What the heck is this?
Not an arthropod apparently, but I’ve never seen a slug like this before. What is it? I live in Costa Rica.
Mary Thorman

Hi Mary,
We are positively thrilled to have received your image of a Velvet Worm. They share some characteristics of the segmented Annelid Worms and some of Arthropods. Most authors consider Onychophora to be a sub-phylum of Arthropoda but some consider it to be a separate phylum. We found a site that states: “Onychophorans, of which there are several endemic species in New Zealand, share a number of characteristics with both annelids (segmented worms) and arthropods, although they are more closely related to the latter and are sometimes, as here, regarded as a subphylum of the Arthropoda. Other authors ( e.g. Nielsen 2001) regard the Onychophora as a phylum. Currently there are around 10 genera and 110 species recognised within two extant families: the Peripatidae (known from the circumtropical regions of Mexico, Central and northern South America, equatorial West Africa, and South East Asia) and the Peripatopsidae (found in Chile, South Africa, Australia including Tasmania, and New Zealand). ” Your letter and image have allowed us to dedicate an entire new page this fascinating evolutionary link and very primitive life form. We have read that they are very shy and seldom seem. Consider yourself lucky. We would positively love to have you give us a detailed description of how you encountered your Onychophoran.

Update (04/19/2006)
Hi, again! You asked me to give you details of how I encountered my oncychophora. It was over a year ago and my memory is not that great, but I do recall that I was working in my garden when I saw it and just let it climb up onto the spade I was working with so I could take pictures and videos. I took short video because the motion was so interesting. I released back to my garden after taking the photos. I live in the mid-level cloud forest region of Costa Rica in an area that is about 2/3 rural (mostly pasture and mixed crops) and 1/3 highland forest. I live about 5 minutes away from the Wilson Botanical Gardens (now known as the Organization for Tropical Studies Research Center at Las Cruces). My garden is a constantly changing affair. Many of the plants in it were planted by birds or the wind, etc. I also tend to collect seeds and cuttings as I walk along and my friends and students also bring me seeds, cuttings, and insects because they know I’m interested. A lot of the plants dye back during the dry season and a get a whole new bunch of stuff during the rainy season. That’s about all the information I can give you. I haven’t run across another onychophoran (sp?) since that one. But I often find a strange insect and bird only once and never see it again. I asked my neighbors who have lived here all their lives if they’d ever seen a critter like that one before and no one had. But they don’t tend to notice such things. I’ve been here eight years and two years in a lower altitude before that.
Mary Thorman

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