Questions tagged [arthropod]

An arthropod is an invertebrate animal having a segmented body, jointed appendages and exoskeleton. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda, which includes the chelicerates (horse shoe crabs and arachnids), insects, myriapods, and crustaceans. Use 'entomology' tag if the question is specifically about Insecta.

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Could a "bomber spider" exist?

Via the behavior in spiders known as ballooning, spiders can already fly. The next step may be to gain the ability to attack enemies while still airborne. Could a spider use a projectile, such as ...
Superbug's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
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Identify this ladybug-like insect, with yellow eyes and cream spots

I have spotted this cream spotted ladybird like insect on my terrace. I live in Hyderabad, India and it's rare to see such an insect here. I have tried using image searches but haven't found any good ...
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Can arthropods rotate their joints?

I've been recently researching arthropod exoskeletons, and one thing I've seen more than once is that exoskeletons, due to how they work, only really allow for hinge joints. However, from seeing flies ...
ProjectApex's user avatar
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What is the difference between antennae and pedipalps?

I know insects, myriapods, and crustaceans, have "feelers" that get called antennae, while spiders and many other types of arachnids have pedipalps which seem to serve the same functions. ...
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Anyone able to identify this mite?

Located in a chicken coop crawling on windows. I’m guessing this is a bird mite as I’m only seeing them at night on the coop itself, but want to confirm so that I’m able to treat them effectively. I ...
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What kind of scorpion is this?

This is in Nevada; it's about the size of a tooth pick in length. (click to enlarge) What kind of scorpion is this?
Samantha's user avatar
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Why does the ecosystem of my house seem inverted?

My understanding of a typical ecosystem is that it is like a pyramid, with the mass of prey at the base and the apex predators at the peak. However, the arthropod ecosystem in my house seems to be the ...
SlowMagic's user avatar
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Is this an Australian Wolf Spider? Any idea on the species if so?

I live in Western Australia, and recently have been finding a lot of a particular type of spider out in my backyard (generally at night, on the lawn). From what I could find, I believe it is an ...
Brett's user avatar
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What insect in shell is this?

Location: INDIA(Tropical Monsoon) I found an insect (approx 7mm) (marked with red in image) in my bedroom hanging from the roof. It can spin some kind of thread, since it was hanging at the first ...
Asmit Karmakar's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
234 views

What is this large, lively barnacle?

Yesterday I found this creature in a rocky cove in central California, around mid tide (+ 3 feet). It's about 3-4 inches long. At first I thought it was dead, but it closed its mouth when I removed ...
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Do lobsters demonstrate any problem solving capability?

I was watching this video where a man takes a grocery store lobster and raises it in a salt tank, the lobster exhibits curious behavior that looks like intent. In the comments there was a claim that ...
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Kansas Spider Identification, found in Pasta Package

I live in Kansas. I found a spider inside my macaroni pasta package after dinner (6pm), and I really want to figure out its species. Since I have consumed food from that package, I'm especially ...
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What bug has similar legs to a prawn?

This is a bug that I observe in Melbourne. This bug is living in wet places and jumping a few centimeters while its length is 8.5mm. It does not have insect legs. It's legs are more similar to prawn. ...
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For which wing characteristic are Plecoptera (stoneflies) named for?

I'm coming across variable etymological meanings for the order Plecoptera (stoneflies). Some sources indicate the meaning is "wicker/braided-winged", while others suggest "folded/...
theforestecologist's user avatar
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What is this small brown arthropod? [duplicate]

Does anyone have an idea what this arthropod is? I first found one in the bath but have since noticed them on the walls, ceiling and on linen around the house. They are 1mm long, look brown in colour ...
Ben Davies's user avatar
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1 answer
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What type of animal is this? [duplicate]

There was a leaking fire hydrant across a sidewalk. On the other side was a lake. The fire hydrant water was streaming across the sidewalk. I saw it swimming in the sidewalk away from the side of the ...
Jossie Calderon's user avatar
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1 answer
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Help identifying a mite (?)

I live in Cambridge, UK, and found these mites (probably? not sure) in the attic. There are no bird nests at or around the dwelling, and no traces of rats or mice. There are plenty of those and not ...
abbot's user avatar
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Explanation for lack of wing-leg-fin transformations in arthropod evolution?

I don't know much about evolutionary biology so I may be missing something obvious. It seems that vertebrate evolution somewhat frequently re-invents the fin out of the leg or wing and the wing out of ...
g s's user avatar
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Which species is this in below picture? Can you please give me some details or reference link?

Can you name this species ? What are some characteristic ? Size: 2.5 inches to 3 inches Diameter: 1mm to 2 mm Can crawl like millipede but little slow. Always in red colour Get fold like in one of ...
user2681304's user avatar
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1 answer
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What arthropod with a distinctive yellow and black colored body is this?

I found this outside my window, today morning, on a clothes peg; I live on the eighteenth floor, so it probably is a good flyer. I have noticed that the antennae are almost as long as its body and ...
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What is this tiny bug [duplicate]

I have seen these on my floor several times now that spring has arrived and temps have started to go up. It is silvery in color, appears to have a hard and segmented shell, it kind of reminds me of a ...
Mr. Spock's user avatar
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1 answer
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Arthropod identification request (a spider with no legs?)

My mother sent me a picture of a creature she encountered and couldn't identify. It looks kind of a like a spider - a mostly black body, about 1cm in size, with white specks - except without any ...
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Any clue on what these tiny white bugs may be?

I would like to know what the bugs in the following pictures are, they are absolutely tiny, i would say 0.5mm at most, i can't get a really sharp picture, as they seem like to hang out in the dust on ...
arakroom's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
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Difference between haemocoel and coelom

I am looking for an embryological perspective on the following question. I know about coelom derivation, but I want to know how haemocoel is derived and how it is fundamentally different from coelom. ...
Jaskaran Gill's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
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What arthropod is in the picture?

I am from Philippines and I found this in my room. This arthropod has 6 legs and have a bit long Chelicerae like spiders that can fold to hold its food. It's about half an inch long. It also looks ...
Carl Ortiz's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
55 views

How long might a tick be on a body before biting?

I understand that a tick must be attached for roughly 24+ hours before presenting a danger of transmitting Lyme Disease. However, I am wondering how long a tick might be on my body before actually ...
OrangeWombat's user avatar
28 votes
1 answer
5k views

What is this strange sea creature we found on the beach?

We found this on a beach in North Devon, UK. I've never seen anything like it. There's a yellowy-ball in the middle with 5 pointed shells attached to it, each of which seems to have a single "leg&...
SystemParadox's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
56 views

Absence of cytoplasmic Intermediate Filaments in Arthropods

Cytoplasmic intermediate filaments such as vimentins support the architecture of the cell and have been known to aid signaling processes. However, as in this article, it is stated that out of all ...
Rishika Sharma's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
95 views

Identify arthropod with many legs in Mumbai

Can someone please identify this ~5 cm long arthropod? I've been finding one of these every 2-3 days inside my apartment ever since rainy season started here in Mumbai (June). The bulb portion is its ...
Limpy's user avatar
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1 answer
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Is there any small animal that can jump over a meter high/long?

By small, let's say less than 5 cm body length. I always thought that grasshoppers were the highest absolute jumpers in this class but the highest jump according to this article is 0.7 m...
Landon's user avatar
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2 answers
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What species of spider is this? Could anyone help

This image was taken in assam, India. The size was around 1cm. Could anyone help identify?
Neetu's user avatar
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7 votes
2 answers
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Why do Centipedes always have an odd number of pairs of legs?

Furthermore, centipedes are within the Myriapoda, a subphylum of arthropods which also contains millipedes. Do millipedes also have an odd number pair of legs?
Single Malt's user avatar
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1 answer
122 views

Is this arthropod non-intrusive and recommended to be left alive?

I am in Portugal (Lisbon) at the moment, and when leaving my room late at night (12 pm ~ 04 am) I usually face about 4 of these arthropods in the corridors: (For reference, the "line" in the image is ...
Aloizio Macedo's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
530 views

Spider identification (Caribbean)

I live in the Caribbean (Puerto Rico) and found this spider in my garage. Is it venomous? It measures about 8 inches as a whole.
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Unidentified Spider

Apologies for the rubbish quality of the image, but I found this spider while in the shower. I’m not exactly sure what species it is and wonder if someone can help me out. I live in southeast ...
ShroomZed's user avatar
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0 answers
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Can anyone identify this mite? [duplicate]

I live in a flat in the UK and have caught such mites a few times on my skin. I think they are responsible for my bites. On one occasion one mite had one dark spot in the middle instead of two. Does ...
hutia's user avatar
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6 votes
1 answer
2k views

What are these near microscopic white bugs from my comb?

I saw a whole bunch of white bugs crawling on my comb in the medicine cabinet, they didn't photograph well but I did manage to get a bunch of them in mineral oil and eventually take some micrographs. ...
John C's user avatar
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0 answers
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Evolution of the unique mating system of the scorpion Androctonus australis

Sperm transfer in the scorpion Androctonus australis involves a sclerotized spermatophore, which is formed in the paraxial organs of the male reproductive system. The right paraxial organ produces the ...
igor brznovskaya's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
42 views

How do we know how long hermit crabs live in the wild?

This article states that hermit crabs in the wild are extremely difficult to track because they constantly change shells and even gender. Later in the article, they say that hermit crabs can live 4 ...
Ryan_L's user avatar
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3 votes
0 answers
39 views

Can Chilopoda "vocalize" or produce sound for the express purpose of communication, as opposed to sound as a byproduct of other movements?

Is there any species of Chilopoda that can "vocalize" or or otherwise produce sound for the express purpose of communication, as opposed to sounds it might create as a byproduct of other movements ...
Harthag's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
132 views

is this a brown recluse spider?

What kind of spider is this? SE Michigan, light brown color, second picture less focused but w tape measure for scale. Thank you!
Bob's user avatar
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2 votes
0 answers
213 views

what is this bug ? i found it on bed 2 times

What is this 1mm long bug I found on my bed in Egypt? Here is its back photo
wafaa's user avatar
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3 votes
2 answers
5k views

What is (probably) the closest living relative of the trilobite?

The trilobites vanished from the fossil record many millions of years ago, but they were obviously arthropods of some sort. Do we know which animals are their closest living relatives? I've heard both ...
Sean Lake's user avatar
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4 votes
2 answers
1k views

Tiny white very hard cell bug! Please help to identify!

I found these bugs walking on the floor/ wall and on my laptop. And unfortunately I think they could be in my bed, too, since I bring my laptop to bed sometimes. I live in a big city in the ...
Panos's user avatar
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6 votes
1 answer
203 views

Are These Oyster Crabs?

I found these crabs at the end of September, 2018. My family was vacationing on the coast of Lopez Island in the Pacific Ocean off of Washington State. I have been trying to figure out what they are ...
J. Stanford's user avatar
4 votes
0 answers
74 views

Were there any terrestrial species in the ancestry of all crustaceans?

To the exception of woodlice, Crustaceans live in aquatic (marine or freshwater) environments. Crustaceans are arthropods which is an immensely diverse taxon. Many arthropods live in terrestrial ...
Remi.b's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
4k views

What are these tiny, swarming, jumping bugs?

I built a small plywood box in my yard (on Long Island, NY, USA) for some stray cats about a year ago. I didn't bother waterproofing the box, and so over time the box has gotten damp. About two weeks ...
Mike Willis's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
70 views

Is a female spider, well-fed by sexual cannibalism, less likely to mate again?

The Wikipedia page on sexual cannibalism (e.g. female spiders eating their mates) currently has a statement that sounds wrong to me, but I don't feel expert enough to edit it out: An additional ...
Oddthinking's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
112 views

Do we know how dangerous six-eyed sand spiders are?

The Sicariidae family contains the well-known and dangerous Loxosceles spp. (fiddle-backs, violin spiders). The family's other two genera, Sicarius and Hexophthalma (six-eyed sand spiders) have ...
g2a's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
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Why is this spider wound in such a dense web?

I saw this thing yesterday on my window curtain, and I've been wondering what this is. It looks like a dense network of spider web, and the spider inside it is visible. I thought the spider was dead, ...
Mohammed Ayaan's user avatar