Arachnid Orders

Currently Playing: What Are Hooded Tick-Spiders?

Socials: https://www.instagram.com/w._.oat/ https://www.patreon.com/c/PrivelegedBugFacts Discord Invite: https://discord.gg/7Y6nmaV3YV https://www.tiktok.com/@privileged_bug_facts MUSIC USED: Twilight princess - twilight Shadow of the colossus - resurrection Twilight princess - hidden grotto Halo - under cover of night. Photo/video sources: tommy_gunzz98 Sugar Coated Cricket: https://www.youtube.com/@sugarycricket Stefan: https://bsky.app/profile/stefanivan.com Schmealer: https://www.inaturalist.org/people/shmealer Loketoke (discord id/Inaturalist id) Ant photos/videos by loketok and schmealer Saas6053 https://www.inaturalist.org/people/myrmecophil VIDEO SPECIFIC SOURCES https://britishspiders.org.uk/system/files/library/100601.pdf?utm RICINULEI: Rosa Fernández, Gonzalo Giribet & P. Naskrecki, 2015, CC BY 4.0. Source M. Hedin, 2008, CC BY 2.0. Rosa Fernández, Gonzalo Giribet & P. Naskrecki, 2015, CC BY 4.0. Valdez-Mondragón, Alejandro & Cortez-Roldán, Mayra R., 2021, CC BY 4.0. Carolin Haug, 2020, CC BY 4.0. Rolando Teruel, 2018, CC BY 4.0. Alejandro Valdez-Mondragón & Mayra R. Cortez-Roldán, 2021, CC BY 4.0. Image: Valdez-Mondragón & Cortez-Roldán (2021) — Pseudocellus giribeti, CC BY 4.0. Valdez-Mondragón, A. & Cortez-Roldán, M. R. (2021). Pseudocellus giribeti, Figures 27–31. European Journal of Taxonomy 778: 1–25. CC BY 4.0. Jason A. Dunlop & Russell J. Garwood (2012), reconstruction of Eophrynus prestvicii, CC BY 4.0. 🕷️😱 THIS MIGHT BE THE WEIRDEST ARACHNID YOU'VE NEVER HEARD OF! 😱🕷️ Meet the Ricinulei — the HOODED TICK-SPIDERS! 🕷️🪲👀 They look like tiny walking tanks… they have a bizarre hinged “HOOD” over their mouthparts… 🤯 They can literally LOCK their body together… 🔒 Their males have specially modified legs for transferring sperm… 🦵🧬 And their evolutionary history stretches back more than 300 MILLION YEARS! 🦖🌎⏳ But what exactly ARE these bizarre creatures? 🤔 Are they spiders? ❌🕷️ Are they ticks? ❌🕷️ Are they something completely different? 👀 In this video we're diving DEEP into the mysterious world of Ricinulei — one of the most obscure and unusual orders of arachnids! 🔬🕷️ We'll explore: 🕷️ What Ricinulei actually are 🎩 The strange hinged cucullus (“hood”) 🔒 Their incredible prosoma–opisthosoma locking mechanism 🦵 Their bizarre specialized reproductive legs 🥚 How they reproduce and develop 👶 Why their young start with only SIX legs 👀 Their unusual sensory system 🍽️ How these tiny predators feed 🌿 Where they live 🦖 Their ancient fossil history 🌎 Their connection to the ancient history of Gondwana 🧬 What modern genetics is revealing about their evolution 🤯 And WHY these animals are so unbelievably strange! Ricinulei are small, cryptic arachnids found in tropical regions of the Americas and Africa, but despite their tiny size, they have one of the strangest combinations of anatomy and evolutionary history anywhere in Arachnida. 🕷️🌎🔬 If you love weird animals, bizarre insects, arachnids, evolution, prehistoric creatures, zoology, entomology, taxonomy, and obscure biological discoveries, you're in the right place! 🦗🕷️🦂🐜🪲🦖 🔥 SUBSCRIBE for more weird animals! 👍 LIKE if you've never heard of Ricinulei before! 💬 COMMENT: What is the WEIRDEST arachnid you've ever seen?! 👇