Class Arachnida: Spiders, ticks, mites, harvestman, scorpions, etc. Yellow Garden Spider Tick Mite

Arachnids are amazing, but they are NOT insects! Many people talk about “BUGS,” but that’s not a scientific term. What they really mean is: Insect or Arachnid

Class Arachnida Mouthparts are called chelicerae. Most contain venom. Antennae are absent. Four pairs of legs. Book lungs for respiration. Blacklegged Tick, Ixodes scapularis Ronald F. Billings Texas Forest Service Yellow Garden Spider, Argiope aurantia Scott Bauer, USDA Agricultural Research Service,

Arachnids This class of animals include spiders, mites, ticks, scorpions and other 8 – legged invertebrates. Have an exoskeleton The arachnid body is divided into two parts: anterior and posterior. –Anterior: contains sense organs, mouthparts, and limbs in pairs –posterior: bears the genital opening and other structures and some sort of modified gills (called “hook lungs”)

Two body regions (cephalothorax, abdomen). Fangs (chelicerae), most are venomous. Most are not dangerous. Most make webs. Most have poor eyesight; hairs compensate for it (jumping spiders are an exception). Potentially dangerous spiders (bites are uncommon): Brown recluse spider, Black widow spider Class Arachnida: Order Araneae: Spiders David Cappaert, Jumping Spider, Phidippus audax

pedipalp chelicera (fang) cephalothorax abdomen narrow waist Spider Anatomy

Abdomen Pedipalp Chelicera (fang) Cephalothorax Jumping Spider

Wolf spider with egg caseSpitting spider Tarantula Orb-weaving spider

Black widow with egg case Brown recluse

Class Arachnida: Order Araneae: Spiders David Keith, Department of Entomology University of Nebraska-Lincoln Crab Spider, Misumenoides formosipes Wolf Spider, Lycosa carolinensis James O. Howell, The University of Georgia,

One apparent body region. Abdomen and cephalothorax short. Common and harmless. Nocturnal. Feed on detritus, fruit, or other animals. Class Arachnida: Order Opiliones: Harvestman (Daddy Longlegs) Leiobunum sp. Joseph Berger,

daddy long-legs cephalothoraxabdomen

Long tail with sting. Pedipalps are modified as pinchers. Most scorpion stings are no worse than bee stings; only a minority of species are potentially dangerous. Nocturnal. Common in warm climates. Feed on other animals. Class Arachnida: Order Scorpiones: Scorpions Striped Bark Scorpion, Centruroides vittatus, gravid female from Texas E. Tenczar

Scorpion Anatomy

chelicerae eyespedipalp

Class Arachnida: Order Scorpiones: Scorpions Northern Desert Hairy Scorpion, Hadrurus spadix, native to US E. Tenczar Emperor Scorpion, Pandinus imperator, female eating cockroach, native to West Africa E. Tenczar

Class Arachnida: Order Scorpiones: Scorpions Arizona Bark Scorpion, Centruroides exilicauda, mating E. Tenczar

Class Arachnida: Order Scorpiones: Scorpions Lined Devil Scorpion, Vaejovis spinigerus, female from Arizona with young Flat Rock Scorpion, Hadogenes troglodytes, female, native to South Africa E. Tenczar

Class Arachnida: Order Scorpiones: Scorpions Slenderbrown Bark Scorpion, Centruroides gracilis, male from Central America Pandinus imperator; scorpions glow under UV/ black light E. Tenczar

Class Arachnida: Order Scorpiones: Scorpions E. Tenczar Black Thick-Tailed Scorpion, Parabuthus transvaalicus, a highly venomous species native to South Africa

Pseudoscorpion

Ticks have two body regions. Young have six legs, adults have eight. There are hard and soft-bodied ticks. Ticks are much larger than mites, some females as large as a nickel. Class Arachnida: Order Acari: Ticks Blacklegged Tick, Ixodes scapularis Jim Occi, BugPics,

American dog tick male Blacklegged (deer) tick female

American dog tick female laying egg mass ( eggs!).

Attach to skin using two claws. Two blade-like beaks enter the skin. Injected fluid dissolves skin tissue around beaks, but hardens surrounding tissue so that a stylostome, or tube is formed. Chigger sucks up liquid through stylostome. Tube remains after chigger leaves, causing itching. Class Arachnida: Order Acari: Chiggers Chigger Bites on Human

Mites have only one noticeable body region. Many are microscopic or close to it. Class Arachnida: Order Acari: Mites

Mites Egg, larva, protonymph, deutonymph, adult. Four pair legs; three pairs on larvae. Two body segments: head, thorax. Chelicerae: fangs like spiders. Suck cells. Cause chlorosis; yellowing of foliage. Transmit disease. Diagnostics: chlorosis, webbing, rusetting, galls.

Female: round abdomen Male: pointed abdomen Larva 3 pairs of legs Mites

pedipalps & chelicerae cephalothorax abdomen Mite and Tick Body Regions

Warm/Cool Season Mites Warm season Twospotted spider mite European red mite Bulb mite Gall, rust mite Cyclamen mite Cool season Spruce spider mite Clover mite Twospotted Spider Mite, Tetranychus urticae Jack Kelly Clark, University of California

Family Tetranychidae: Twospotted spider mite Lewis mite Family Tarsonemidae: Cyclamen mite Broad mite Family Acaridae: Bulb mite Family Eriophyidae: Gall, rust mite Mites in the Greenhouse Cyclamen Mite CUES

Clover mites Twospotted spider mites Predatory mite

Helpful Arachnids… Arachnids can be helpful! Spiders help to control the insect population by catching insects in their webs as their prey.

Harmful Arachnids Bites from the Black Widow Spider and the Brazilian Wandering Spider can be deadly if not treated. Ticks can carry blood-borne diseases such as Lyme Disease.

Designed for Miss. Stone’s 3 rd Grade Class

Introduction Did you know that some spiders are as big as your face?...Some can live for 28 years?...Scorpions are arachnids too? Discover amazing facts about spiders, how they catch their food, what they eat, where they live, and how they defend themselves.

I didn’t know that… Spiders make a new web every day. Spiders are always making new webs because their old ones break easily and lose their stickiness. A web traps food for the spider so it is essential for survival and needs to be in perfect order. ! People have been known to use spiders’ webs as fishing nets. ! The silk in a spiders’ web could stretch the length of a tennis court.

Some spiders live underwater. Water spiders live in lakes and ponds, but they can’t breathe underwater. They spin themselves a bell-shaped web and keep it filled with air by collecting bubbles from the surface. I didn’t know that… ! Spider silk is stronger than steel wire of the same thickness. ! Some spiders lie in wait in their webs, hoping to catch tadpoles.

Some spiders jump through trapdoors. Trapdoor spiders dig a burrow in the ground, cover it with a trapdoor, and hide inside. Then they pounce on any creature that passes. I didn’t know that… ! The bolas spider is named after the bolas, a South American lasso. ! Trapdoor spiders dig out their tunnels with their jaws.

Some spiders spit. Spitting spiders don’t use webs. Instead, they make a sticky gum, which they fire out through their fangs. This completely covers an insect and sticks it to the spot. I didn’t know that… ! Wolf spiders eat up to 15 insects on a good hunting day. ! Unlike many spiders, hunting spiders have very sharp eyesight.

Some spiders have fangs. Like snakes, spiders use poison to defend themselves and kill their prey. A spider jabs its fangs into its victim and holds on while the poison pumps into the prey. I didn’t know that… ! A spider bite always leaves two little holes in the skin. ! Most spiders are poisonous- at least to insects.

Spiders have nurseries. Just before her eggs hatch, the nursery-web spider spins a tent of silk. It’s a nursery, where tiny baby spiders stay safe and sound, while their mother keeps guard nearby. I didn’t know that… ! After they have hatched, baby spiders still need a parents’ protection. ! House spiders often stick their nests to door and window frames.

Some spiders can change color. Crab spiders are masters of disguise and can match their color to their surroundings. This clever trick keeps them hidden inside flowers, where other spiders would be more easily seen I didn’t know that… ! Spiders that hunt on the ground need good camouflage.

Wasps attack spiders. The female tarantula hawk wasp feeds her babies tarantulas. She attacks, stings, and paralyzes these huge spiders, then drags them into a hole and lays an egg on them. I didn’t know that… ! A golden-wheeling spider escapes by cartwheeling down sand dunes. ! Chinese farmers build winter shelters for spiders in their fields.