Types of Arachnid With Examples: Facts That You Should Know

Arachnids are tiny invertebrate animals with paired legs and belong to phylum Arthropoda. In this article, you will get to know some types of arachnids in detail.

• Spider
• Scorpion
• Harvestmen
• Tick
• Acari
• Pseudoscorpion
• Whip spider
• Vinegarroon
• Sun Scorpion
• Rucinuclei
• Schizomida

Spiders

Spiders are survived for many years since the Triassic era and are the most significant species of arachnids. They breathe through their skin and locomote with their eight legs. They have chelicerae with fangs for injecting venom and spinnerets for silk formation. They are found on every continent except Antarctica.

Scorpion

Scorpions play a significant role in our ecosystem as a predator. They have paired pincers, eight legs, and a narrow-segmented tail. They are primarily found in deserts and can survive in very harsh conditions. Female parent carries their offspring on their back until their exoskeletons harden.

Harvestmen

They come under Opiliones order of arachnid. They have long legs compared to their body size. Unlike all the Arachnida Opiliones, they have two tagmata, the anterior cephalothorax or prosoma, and ten segmented abdomens or opisthosoma. They are non-venomous to humans and also, and they do not have silk-formation glands.    

Tick

A tick is an external parasitic arachnid, mostly a bloodsucker that lives on mammals, birds, and other vertebrates. They are found in warm and humid areas. Pear-shaped body, eight legs, and a hard shield cover on the dorsal, known as a scutum. 

Acari

Mites come under the order of Acarine. They survive in any climatic condition. According to estimation, more than 50,000 species are found under Acarine; its study is called Acarology. Mites and ticks are significant Acarine; in which mites are the most successful animals on our planet because they can exploit many habitats.

Pseudoscorpion

Pseudoscorpions have other names, such as false scorpions or book scorpions. They have flat body, pincer-like pedipalps and eight segments. They made disk-shaped silk formations; like other scorpions, they lack book lungs as the respiratory organ.

Whip spiders

Whip spiders are ancient arachnids belonging to the amblypygid order. They do not have flagellum and silk formation glands. They are found in humid and warm areas with a flattered body, solid carapace, and segmented abdomen. Although they have eight legs, only six are used for walking, the front pair of legs are used as antennae-like feelers. Because of this behaviour, they are known as whip spiders.

Vinegarroon

Vinegarroons are true scorpions as they discharge an offensive substance that contains acetic acid. These venomous creatures are the heaviest scorpion and nocturnal hunters of small invertebrates. Commonly found in tropical and subtropical areas with a lack of sunlight.

Sun scorpion

Sunscorpions or camel spiders, with more than 1000 species, belong to the order of solifugae. They are not similar to spiders or scorpions, as they do not have venomous tails like scorpions and silk formation glands like spiders. Solifugae lives in the desert and eats earthworms and other small invertebrates.  Some species are least venomous to humans.

Rucinuclei

Rucinuclei is an order of arachnids. They depend on small arthropods and live in humid areas such as Africa. They have a unique “hood” type of structure called cucullus, which cover their pincer-like mouth part; thus, it is also called the hood-tick spider.

Schizomida

The small arachnid, less than 5mm in length, is known as a short-tailed whip scorpion. These small animals have soft body structures not found in Europe and cold mountains. They can survive for months in captivity without food.

Conclusion

Arachnids have many species, of which many are extinct. Some fossils are found to be 100 million years old. Initially, mites and ticks came under the Acari order because similar morphological characteristics created a single group.

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