Category: Invertebrates
The Arachnid class is comprised of over 100,000 described species and includes such familiar organisms as spiders, scorpions, harvestmen, ticks, and mites All arachnids have eight legs, though the front pair of legs is sometimes reduced and converted to sensory apparatus. They never have antennae or wings. Almost all arachnids are terrestrial as well as carnivorous. Arachnids feed by secreting digestive juices onto their dead and/or immobilized prey, which turns their prey into a broth of nutrients that can then be sucked up into their mouth and stomach.
Body horror in the insect kingdom
Learning about animals, you can discover many fascinating, even beautiful facts, but there are also things that can give you nightmares! Enter the strepsiptera (“twisted-wing parasite”). The adult female has no limbs, wings, or mouth - she simply lives in and feeds off her host (typically a wasp). When it becomes time to mate, she protrudes part of her abdomen from between the plates of her host and uses mind control to get the wasp to fly off to nearby males. Sexually mature males have wings, and fly around for about five hours before dying - spending their entire short existence seeking out females to mate with. After the female is impregnated, her own young grow and consume her. And once there is nothing left to eat, they leave their host wasp, infiltrate the nursery, and latch on to a larvae to create their own “zombie wasp” host and continue the grisly cycle!
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