Looking like a cross between a scorpion and a spider, spraying acid for protection and eating cockroaches for dinner – and now they have been spotted in Texas.
An Essigoon, an arachnid also known as a whip scorpion and even known as a “country lobster”, was found last week in Big Bend National Park around the Chisos Basin campsite. The park shared a photo of the creature on social media, much to the horror of its followers.
According to park officials, summer rains bring vinegar honey out of their caves. The approximately ten centimeters long creatures appear in this season in search of “food and love”.
They are “relatively benign unless you annoy them,” said the park.
Summer rains bring vinegar honey from their caves in search of food and love. Vinegars are about 3 inches long and …
Posted by Big Bend National Park on Wed Jul 14, 2021
The insects are able to pinch and shoot a “well-aimed” spray of 85% acetic acid or vinegar from the base of their “whip”. Both are forms of protection, but their spray is not considered toxic to humans.
The ability to shoot vinegar from its tail gave the beetle its name. And the species found in Texas is black in color.
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Vinegars are nocturnal, have poor eyesight, and are most commonly found in the desert. They usually hunt millipedes, scorpions, crickets, cockroaches, and other invertebrates by using their thin forelegs to sense vibrations.
Females can sometimes be recognized by the fact that the young animals are carried on their backs, similar to scorpions.
“If you’re lucky enough to see one, take a good look,” said park officials.
