Endemic to Cyprus
Family: Gylippidae
The Solifugae are an order of animals in the class Arachnida known variously as camel spiders, wind scorpions, sun spiders, or solifuges. The order includes more than 1,000 described species in about 153 genera. Much like a spider, the body of a solifugid has two tagmata: an opisthosoma (abdomen) behind the prosoma (that is, in effect, a combined head and thorax). At the front end, the prosoma bears two chelicerae that, in most species, are conspicuously large. The chelicerae serve as jaws and in many species also are used forstridulation. Unlike scorpions, solifugids do not have a third tagma that forms a "tail". Most species of Solifugae live in dry climates and feed opportunistically on ground-dwelling arthropods and other small animals. The largest species grow to a length of 12–15 cm (5–6 in), including legs. A number of urban legends exaggerate the size and speed of the Solifugae, and their potential danger to humans, which is negligible.From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Members of the family Gylippidae are known from central Asia, the Near East, and southern Africa. The 25 known species are distributed among five genera: Acanthogylippus (1 species), Bdellophaga (1 species), Gylippus (18 species), Lipophaga (3 species), and Trichotoma (3 species). No subfamilies are recognized.
Many thanks to Tharina Bird for the identification (Department of Arachnology and Myriapodology / National Museum of Namibia).
Photos at Geri 30/1/2016 by Michael Hadjiconstantis 
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| Female |
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