Can anyone identify this bug? - DPChallenge Forums

03/26/2006 01:56:58 AM · #1

It's about 3-4 inches long maybe? It's been over a year, so I'm a little unsure....

Brent_Ward

Canon EOS-5D

Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L USM

03/26/2006 02:01:34 AM · #2

Originally posted by eschelar:

It's about 3-4 inches long maybe? It's been over a year, so I'm a little unsure....

looks like a type of rock scorpion.

Judi

Canon EOS-5D Mark III

03/26/2006 02:17:18 AM · #3

This is coming from my husband who is an entomologist. He is a little bit particular about people calling all insects bugs. LOL!!

He said it is definitely not a bug and not an insect. Judging by the picture and what you have written it is from the Order of the Uropygi. Also known as the Whipscorpionor or Vinegaroons.

General features.

- Abdomen terminates in a long,bristlelike flagellum. First legs very slender, whiplike. Pedipalps very large, robust.

Feeding behaviour

- Predaceous: pedipalps crush and macerate prey.

Importance to humans

- Not poisonous but able to pinch and to spray irritating chemicals, chiefly acetic acid.

03/26/2006 02:27:59 AM · #4

yeah, actually, I gathered that it was an arachnid of some sort, so I didn't want to call it an insect, but I just wrote the title in a hurry and I figured 'bug' would be close enough...

BTW, what would be a proper classification of an actual 'bug'?

Something that 'bugs' people? that irritant spray might fall into the category.......? ;)

Whipscorpionor? Seems like a strange pronunciation.

What does it usually eat? other insects?

Message edited by author 2006-03-26 02:28:21.

JayWalk

Canon EOS-6D

03/26/2006 02:29:00 AM · #5

In English????

03/26/2006 02:40:19 AM · #6

I believe she said it was the Whipscorpion or Vinegaroons.

I have a funny feeling that the 'or' on the end was a typo... waiting for confirmation.

03/26/2006 02:43:57 AM · #7

This article's about keeping them as pets...
not "bugs"!

And in english, they're in the same class as spiders, just as we're in the class of mammals. The order of uropygi would compare, for example with the order of rodents.

03/26/2006 02:49:43 AM · #8

ps... a true "bug" would be in the order hemiptera and include water striders and bedbugs.

Judi

Canon EOS-5D Mark III

03/26/2006 04:50:08 AM · #9

Ooops..yes it was. I am responsible for that guys...sorry. I was doing the typing and made a typo...lol!! (He might be brainy but he is a slow typist..hehehe)

It should read "Whipscorpion".

They usually eat other insects and small invertebrates. Some of them will eat detritus, in other words debris....crap on the ground, like left over foods from other animals meals.

A bug of the order of Hemiptera especially any of the suborder Heteroptera and Homoptera, having piercing and sucking mouthparts specialized as a beak. These include cicadas, Assassin bugs, stink bugs, aphids and white fly.

A beetle has scleritized forewings ie. hard. And chewing mouth parts. A bug has softer forewings, maybe leathery or clear and sucking mouth parts.

Message edited by author 2006-03-26 04:51:55.

03/26/2006 05:04:53 AM · #10

Judi, I was going to add the part about sucking vs chewing, but I could just picture eyes beginning to glaze over, usually about the time words like class, order and sub-order appear. And don't even THINK about genus species! ;)

echelar, it's a cool critter, though :) Personally, I find this type of thing fascinating.

Judi

Canon EOS-5D Mark III

03/26/2006 05:27:06 AM · #11

Originally posted by BeeCee:

Hehehe...too be honest BeeCee...it is way over my head. I never get him on the subject of science, religion or politics. I have lost count how many times I have actually fallen asleep while he has been speaking of them...lmao!!

So I just sit here and type while he talks....that probably explains the typo...lol!! He did his thesis on Heliothis Moths (punctigera and Armigera) but it has since renamed Helicoverpa.

03/26/2006 06:09:53 AM · #12

When it gets to the kind of details in theses, then MY eyes glaze over too! :D

03/26/2006 06:16:45 AM · #13

I found it pretty interesting too. I had no idea about the differences of the correct terminology for 'bugs'.

I had a 1972 vw beetle that was also called a bug by many. Come to think of it, while in general it didn't suck, it could be said to have sucked it's food (gas) in healthy quantities.

Oh and yes, I did read that link. Every word.

Not the links though.... *glaze* ;)

I would imagine that it's a pretty rare find for a quick evening stroll in the mountains...

Message edited by author 2006-03-26 06:18:09.