Peter Weygoldt Livres

Exploring the intriguing world of whip spiders, this comprehensive work delves into their biology, highlighting their diverse sizes and unique physical features, such as long legs and formidable pedipalps. While often feared by local populations due to misconceptions about their danger, these creatures pose no threat to humans, targeting only small vertebrates and other arthropods. Their secretive nocturnal behavior and limited economic significance make them challenging subjects for field study, yet they remain captivating animals worthy of examination.

The amblypygid (whip spider) genus Damon is revised. Ten species and one subspecies are recognised, all of them live in Africa. The best and easiest characters to distinguish species are discussed The ten species can be divided into two groups. The four species of the western group are confined to West Africa. They are large (formerly Titanodamon), mostly with plesiomorphic characters. They probably envolved in rain forests. Only Damon medius also inhabits savannah-like hatibats. The eastern group or Damon Variegatus species group contains 6 species which are distributed from East Africa to South Africa and Namibia. Most of these species are smaller and capable of surviving in dryer habitats by hiding underground, in deep crevices or caves. Only Damon gracilis is active under xeric conditions. The western group is paraphyletic; Damon medius is hypothesised to be the sister group of the monophyletic Damon variegatus species group.

Whip spiders (Amblypygi) are weird and spectacular animals. They are characterized by a flat body, a narrow constriction between pro- and opisthosoma and raptorial, in some species extremely long pedipalps. This monograph revises the amblypygid genera Phrynichus and Euprhrynichus. Fourteen species of Phrynichus and two species of Euphrynichus could be distinguished. They occur from Central and East Africa to North-East Africa and Arabia to the Oriental Region. The most reliable features to distinguish them are the genitalia, especially those of females. Most species are easily distinguished with the exception of those that belong to the P. deflersi group; they may even just represent the same species. The goal of this study is to describe the characteristics of each of the species to aid in identifying the easily, which is a requirement for any ecological study of whip spiders and to present data that may help in better understanding the the evolution and biogeography of this widely distributed genus. The main focus of this paper is on the species occuring in Africa.

Die Pseudoskorpione, eine Gruppe von Spinnentieren, leben meist verborgen und entgehen oft der menschlichen Wahrnehmung. Sie sind häufig im Fallaub, unter Baumrinde und sogar in Gebäuden, wie beim Bücherskorpion, zu finden. Die meisten Arten sind in den Tropen und Subtropen verbreitet, einige erstrecken sich jedoch weit nach Norden oder leben in Hochgebirgen. Ihr Lebensraum erfordert enge Spalten und Ritzen, wo sie in Vogelnestern, auf Nester von Kleinsäugern wie Maulwürfen und in Bienenstöcken vorkommen. Einige sind blinde Höhlenbewohner, während andere an das Leben im Wasser angepasst sind. Pseudoskorpione sind Raubtiere und ernähren sich von anderen lebenden Tieren, was ihnen eine wichtige Rolle im Ökosystem der oberen Bodenschichten verleiht, wo sie zur Humusbildung beitragen. Sie sind auch in Lebensräumen anzutreffen, in denen sich große Mengen kleiner Tiere, wie Milben und Federlinge, ansammeln. Ihr einzigartiges Verhalten, insbesondere die Brutpflege, Balztänze und der Nestbau, machen diese Tiergruppe besonders faszinierend.