Meso- and metapeltidium contains the third and fourth pairs of legs. The propeltidium contains the eyes, the chelicerae that, in most species, are conspicuously large, the pedipalps and the first two pairs of legs. It is covered by a carapace, also called a prosomal dorsal shield or peltidium, which is composed of three distinct elements called propeltidium, mesopeltidium and metapeltidium. The prosoma comprises the head, the mouthparts, and the somites that bear the legs and the pedipalps. Spiders need considerable mobility of their abdomens in their spinning activities, and the Solifugae have no such adaptation. The lack of the pedicel reflects another difference between the Solifugae and spiders, namely that solifuges lack both spinnerets and silk, and do not spin webs. As shown in the illustrations, the solifuge prosoma and opisthosoma are not separated by nearly as clear a constriction and connecting tube or " pedicel" as occurs in Araneae. The abdominal tergites and sternites are separated by large areas of intersegmental membranes, giving it a high degree of flexibility and ability to stretch considerably, which allows it to consume a large amount of food. Like that of the spider order, the Araneae, the body plan of the Solifugae has two main tagmata: the prosoma, or cephalothorax, is the anterior tagma, and the 10-segmented abdomen, or opisthosoma, is the posterior tagma. Most species are closer to 5 cm (2 in) long, and some small species are under 1 cm (0.4 in) in head-plus-body length when mature. More practical measurements refer primarily to the body length, quoting leg lengths separately, if at all. In practice, the respective lengths of the legs of various species differ greatly, so the resulting figures are often misleading. Solifuges are moderately small to large arachnids (a few millimeters to several centimeters in body length), with the larger species reaching 12–15 cm (5–6 in) in length, including legs.
A number of urban legends exaggerate the size and speed of the Solifugae, and their potential danger to humans, which is negligible.Īnatomy Ventral aspect of a solifuge, showing respiratory slots The largest species grow to a length of 12–15 cm (5–6 in), including legs. Most species of Solifugae live in dry climates and feed opportunistically on ground-dwelling arthropods and other small animals. Despite the common names, they are neither true scorpions (order Scorpiones), nor true spiders (order Araneae). The order includes more than 1,000 described species in about 147 genera. Solifugae is an order of animals in the class Arachnida known variously as camel spiders, wind scorpions, sun spiders, or solifuges.
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