. It is an arachnid, but I think it is a different kind than spiders. There appears to be a single section of exoskeleton rather than the two segments spiders have. It might be order Opiliones.
Another site user posted a photo of one of these from Arizona. Our site moderator also identified it as an opilione. Opiliones are arachnids and spiders are arachnids,but they are different types. Spiders make silk and venom. Opiliones have some ability to chew solid food that spiders have to liquidify and drink. Opiliones don’t need the silk and venom because the advantage of chewing means they don’t have to restrain the prey, they can just kill and eat. For spiders, they need to keep the prey from escaping while the digestive chemicals that spiders inject into prey do the job.… Read more »
. It is an arachnid, but I think it is a different kind than spiders. There appears to be a single section of exoskeleton rather than the two segments spiders have. It might be order Opiliones.
Any idea on identifying this spider?
Another site user posted a photo of one of these from Arizona. Our site moderator also identified it as an opilione. Opiliones are arachnids and spiders are arachnids,but they are different types. Spiders make silk and venom. Opiliones have some ability to chew solid food that spiders have to liquidify and drink. Opiliones don’t need the silk and venom because the advantage of chewing means they don’t have to restrain the prey, they can just kill and eat. For spiders, they need to keep the prey from escaping while the digestive chemicals that spiders inject into prey do the job.… Read more »