The scares of ‘Shocktober’ continue as we move away from the tree so hostile its looking to take down everything around it, to the point where it grows its own explosives. This week we get ready to melt down with a creature that throws acid from its tail and has massive raptorial claws. So lets shred this issue apart.

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Oddity Ark #15 (#195)

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthropoda

Class: Arachnida

Order: Thelyphonida

Family: Thelyphonidae

Genus: Mastigoproctus

Species: giganteus

Related Species: The giant vinegarroon is one of the whip scorpions, the sister group of the spiders (1).

Range: Giant vinegaroon’s are found across the southern United States from Texas to Florida, as well as Mexico.

IUCN Status: The giant vinegaroon is not currently listed on the ICUN Red List, but if it was, it would be classified as ‘Least Concern’.

Acidic Downpour

Giant vinegaroons are one of the largest of the whip scorpions reaching a body length of 6cm, with the tail adding an additional 6cm to the length. While giant whip scorpions possess eight eyes, two on the front of the head with the remaining six running down either of the head, but primarily navigate with their sense of touch using two elongated antenniform legs (2). Because of these modified legs, giant vinegaroons move of six legs rather than eight like most arachnids. Giant vinegarroons are tailed whip scorpions and as such have long tails unlike the closely related tailless whip scorpion.

Giant vinegaroons are predators, primarily hunting on arthropods, particularly scorpions, as well as small amphibians and reptiles. Prey is captured using a pair of modified pedipalps which are used to capture the target, while the vinegaroon begins to rip it apart with its chelicerae while its victim is still alive. While ferocious predators, giant vinegaroons are predated upon by a range of creatures such as roadrunners (Geococcyx californianus), armadillos (Dasypus novemcictus) and peccaries (Dicotyles tajacu). To defend itself, the giant vinegarroon produces acetic acid (CH 3 COOH), the main component of vinegar, from a gland at the base of the tail which is sprayed at the face of potential predators. The long whip like tail, can be pivoted to angle the spray up or to the left or right of the body to allow for accurate spraying.

Giant vinegaroons are nocturnal and males are highly competitive over access to females, with mating occurring at night. Like scorpions, the male deposits a packet of spermatophore before locking pedipalps with the female and walking her across the package, before applying it to her gonopores (3). Female vinegaroons lay their eggs in burrows and defend them until they hatch, with the nymphs crawling over the mother where she protects them from predators until their first moult, a month after hatching. Because the mother refuses to feed during this period, she usually dies sometimes after her offspring’s first moult.

Five Insidious uses of acid in the Natural World

The devil rider (Anisomorpha buprestoides) oozes acid that it can spray up to a foot away and is aimed predominantly at the eyes of its predator. Since males and females permanently conjoin when mating, predators sometimes must face two different sprays.

Some animals such as the tobacco hornworm (Manduca sexta) ingest toxins from their food to obtain poisons. The hornworm utilizes nicotine (C₁₀H₁₄N₂) to create acidic breath that deters predator.

The European roller (Coracias garrulus) gains its acidic spit from the grasshoppers it eats. The acidic nature of its projectile damages the waterproofing of its predators’ feathers and may potentially lead them to starving as they are unable to hunt.

Some animals such as the velvet worms (Class: Onychophora) use acidic sprays for offensive reasons. In the case of velvet worms they spray an organic glue in an oscillating pattern that contains acids to immobilize and begin digestion of prey (4).

Plants such as the Southern reed (Phragmites australis) also use acids for offensive reasons. In this instance the reed produces two acids; gallic acid (C₆H₂(OH)₃CO₂H) and mesoxalic acid (C₃H₂O₅) to damage the roots of surrounding plants.

References

1. www.arkive.com

2. Miner, Angela. "Mastigoproctus giganteus". Animal Diversity Web. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology. Retrieved 23 May 2016

3. ADW: Mastigoproctus giganteus: INFORMATION (animaldiversity.org)

4. Concha, Andrés; Mellado, Paula; Morera-Brenes, Bernal; Sampaio-Costa, Cristiano; Mahadevan, L.; Monge-Nájera, Julián (March 2015). "Oscillation of the velvet worm slime jet by passive hydrodynamic instability". Nature Communications. 6: 6292.

5. University of Delaware. "Invasive Plant Secretes Acid to Kill Nearby Plants And Spread." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 15 October 2007.

Picture Credits

1. 1v.jpg (1200×800) (bestlifeonline.com)

2. OIP.3k9Ih9aHgdXeyNm6EB6AqQHaFE (474×324) (bing.com)

3. R.ca716cd9e104d2b52055c673ceae922a (1024×768) (bing.com)

4. R.3df6c43d171829d18ea7ff0320177e49 (1385×924) (bing.com)

If you want to see more amazing animals and plants, please check out the Oddity Arkive for past issues. And if you want even more animals, please check out dearly departed Impurest Cheese’s Guide to Animals which can be found here, or on the blog of long-suffering ecology intern @ficopedia