biology-blog:

This is a whip spider, belonging to the order Amblypygi and in the class Arachnida. They are arachnids, meaning that they are related to spiders and scorpions but in a different order. There are currently 155 species of whip spiders that have been discovered. 

They can grow up to 30 cm long, but despite their often large size and frightening appearance, they are completely harmless to humans. Their fangs lack venom, and they don’t have silk glands. They can be recognized by their flattened carapace and large, pincer-like pedipalps, which they use for grasping on to prey. Sometimes their first pair of legs are modified sensory organs which they use to probe the ground around them as they walk with the other six. Typically the whip spider will walk sideways, like some crustaceans do.

Interestingly, the whip spider is one of the few arachnids that has showed signs of social behavior. When two sibling whip spiders are placed in an unfamiliar environment, they will seek each other out to try and get back to the group. There was also research done that suggest that parent and offspring whip spiders will communicate with each other through the use of their sensory legs.