Arachnophobes Beware! Trivia Quiz

Answer: House dust mite

The house dust mite shown in the picture clue is an example of the American house dust mite species (Dermatophagoides farinae) which is a distinct species from the European house dust mite (Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus). However, both of these creepy crawlies can be found in Europe, the Americas and elsewhere around the world.

House dust mites live on dust (unsurprisingly), particularly discarded human skin, so our homes make the perfect environment for them. Unfortunately, many people are allergic to the enzymes they produce and as a result suffer from wheezing and other symptoms.

Bed bugs, carpet beetles and spider mites are not arachnids - they are all types of insect.

Answer: Sarcoptes scabiei

Scabies is the term given to the infestation of a human by the Sacroptes scabiei mite. Symptoms include intense itching and red patches on the skin, although sometimes the small 's'-shaped patterns denoting the path of the mites' burrows in the skin can also be visible. The condition is highly contagious and skin contact with a person with scabies can result in mites being transferred to the other person. It just goes to show that perhaps spiders are not the type of arachnid that most people ought to be afraid of!

Ornithonyssus bursa is a parasite more commonly known as the tropical fowl mite (although it can infest humans as well as birds); Acarus siro is the flour mite and infests grains and flours; and Tetranychus urticae is a type of spider mite that is found on plants.

Answer: Ticks

Ticks are small, parasitic arachnids that bite in to the skin of their host (which can be a wide variety of creatures including reptiles and birds as well as mammals) and engorge themselves on its blood. Most ticks can be removed easily without causing lasting problems, but those infected with bacteria of the Borrelia genus can transmit Lyme disease to their host.

In humans, Lyme disease is characterised by a distinctive circular rash (although not all patients will develop it) and causes flu-like symptoms. If left untreated the disease can spread throughout the body causing severe problems such as motor impairment or damage to major organs - it can even prove fatal in some cases.

Fleas and mosquitos are both responsible for transmitting various diseases to humans, but are types of insect. You can't catch Lyme disease by being bitten by a spider. The picture clue shows Ixodes pacificus, the species of tick that causes most cases of Lyme disease in the US.

Answer: Amblypygi

Amblypygids (members of the order Amblypygi) are relatively uncommon arachnids as of the 100,000 or so identified species of arachnid worldwide, only about 150 of these belong to Amblypygi. The 'ambly' part of the name comes from the Greek for blunt or dull and the 'pygi' part comes from the Greek for tail or rump.

Like all arachnids, amblypygids have eight legs, but they only use six of them for walking. The front pair of legs or 'whips' (hence the common names for these creatures) are used as sensors to locate their prey. Although these creatures are the antithesis of cute and cuddly, they have been observed displaying some form of social behaviour - family groups appear to use their legs to communicate with each other.

Retusum, caudam and flagellum are the Latin names for blunt, rump and whip respectively. The picture clue shows a white tailless whip scorpion.

Answer: Vinegaroon

Whip scorpions defend themselves by spraying acid from glands located on their abdomen. The acid in question is a combination of acetic acid and caprylic acid and as a result smells distinctly vinegary - hence the name vinegaroon (also spelled vinegarroon or vinegarone).

To locate a vinegaroon (although I'm not sure why on Earth you'd want to) you'd need to look in dark, moist locations - such as under logs or rocks - in tropical or subtropical areas of Asia or the Americas. You could also try in Africa, but as there is only one known species living on that continent you'd be very lucky to find one!

The incorrect options are all made up names based on the basic defensive tactics of spiders: running away, blending into the background (camouflage) or venom.

Answer: Sun spider

Sun spider is one of many common names applied to these species of arachnid - camel spider, wind scorpion and solifuge being among the other more well-known ones. Despite their spider-like appearance (the picture clue is a good example) and the use of the term 'spider', members of Solifugae are not actual spiders (which all belong to the Araneae order).

Sun spiders are generally carnivorous, eating insects as well as larger prey such as snakes or rodents. Although they are capable of inflicting a nasty bite, they pose little danger to humans so should probably be considered amongst the friendlier types of arachnids. However, various cultures have all tended to over-exaggerate the size, speed and danger of these creatures.

A sun conure is a type of parrot; the sunburned rat is a rare rat of Indonesia; and the sun salamander doesn't actually exist, but salamanders are strongly associated with the sun in astrology.

Answer: Deathstalker

The deathstalker is also known as the Israeli yellow scorpion, Palestine yellow scorpion, Naqab desert scorpion or Omdurman scorpion. Its venom can be fatal to humans, although generally healthy adults would be likely to survive a nasty nip from this species - the real danger is to children, the elderly or those with serious health conditions. On the plus side though, chlorotoxin (one of the main components of deathstalker venom) has shown potential for use in treating cancer in humans.

Although this species of scorpion lives in desert habitats (as suggested by the picture clue) and is found throughout the Middle East (Dammam being a city in Saudi Arabia) it is not known as either a desert stalker or a Dammam-stalker. It is not called a deerstalker either - that's a type of hat.

Answer: Scorplings

Baby scorpions are known as scorplings. Scorpions actually make surprisingly good and attentive parents. They are ovoviviparous (unlike most other arachnids), meaning that the babies develop in eggs inside their mother who then gives birth to the live young. The mother then carries the scorplings around on her back and they remain entirely dependent on her for survival until their first moult. Scorplings grow by undergoing a series of around six moults, during which they shed their exoskeleton and grow into a new, larger one. After each moult they are highly vulnerable to predators as it takes time for the new exoskeleton to harden through a process known as sclerotisation.

In some (more socially advanced) scorpion species the scorplings will remain with their mother even after they have undergone their first moult and are no longer dependent on her - but in others the family connections quickly disintegrate and the babies have to fend for themselves. The average life expectancy for a wild scorpion ranges from two to ten years depending on the exact species.

Answer: Hooded tickspider

It would appear that scientists ran out of imagination before they developed a common name for members of the Ricinoididae family. Although they are arachnids they are not ticks and they are definitely not spiders. They are generally found in western Africa and Central and South America.

The picture clue shows a diagram of a hooded tickspider - the characteristic hood is the part labelled 'a'. The hood has the basic effect of making the creature look as if it doesn't have a head, although when it is retracted the mouth and chelicerae (jaws) become visible. What doesn't become visible though is any eyes - mainly because hooded tickspiders don't have any.

Hooded tickspiders do not pose any danger to humans, so other than their slightly off-putting appearance there is no particular need to suffer arachnophobia over them.

Answer: Harvestmen

Opiliones or harvestmen are also often known by the name 'daddy long-legs', however this can cause confusion as there are two other completely unrelated species that also go by that title - crane flies and cellar spiders.

There are thousands of different species of harvestmen, split amongst five main sub-orders. They can be found on every continent with the exception of Antarctica and fossils of early versions of these creatures have been identified in rocks that are over 400 million years old.

Although commonly mistaken for spiders, they differ in body shape from their more famous arachnid cousins, are non-venomous, omnivorous and incapable of spinning webs.