The velvet worm

By Francesco Tomasinelli 

The velvet worm is one of the strangest animals in the world. Looking like a cross between an earthworm and a millipede, has no strong ties to any of them. Its taxonomic group, Onychophora is 500 million years old. It’s a shy, nocturnal invertebrate, about 10 cm long but it’s predator, able to seize small insectsby squirting almost invisible glue form the head. It lives only in cloud forest in various parts of the world but it’s a rare encounter. This is a Peripatus sp. from Perù Manu National Park.  

 

 

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News

16-12-2011 Two new short stories in "Strange but true" with tiger beetles and devil flower mantis. Updated Quirimbas Islands reportage 

30-4-2011 New scientific exhibition Predatori del microcosmo at Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali, Torino, until 27-6-2011 

25-02-2011 New photo gallery on fireflies, Il ritorno delle lucciole.

03-02-2011 New scientific exhibition Copioni e copiati for Arte e Scienza in Piazza 2011, in Bologna, until 13-02-2011.

08-1-2011 New photo gallery on Iran and persian architecture

05-12-2010 New scientific exhibition Predatori del microcosmo at Museo Tridentino di Scienze Naturali, Trento, until 13-2-2011 

29-11-2010 New gallery Professione naturalista, on people working in natural sciences

28-10-2010 New scientific exhibition Copioni e copiati, for Festival della Scienza 2010, at Castello d'Albertis, Genova, until 5-12-2010

22-10-2010 New pictures exhibition until 11-06-2011 at Museo di Storia Naturale di Torino: Taxon, with pictures by F. Tomasinelli and P. Richaud

13-09-2010 New gallery on Valley of Butterflies, Rhodes, Greece

About this site

Welcome to Isopoda.net, website of Italian biologist and science photographer Francesco Tomasinelli. My favourite photographic subjects are unusual animals, travels and scientists at work, but I shoot many other topics, like sports, events and corporate pictures. I work as scientific consultant too, mainly on ecology topics.

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