From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Peripatus is a genus of Onychophora, which is distinguished by its independent pairs of legs, a characteristic which many entomologists believe suggests an evolutionary link between arthropods and worms. Peripatus is one of the group of animals known collectively as Velvet worms.
Peripatus is a nocturnal carnivore. It feeds by trapping its prey (mostly small insects) in a white, sticky fluid it ejects from two antennae near its head. The fluid hardens on contact with the air and the prey becomes immoblized. Peripatus then chews a hole in its prey's exoskeleton with its mandibles (which move independently of each other), injects digestive enzymes in, and begins sucking out its prey's pre-digested innards.
