CHAPTER VI 



SOLIFUGAE 



Classification and distribution 



The Arachnids of the Order SoHfugae or Solpugida, sometimes 

 known as 'false-spiders' or 'wind-scorpions', are among the most 

 formidable of the terrestrial invertebrates. A superficial resem- 

 blance to true spiders is belied by the segmented abdomen without 

 spinnerets, whilst the legs of the fourth pair characteristically bear 

 five 'malleoli' or Vacquet organs' whose function is unknown, al- 

 though it has been suggested that they may serve to support the 



Fig. 22. Examples of Solifugid families: 1. Rhagodidae, 2. Hexi- 



sopodidae, 3. Galeodidae, 4. Eremobatidae, 5. Ammotrechidae. 



(Drawings not to scale.) (After various authors.) 



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