Pseudoscorpion
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Pseudoscorpions are tiny, venomous critters that barely reach 4mm in length (not counting those pincers). They have no tails, and instead have venom in their pincers that they use to subdue their prey. This little guy was fully grown at 4mm. Though they have “scorpion” in their name and I have mentioned twice now that they are venomous, pseudoscorpions are completely harmless to humans. If you find them in your house or garden, leave them be–they’re death on nuisance bugs. Aphids, for example, should take a much more concerned view of pseudoscorpions.
Did you know that pseudoscorpions are big supporters of public transit? Whole packs of them will change foraging areas by finding a large beetle or grasshopper and climbing aboard. They snuggle up underneath the wings and huddle together, waiting for the “bus” to carry them to new hunting grounds.
Slowly getting the site back onto an even keel. It's nice to get back into the old posting rhythm.
singingnettle said,
August 5, 2007 @ 8:47 pm
Pseudoscorpions crack me up. They’re so tiny and they’re like, “C’mon, I’ll moider ya!” I saw one for the first time in my basement last year, which I should have taken as a warning that this house was arthropod heaven.
What kind of camera are you using? That’s a very good capture of something so tiny!
David Brady said,
August 6, 2007 @ 12:22 am
That picture was actually with a homebrew experimental camera. I took a Logitech laptop webcam and
broketweaked the focusing ring so it would focus on objects about 1/8″ away from the lens. Then I pushed it against the side of a plastic box, on the other side of said plastic was the bug. Gently lift until it comes into focus, and snap.All of the utility of that camera came from being able to take pictures of things at point blank range. Aside from that, it gave uniformly dismal results.
I bought a new camera 2 weeks ago, however, and it gives as good results, however–I have some amazing close-up pictures coming this week–without sacrificing the ability to take pictures at normal distances. It is a Canon Powershot A640, a 10MP digital camera I got at Costco for under $300. Prior to that I had an Olympus D-520, which gave fantastic ranged shots but was lousy at macro shooting. Yesterday’s damselfly was shot with the Olympus, and you can tell I’m pushing the equipment to its limits in that photo. It was a 2MP camera, and going from 2 to 10 I just cannot believe the difference.
Insect Picture of the Day » Pseudoscorpion said,
December 18, 2007 @ 11:14 am
[...] followed about five minutes later with a note saying “…and then I noticed it was the fifth image on your site. Ooops!” Well, insectpod is very nearly to the point where I forget whether or not I’ve [...]
M said,
December 23, 2007 @ 12:32 pm
er…are you sure they’re not decapods, instead of insects? I count five limbs on a side, in that picture…
David Brady said,
December 23, 2007 @ 1:35 pm
Good spot, M. Thank you. They belong to Phylum Arthropoda as do insects but they then diverge down into Class Arachnida. From there they have their own Order, Pseudoscorpiones. There is no formal taxon for “decapods” but most of Arachnida is populated by critters that have “four plus one” limbs down each side: Scorpions and Pseudoscorpions are 8-leggers with 2 pincers, while spiders are 8-legged with a pair of pedipalps near their face.
I was using the term insect rather sloppily there; I meant it in the sense of bug or critter. I’ve edited the post to reflect this.
Thanks!