Pulcinella

see also: Punch and Judy. There are thirteen families belonging to the order Solifugae:. Pulcinella (restaurant) is also an Italian restaurant in London. While one species, Rhagodes nigrocinctus, does appear to possess venom, its bite is not known to be dangerous to humans. Pulcinella is also the mascot of the Pulcinella Awards, annual awards for excellence in animation, presented at the Cartoons on the Bay Festival in Positano, Italy. There is no chance of death directly caused by the bite, but, due to the strong muscles of their chelicerae, they can produce a proportionately large, ragged wound which is prone to infection. Pulcinella features in an eponymous ballet by Igor Stravinsky; see Pulcinella (ballet). However, the greatest threat they pose to humans is their bite in self-defense when one tries to handle them.

He often wears a black mask and long white coat, and has loose and straggly hair. Due to their bizarre appearance and the fact that they produce a hissing sound when they feel threatened, many people are startled or even afraid of them. In Latin, this was a pullus gallinaceus, which led to the word "Pulliciniello" and "Pulcinella", related to the Italian pulcino or chick. Solifugae, however, do not produce such an anesthetic, and, like most creatures with any sort of survival instinct, they do not attack prey larger than themselves unless they feel they must, such as situations of defense or protection of young. His main characteristic, from which he acquired his name, is his extremely long nose, which resembles a beak. The story goes that the creature will inject some anesthetizing venom into the exposed skin of its sleeping victim, then feed voraciously, leaving the victim to awaken with a gaping wound. Pulcinella, often called Punch in English, is a classical character that originated in the Commedia dell'arte of the 17th century and became a stock character in Neapolitan puppetry. In the Middle East, it is common belief among American soldiers stationed there that Solifugae will feed on living human flesh.

Members of this order of Arachnidae have no venom and do not spin webs. They are not especially large, the biggest having a legspan of perhaps 5 inches, and although they are fast on land compared to other invertebrates, the fastest can run perhaps 10 miles per hour, a common running speed for many humans. Solifugae are the subject of many myths and exaggerations about their size, speed, behavior, appetite, and lethality. The absence of shade sends them away.

In reality, they were merely moving toward the newly available shade provided by the soldiers' presence. It is this behavior which led coalition soldiers in the 2003 invasion of Iraq to think these arachnids were attacking them. As indicated by their name, Solifugae are mostly nocturnal, and seek shade during the day. Reproduction can involve direct or indirect sperm transfer; when indirect, the male emits a spermatophore on the ground and then inserts it with his chelicerae in the female's genital pore.

The prey is then liquified and the liquid ingested through the pharynx. Prey is located with the pedipalps and killed and cut into pieces by the chelicerae. Solifugae are carnivorous or omnivorous, with most species feeding on termites, darkling beetles, and other small arthropods. Pedipalps terminate in eversible adhesive organs.

Solifugae also have long pedipalps, which function as sense organs similar to insects' antennae. Males in all families but Eremobatidae possess a flagellum on the basal article of the chelicera. Each of the two chelicerae are composed of two articles forming a powerful pincer; each article bears a variable number of teeth. The most distinctive feature of solifugae is their large chelicerae.

Most solifugae live in tropical or semitropical regions where they inhabit warm and arid habitats, but some species have been known to live in grassland or forest habitats. The order includes 900 known species, whose common names include "windscorpion", "sun spider", and "camel spider". The order is also known by the names Solpugida, Solifugae, Solpugides, Solpugae, Galeodea, and Mycetophorae. A Solifugid (plural form Solifugae) is an arachnid belonging to the order Solifugae, latin for They flee from the sun.

Solpugidae. Rhagodidae. Mummuciidae. Melanoblossidae.

Karschiidae. Karschiidae. Hexisopodidae. Gylippidae.

Galeodidae. Eremobatidae. Daesiidae. Ceromidae.

Ammotrechidae.