Sun Spider
Galeodes araneioides
Where is it found?
Galeodes aranioides is native to Egypt, the Saudi peninsula and countries like Iraq and Iran.
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Scrub and deserts
Diet and foraging method
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Solifuges are cursorial hunters. They run down their prey, killing it when it is exhausted with their large, well developed chelicerae (front pincers). They have voracious appetites and hunt other arthropods.
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Key adaptations
Sun spiders have large, strong chelicerae for biting and crushing prey. They also have two long, sensitive pedipalps at the front used for sensing.
Social organisation and mating system
Solitary
Males will wander long distances looking for a mate: when they find one, they will use their large chelicerae to induce a state of torpor in the female, then bend the female almost in half (abdomen over the prosoma) to transfer sperm into her genital opening. Not much is known about courtship in Solifuges.
Did you know that...?
Sun spiders have been known to scavenge on dead animals such as snakes.
Taxonomy
Sources:
"Сольпуга обыкновенная 1.0" by Ufo Snake - Own work. Licensed under CC0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%D0%A1%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%BF%D1%83%D0%B3%D0%B0_%D0%BE%D0%B1%D1%8B%D0%BA%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%8F_1.0.jpg#/media/File:%D0%A1%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%BF%D1%83%D0%B3%D0%B0_%D0%BE%D0%B1%D1%8B%D0%BA%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%8F_1.0.jpg
"Galeodes araneoides (Brockhaus and Efron)" by Anonymous - Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Galeodes_araneoides_(Brockhaus_and_Efron).png#/media/File:Galeodes_araneoides_(Brockhaus_and_Efron).png
"Stamps of Azerbaijan, 2008-840" by Post of Azerbaijan/Azermarka - http://www.wnsstamps.ch/en/stamps?search%5Blike%5D=AZ029.08. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stamps_of_Azerbaijan,_2008-840.jpg#/media/File:Stamps_of_Azerbaijan,_2008-840.jpg
"Galeodes araneoides (Brockhaus and Efron)" by Anonymous - Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Galeodes_araneoides_(Brockhaus_and_Efron).png#/media/File:Galeodes_araneoides_(Brockhaus_and_Efron).png
"Stamps of Azerbaijan, 2008-840" by Post of Azerbaijan/Azermarka - http://www.wnsstamps.ch/en/stamps?search%5Blike%5D=AZ029.08. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stamps_of_Azerbaijan,_2008-840.jpg#/media/File:Stamps_of_Azerbaijan,_2008-840.jpg
