92 SOLIFUGAE 



may occasionally result in death, the possibility of poison cannot 

 be entirely eliminated. Although the matter has not yet been fully 

 tested experimentally, it is now generally assumed that Solifugae 

 are not venomous since a number of people have allowed them- 

 selves to be bitten without any ill effects. On the few occasions 

 that poisoning does occur, it is most probably due to infection of 

 the wound. 



In the silence of the night, the desert Solifugae race about, con- 

 duct their amours and glut themselves on innumerable insects to 

 supply their requirements during the winter sleep. 



The South African Solpuga caffra is a large species with massive 

 powerful jaws set in a very wide head-plate. The method of catch- 

 ing insects seems to depend on contact and within a certain critical 

 distance the prey is seized with a short spring and lightning snap 

 of the jaws. A cricket is seldom missed, but more active grass- 

 hoppers sometimes escape the first attempt to catch them. While 

 being eaten the crackling sound of the harder parts of an insect's 

 cuticle as they are crushed in the chelicerae can be heard from a 

 distance of several feet ! The pointed extremities of the jaws are 

 often used to pierce the body of the prey (Lawrence, 1949) and I 

 have observed the same when Rhagodes sp. feeds on large Mygalo- 

 morph spiders. 



The prey when caught is usually held cross- ways by both jaws. 

 Mastication and maceration is a fairly complicated procedure since 

 there are simultaneous movements of the jaws in two planes; 

 first there is the opening and closing of the jaws alternately, a 

 movement in the vertical plane; at the same time the prey is 

 ground between the chelicerae, the left and right sides moving 

 alternately backwards and forwards producing a horizontal move- 

 ment. The prey is speedily reduced to a soft pulp and pressed 

 against the mouth opening where most of it is absorbed in a semi- 

 fluid condition. Even hard, chitinous parts, although usually re- 

 jected, may at times be devoured. 



Most victims are overpowered with ease, but occasionally Soli- 

 fugae encounter a more powerful adversary such as a centipede, 

 scorpion or another Solifugid which will not submit without a 

 stubborn fight. Hingston (1925) gives a graphic account of such 

 combats in Galeodes arahs and G. araneoides. He believes that these 



