GIANT RED VELVET WORM! (Mongeperipatus solorzanoi) #shorts

This is the giant red velvet worm (Mongeperipatus solorzanoi). These unique animals belong to their own phylum (Onychophora) and are neither insects nor worms! All 200 or so identified species of velvet worm in the world are exclusively terrestrial. Velvet works are ferocious hunters, crawling through their environment actively in search of prey (mostly insects). Once targeted they squirt a sticky substance from their oral tubes that take weblike form upon ejection, pinning down the unsuspecting victim. What is worse is that the substance quickly hardens like a cement, leaving the insect trapped while the seemingly not so innocent velvet worm crawls over and eats it alive using sharp mandibles. Another cool fact about these animals is that they give birth to live young! I had the pleasure of seeing two species of velvet worm in Costa Rica, one of which was actively eating a cricket it has webbed up and trapped. So cool! _______________________________________________________________ BECOME A