Vinegaroon

Mastigoproctus giganteus, commonly called the giant whip scorpion or giant vinegaroon, is an arachnid in the order Uropygi and family Thelyphonidae, found from the southern United States to Mexico, and despite its common name it is not a true scorpion. It measures forty to sixty millimetres long, not counting its whip-like tail, with six walking legs, two elongated front legs adapted as sensory feelers, and enlarged pedipalps used as claws to crush prey. Though it has eight eyes arranged around its head its vision is extremely limited, and it navigates mainly by feeling with its long front legs, tail and pedipalps. When threatened it sprays a defensive secretion that is eighty five percent acetic acid from the base of its tail, producing the vinegar smell that gives it its common name. In the United States it is found in Arizona, Florida, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas at elevations between one thousand three hundred eighty and one thousand eight hundred metres, and it is the only member of the family Thelyphonidae native to North America.