VICIOUS claws and venomous stingers give scorpions all the weapons they need to be famously predatory. Their cousins, the microwhip scorpions, however, are far wimpier.
The millimetre-long creatures are adverse to light and boast whip-like tails instead of stingers. Rather than using their large mouthparts to devour mites, they eat photosynthesising cyanobacteria, says Jaroslav Smrž of Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic.
The microwhips' mouthparts are shaped like forceps with fringed teeth, possibly to help them comb bacteria off rocks (PLoS One, doi.org/pgk). It's very unusual to find an arachnid that isn't a predator, says Smrž.
This article appeared in print under the headline "Whip-wielding tiny scorpion is a softie"
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