Amblypygi

See catalog "Whip spiders of the World": http://museum.wa.gov.au/catalogues-beta/whip-spiders

The Amblypygids are animals flattened dorso-ventrally, which by its general appearance resemble spiders. Its body is divided into two main sections. The former is called prosoma or cephalothorax, while the later is called opisthosoma or abdomen. The carapace is dorsally covered by a plate-shaped structure, which is given the name of carapace which is a hard consistency. In this encounter, in the front and towards the center, a pair of simple eyes, which are usually placed in a small tubercle. Following backward and located toward the side edges, there are two triads of eyes, one on each side, so that in total of eight eyes in most species. The carapace may also have various irregularities, such as tubercles, or various types of bristles or setae.

In general, whip spiders live in numerous microhabitats, as large trunks of living trees, bark, fallen logs, caves, rocks, cracks in walls or embankments, mammal burrows, anthills and termite mounds. You can also find them in places near human habitations, such as cellars, wells, cesspools or the same houses where they prefer ceilings. All these particular environments provide the animal shelter during the day, which is usually hidden somewhere in the dark. As night fell out of the shelters and are located on the lookout for prey to approach, so it is still common watch, while doing some movements of their antennalike legs, to perceive and detect potential prey. When this is detected, the hunter will identify and determine the exact location and if necessary, approach it slowly when it are at the correct distance, will open its pedipalps and attack quickly, holding it with them.

In Central America population status is unknown. Globally like other species of Arachnids are quoted as pets and for this reason it creates pressure on natural populations.

All the species worldwide and from Centra America are not protected.

The whip spiders are represented just for the family Phrynidae, this family consists of four genera: Heterophrynus, Acanthophrynus, Phrynus and Paraphrynus. The first lives in South America, the second in Mexico, where it is represented by a single species (Acanthophrynus coronatus), while Paraphrynus Phrynus and distributed from the southern U.S. to northern South America, including Antilles (Mullinex 1975, Quintero 1981, Weygoldt 2000). Of the 10 formally described species that are present in the Central American area, seven belong to Phrynus and three to Paraphrynus. In addition, Reddell (1981) recorded the presence of an undetermined species of the family Charinidae in a cave in Belize, but even the gender could be determined because only immature specimens were available. It is very likely to represent a new species, perhaps of what is now recognized as gender Charinus Simon 1890, or genus new to science. Paraphrynus has become more diversified in the northern region, where three species are represented in Guatemala, the remaining countries have only one of them. Phrynus, meanwhile, shows no clear pattern such as Guatemala has four of the seven species, while that of Costa Rica and Nicaragua recorded four and two, so that their distribution is more uniform and diversity in the region.