Draculoides
≈ 1 min read
Names in other languages
No names in other languages are held for this entry yet.
Article bodies are English and are not machine-translated. A name in another language is not a translation of the article.
Draculoides is a genus of troglobite schizomid arachnids endemic to North West Australia. Often mistaken for spiders, they are commonly known as short-tailed whip-scorpions or sprickets.
Draculoides is a genus of troglobite schizomid arachnids endemic to North West Australia. Often mistaken for spiders, they are commonly known as short-tailed whip-scorpions or sprickets. ==Description== Schizomids are small, soil-dwelling, eight-legged invertebrates that walk on six legs and use the two modified front legs as feelers. They employ large fang-like pedipalps, or pincers, to grasp invertebrate prey and crunch it into pieces before sucking out the juices. ==Taxonomy== The genus was first described in 1992 by Mark Harvey of the Western Australian Museum, based on his earlier description of Schizomus vinei (Draculoides vinei). A second species was described in 1995, Draculoides bramstokeri, based on specimens found at Barrow Island; the specific epithet honours Bram Stoker, the author of Dracula. The allusion to this fictional character, a vampire, in the name of the genus is given for the method of consuming its prey, and further allusions to vampirism appear in the epithets of subsequently described species. The genus is considered a senior synonym of Paradraculoides, due to paraphyly and a lack of consistent morphological differences.
Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1335052424 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.