Velvet Worms
 PERIPATOPSIDAE,   ONYCHOPHORA
  
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com )
and
Stella Crossley


(Photo: courtesy of Elizabeth Keen, Braidwood)

These are not Caterpillars, but are in a special phylum related to Arthropoda (Insects, Spiders, etc.). The commonest ones are black, but there are various species with other colours. They are soft and cylindrical, with over a dozen pairs of stubby feet. The head has a pair of floppy antaennae.


(Photo: courtesy of Elizabeth Keen, Braidwood)

They are carnivorous, catching insects and other arthropods and gastropods by squirting slime over them.


(Photo: courtesy of Elizabeth Keen, Braidwood)

They grow to a length of up to 20 cms. They are are nocturnal, and commonly inhabit rotting logs.

At least 64 species of Velvet Worms exist in Australia, occuring in

  • New South Wales,
  • Victoria,
  • Tasmania, and
  • Western Australia.

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    (written 19 April 2013)