew how they do it but never seen it before (not even a video). The image quality of this content is not very good, but I think we can see well enough how it works!
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I'm so fascinated by them!
Update August 2021 : ​
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Once again i observed the entire process of breeding, from the courtship to the creation of the spermatophore and self fecundation. Observations i managed to get on video for Phrynus marginemaculatus and Heterophrynus javieri.
The pair inside the "cave" i made in their terrarium.
During the courtship.
Once the male made the spermatophore he is modifying the shape of the head before taking the female to it.
When we place individuals together we obviously hope that they will be at least be friendly and then breed, but amblypygids can be territorials and don't accept at all the presence of an other whip spider, especially when it's an individuals from the same gender. The meeting can then quickly become a fight, and for having seen the both behavior numerous time, i can tell that courtship and fight are really different.
I always advise to stay near the couple for some time to watch how they behave, it has saved me some specimens! If nothing separate one or the other, they will probably end up harmed, or dead. It also happened to me to find one dead even after a long time and many breeding with the same specimen.
A spermatophore is a small structure (6mm more or less for Damon diadema, it can go to 3/4mm for the smallest species to 20mm for the biggest) that contains sperm.
If they are not used to fecund they could be eaten by the male or the female.
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Here is two spermatophores examples of Damon diadema :
The size and the shape of spermatophores is different from a species to an other, for example, here is a spermatophore of Stygophrynus sp. Bornéo :
Update January 2020 :
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Spermatophores of Euphrynichus bacillifer on the left and Damon medius on the right.
Parthenogenetic does exist in amblypygi order, it's known to some species of the Charinus genus.
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Eggs
If the conditions are correct, the eggs are visible through the sternites 2-3 weeks approximately after the autofecundation by a female with a spermatophore, it can take many months (until 5) if the conditions are not suitable. At this time the eggs are not fecundated, they are when the external eggsac is taking place. It explains why, according to Orin McMonigle, males stay around females during weeks in the wild, he also says that other males could fecund the eggs during this time.
In his book ("Breeding the world's largest living arachnid") Orin McMonigle says the females can't keep the sperm more than 5 months, after this period they will have to mate again.
Damon diadema can have between 20 to 60 eggs. When they are freshly out they are green/blue, after few days they becoming light brown then dark brown.
These pictures shows two different females, we can easily see that the one on the left if carring more eggs than the one on the right, the last one is smaller which explain this difference.
On the right these are eggs of Phrynus marginemaculatus, the black egg is dead, it happens sometimes.
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This species is smaller than Damon diadema, which explains the number of eggs compared to the pics above.
I used to talk about a membrane when i mentionned the eggsac, it's actually not a membrane that holds the eggs. I learned, thanks to Florian Reveillion (ttp://www.shny.fr/amblypygi/fr/index.html), that when the female lays the eggs she also secreted a liquid who gets hard and keep the eggs safe.
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Update January 2018 :
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I had the opportunity to observe a female while she was laying its eggs, i took pictures that shows well how it's done.
I made this montage to show the "steps" of the eggs development.
(The pictures are not from the same female).
The first pic shows the abdomen when it's "normal", without eggs. Then there is the exteriorization of the eggs, the liquid is secreted by the genital operculum and the eggs are layed step by step inside the liquid that will hardened and form a "pouch".
There could be an other picture between these two, the one where we see the eggs through the sternites, i don't have it yet!
The third pic shows the eggs right after the exteriorization, still blues, then the same thing but few weeks after, when the eggs are brown.
Update August 2021 :
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Three years after the first observation of an amblypygi laying eggs i have been able to observe a second, this time at a bit more advanced stage. I didn't hesitate to manipulate the female to take new (rare) pictures of the laying process on amblypygids.
How is it made?
When the female is ready to lay the eggs its abdomen takes the shape of a spoon, then she secreted a liquid, or I should say a fluid, through her genital operculum that takes place inside the "hole" on the ventral face of her abdomen, specifically made to house the eggsac. The eggs are layed inside the fluid (the number depends on the species and the size of the female. Small parthenogenetic species such as the most common, Charinus acosta, make more or less five eggs. While a big Damon diadema can reach 70 (it happened under my care!). The eggsac is not held by the genital operculum but it is like glued to the ventral face of the abdomen. Once the process is over, the eggsac will remain blueish for a few days, the fluid is hardening and step by step it becomes brown, and then a dark brown when it is close to the end. After three to five months, the babies, called pullus at the first instar, will tear the membrane that protected them all along to hatch and sit themselves all over the female's abdomen, for about ten days. They don't eat and barely move, they will have to molt so they can finally live on their own and let their mother "free".
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The incubation takes between 3 to 6 months (for Damon diadema, it took 100 days for my Phrynus marginemaculatus, so a bit more than 3 months). The eggs of my first female incubated for about 5 months, i think it varies according to the conditions, like the temperature who affect the incubation length of many species (arthropods and reptiles), but be careful to not heat to much.
It happens that amblypygids lose their eggs at any time during this incubation, keeping conditions and/or stress could be the cause of these "abortions". (Update september 2018 : My Charinus acosta lost her eggs after many weeks, she lost them between one and three days after a relocation of my animals, so it's possible that the stress (a short ride in car, severals manipulations of the boxes) be the main cause of this abortion).
When the babies are ready to hatch, the "pouch" that keeps them under the abdomen is tearing apart step by step so the juveniles can get out of their eggs and install themselves of the abdomen of the mother, like scorpions.
It can take severals hours before all the babies are installed.
The pullis (it's their name at this instar, which is the first) will stay on the abdomen for about 10 days, during this time they will not eat and they don't move (or a very little bit), they will be independents once the first molt is done. It can happen that some babies fall down from the abdomen, if they are left like this they won't make it but it's possible to replace them on the mother's back, they should hang up. I've observed one of my female Damon diadema eating one of its babies that didn't hang up.
Damon diadema
Damon medius
Euphrynichus bacillifer
Update January 2020 :
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I can now add some pics of Phrynus decoratus !
Phrynus marginemaculatus
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Update August 2021 :
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I had new reproductions since the last update :
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Phrynus longipes
Phrynus goesii
Phrynus marginemaculatus
Phrynus decoratus
Damon medius
Damon diadema
Euphrynichus bacillifer
Phrynus longipes
Phrynus goesii
Phrynus marginemaculatus
Phrynus decoratus
Damon medius
Damon diadema
Euphrynichus bacillifer
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Then comes the independance and the "liberation" of the female whom can now go back to "lightened" life, before the next breeding!
The pullis will molt approximately 10 days after they hatched. This step takes few hours, once the molts are over the babies are independents and can now feed and move (second instar). You can leave them with the mother, the conditions are similars, only the food is different.
When all the babies have molted, only their exuviae are left at the tip of the mother's abdomen before falling down soon after.
Update January 2020 :
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New pictures, the first one shows a juvenile Phrynus decoratus, the second a juvenile Phrynus marginemaculatus. And more pictures of a brood of Damon diadema.
Conclusion
Amblypygids are atypicals arachnids and very strange, it's probably why they are so interesting for some people. Despite the fact they are nocturnals it's still totally possible to observe many behaviors that we couldn't see in the wild, and behaviors that changes from the others arthropods more commom in captivity.
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The breeding is fascinating, from the spermatophore to the independence of the youngs. The way it happens is known with the scorpions but these ones are venomous, so it can be discouraging for some persons, amblypygids are a good alternative.
Vocabulary
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Chelicera : Either of a pair of appendages in front of the mouth in arachnids and some other arthropods
Pedipalp : Pair of appendages of chelicerates, in the front of the mouth next to the chelicera.
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Moving legs : Amblypygids have six of them, the two other are sensory organs.
Antenniforms legs : First pair of legs used as a sensitive organs.
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Genital operculum : Plate that covers the genitals organs.
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Tergite : Dorsal plate of the exoskeleton of arthropods.
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Sternite : Ventral plate of the exoskeleton of arthropods.
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This article will be updated as one goes along, following my observations among other things, and the informations i could have from other breeders, entomologists...
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If you arrived there, thanks a lot! Don't hesitate to tell me if you saw mistakes or if you have any comments to do, i take everything!