This and the following photos will represent some of the first, still photos of velvet worm anatomy and feeding behaviour that I have come across over a public forum. There is the awesome documentary life in the undergrowth narrated by David Attenborough put out by the BBC that has some amazing footage of a velvet worm in action. You can see that here: boingboing.net/2011/03/02/death-and-the-velvet.html. Unfortunately my mpe is no longer and so I was reduced to using a raynox msn-202 coupled with a 100mm macro lens. Despite that I was able to get some serviceable pictures. Nearly six years of searching and I have finally come across a velvet worm! This is was of my awesome finds. Probably rarer than a jaguar, most people I know only ever come across a few in their lifetime. Reclusive, living in low densities they are nocturnal predators with a strongly negative phototactic response. They are usually found in low vegetation though this one was found on a leaf at chest height. These are what those cuddly, fuzzy creatures that morph into blood curdling monsters are based on. They appear as slow, gentle creatures until they begin hunting and then you see the darker, more monstrous side! They have a slow ponderous movement and their legs move asynchronously. The stubby feet end in what look almost like claws or feet belonging to an animal. They move their antennae back and forth searching for food. When they do locate food they halt, rear up slightly, pause imperceptibly and then their modified front legs which act like miniature canons fire a spray of adhesive that is 90% water which hardens in the air. I touched the adhesive and it is STICKY!!! I pulled up a mosquito lassoed with this glue and ripped the body in half, it is obviously more than adequate for the size of the prey that the velvet worm hunts. They swivel and rotate these 'canons' in a 'Z' or 'S' pattern to increase the surface area to trap their prey. However this motion occurs faster than the eye can see. All I saw was the recoil of the 'canons', I did not see the swiveling motion which is said to occur in .07 seconds! If the prey is large enough it may fire several times. The prey is bound to the surface substrate and the velvet worm approaches... The velvet worm waits until some of the struggling of the prey has abated and then it moves over the prey. It has an operculum in the ventral surface from which it everts a kind of feeding apparatus that is disproportionately large with the scale of the invertebrate. It possesses two fangs which bite down into the prey and inject proteolytic enzymes and possibly poisons to kill the prey. It then takes up bits of digested prey into its stomach where it is further digested. Complete digestion of the mosquito occurred within roughly 15 minutes. Velvet worms have remained unchanged for roughly 570 million years (Wikipedia) and uncharacteristically give birth to live young! Found during a night hike in Reserva Bilsa, Mache-Chindul, Ecuadorian coastal rainforest.
The velvet worm has the body of a worm but also has many legs-as many as 43 pairs-to help it close in on prey. A night hunter, this creature moves along the forest floor until a victim is within range, then spits out a deadly 'glue' that eats away at the prey and keeps it from moving. Soon...
Velvet worms are ancient creatures, not true worms, and belong to their own phylum, Onychophora. They hunt by shooting sticky slime to immobilize prey and consume their internal tissues. A velvet worm. Fossils of marine velvet worms from Canada and China date back 505 to 520 million years. Molecular studies suggest they transitioned to land around 400 million years ago, with their modern body plan developing 300 million years ago.
This velvet worm was photographed during a JCU field trip to Mt. Zero/Taravale Sanctuary, Paluma Range, Queensland, Australia.
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Tasmanipatus barretti - giant velvet-worm, NE Tasmania, April 2013. The termite loitering near the velvet-worm is a favourite prey item.
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This and the following photos will represent some of the first, still photos of velvet worm anatomy and feeding behaviour that I have come across over a public forum. There is the awesome documentary life in the undergrowth narrated by David Attenborough put out by the BBC that has some amazing footage of a velvet worm in action. You can see that here: boingboing.net/2011/03/02/death-and-the-velvet.html. Unfortunately my mpe is no longer and so I was reduced to using a raynox msn-202 coupled with a 100mm macro lens. Despite that I was able to get some serviceable pictures. Nearly six years of searching and I have finally come across a velvet worm! This is was of my awesome finds. Probably rarer than a jaguar, most people I know only ever come across a few in their lifetime. Reclusive, living in low densities they are nocturnal predators with a strongly negative phototactic response. They are usually found in low vegetation though this one was found on a leaf at chest height. These are what those cuddly, fuzzy creatures that morph into blood curdling monsters are based on. They appear as slow, gentle creatures until they begin hunting and then you see the darker, more monstrous side! They have a slow ponderous movement and their legs move asynchronously. The stubby feet end in what look almost like claws or feet belonging to an animal. They move their antennae back and forth searching for food. When they do locate food they halt, rear up slightly, pause imperceptibly and then their modified front legs which act like miniature canons fire a spray of adhesive that is 90% water which hardens in the air. I touched the adhesive and it is STICKY!!! I pulled up a mosquito lassoed with this glue and ripped the body in half, it is obviously more than adequate for the size of the prey that the velvet worm hunts. They swivel and rotate these 'canons' in a 'Z' or 'S' pattern to increase the surface area to trap their prey. However this motion occurs faster than the eye can see. All I saw was the recoil of the 'canons', I did not see the swiveling motion which is said to occur in .07 seconds! If the prey is large enough it may fire several times. The prey is bound to the surface substrate and the velvet worm approaches... The velvet worm waits until some of the struggling of the prey has abated and then it moves over the prey. It has an operculum in the ventral surface from which it everts a kind of feeding apparatus that is disproportionately large with the scale of the invertebrate. It possesses two fangs which bite down into the prey and inject proteolytic enzymes and possibly poisons to kill the prey. It then takes up bits of digested prey into its stomach where it is further digested. Complete digestion of the mosquito occurred within roughly 15 minutes. Velvet worms have remained unchanged for roughly 570 million years (Wikipedia) and uncharacteristically give birth to live young! Found during a night hike in Reserva Bilsa, Mache-Chindul, Ecuadorian coastal rainforest.
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Velvet Worm searching for food - Velvet worms look similar to Caterpillars, but are very different as they eat live insects. This one is in search of itâs next meal.
from Ecuador: www.flickr.com/andreaskay/albums
Velvet Worm {Peripatus novaezealandiae}. Velvet Worms are known as 'living fossils', having remained the same for approximately 570 million years. New Zealand. Captive.
This velvet worm is so cute it's named for Totoro. Too bad it's a slime-spewing killer.
The Onycophora are a small phylum of about 70 species of quite fascinating animals, often referred to by the common name of Velvet Worms
Scientists have described the first new species of Ecuadorian velvet worm in more than 100 years. Named the Tiputini velvet worm (Oroperipatus tiputini), it was discovered in the lowland forests of the northern Amazon.
Peripatus, sometimes called velvet worms are stumpy-legged invertebrates that look like caterpillars and live on the forest floor.
velvet worm - photo/picture definition at Photo Dictionary - velvet worm word and phrase defined by its image in jpg/jpeg
