Bug FAQArizona Tailless Whip Scorpion
Paraphrynus tokdod · Order: Amblypygi · Family: Phrynidae
Paraphrynus tokdod is a newly described whip spider from the southwestern United States. Immature individuals keep black pedipalps and have leg femurs that are black near the body and red toward the tip. It lives in rocky hillsides, often in crevices or abandoned burrows, and is a top invertebrate predator in its habitat.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Young whip spiders have black pedipalps, a trait they keep as adults, unlike other young Paraphrynus which have red pedipalps. The walking-leg femurs are two-toned: the part closest to the body is black and the outer part is red.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
They are found on rocky hillsides, usually hiding in cracks or in the empty burrows of other animals.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
In its range it is a top invertebrate predator, sharing that role with a large, as-yet-undescribed scorpion species.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Paraphrynus tokdod is mostly found in Arizona. It may be endemic to the United States.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 1 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Arizona.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
How can I tell this whip spider apart from other Paraphrynus species?
Look for black pedipalps that stay black into adulthood and leg femurs that are black near the body and red toward the tip.
Source: Wikipedia
Where is the Arizona tailless whip scorpion likely to be found?
It lives on rocky hillsides, often in crevices or abandoned burrows, mainly in Arizona and possibly only in the United States.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Phrynidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraphrynus_tokdod
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-24.