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A palpigrade, commonly known as a "microwhip scorpion", is an invertebrate animal belonging to the order
Palpigradi in the class Arachnida, in the subphylum
Chelicerata of the phylum Arthropoda.
Physical description
Palpigrades are tiny cousins of the uropygid, or whip scorpion, no more than 3mm in length. They have a thin, pale, segmented carapace which terminates
in a whip-like flagellum, made up of 15 segments. The carapace is divided into two plates between the third and fourth leg set.
They have no eyes. Some species have three pairs of book lungs, while others have
no lungs at all.
Behavior
As of 2003, very little is known about palpigrade behavior. They are
believed to be predators like their larger relatives, feeding on minuscule insects in their habitat. Their mating habits are
unknown, except that they lay only a few relatively large eggs at a time.
Habitat
Microwhip scorpions need a damp environment to survive, and they always hide from light, so they are commonly found in the
moist earth under buried stones and rocks. They can be found on every continent, except in arctic and antarctic regions.
As of 2000, approximately 80 species of palpigradi have been described worldwide, all in
the family Eukoeneniidae, which
contains 4 genera.
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