Life Cycle
Solifugae are typically univoltine. 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. To do this, he flings the female on his back.
The female then digs a burrow, into which she lays 50 to 200 eggs. Depending on the species, she guards them until they hatch. Because the female will not feed during this time, she will try to fatten herself beforehand, and a species of 5 cm (2.0 in) has been observed to eat more than 100 flies during that time in the laboratory. Solifugae undergo a number of stages including, egg, post-embryo, nine to ten nymphal instars, and adults.
Read more about this topic: Solifugae
Famous quotes containing the words life and/or cycle:
“When this ring
Parts from this finger, then parts life from hence.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“The Buddha, the Godhead, resides quite as comfortably in the circuits of a digital computer or the gears of a cycle transmission as he does at the top of a mountain or in the petals of a flower.”
—Robert M. Pirsig (b. 1928)