Florida Whip Spider Natural History
Size
The body of the Florida Whip Spider can measure 18mm but its front legs can reach 100 mm.
Habitat and Distribution
This species is found in southern Florida, the Bahamas, Cuba, and Hispaniola.
Age
They can live for up to five years.
Diet
This is an ambush predator which feeds on cockroaches, crickets and other small insects. They use their arm-like pedipalps to capture their prey.
Threats
This species has not yet been evaluated by the IUCN.
Groups and Breeding
To mate a male and female display to one another. Females retrieve the males spermatophore to fertilise their eggs. After a few weeks she exudes a brood sac which contains around 20 eggs and these continue to develop for three more months. After hatching the young are carried on their mother’s back until they moult-roughly 10 days later.
It takes two years for them to reach maturity.
Interesting facts
Their name comes from their whip-like appendages. These arachnids are only distantly related to ‘true’ spiders.
The Florida Whip Spider During Your Day Out in Kent
The three Florida Whip Spiders at Wingham Wildlife Park are called Sarah, Winifred and Mary and can seen in the Bug Garden alongside a wide variety of other species including different tarantula’s, scorpions and cockroaches.