Tailless Whip Scorpion

No. Despite an alarming appearance — flat body, long spiny grabbing arms, and whip-like feelers — the tailless whip scorpion is completely harmless to humans. It has no venom glands anywhere in its body, no stinger (it has no tail at all, hence the name), and it does not produce silk. It cannot poison you, and it has no interest in biting; a very large specimen might pinch with its pedipalps if squeezed, which at worst feels like a thorn prick and does not break skin in most cases. They are shy, quick to flee into a crevice, and are widely kept as docile, fascinating pets precisely because they are so safe to handle.

Neither. It is an arachnid in its own order, Amblypygi, which sits between the true spiders (Araneae) and the whip scorpions and vinegaroons (Thelyphonida) on the arachnid family tree. It shares features with both — the flattened body and eight legs are spider-like, the large raptorial pedipalps are scorpion-like — but it lacks the defining traits of each — no silk and no venom like a spider, and no tail and no sting like a scorpion. The common names "whip spider" and "tailless whip scorpion" both reflect people trying to describe it in terms of more familiar animals.

The first pair of legs in an amblypygid is enormously elongated — often several times the length of the body — and thread-thin, and it is used entirely for sensing, not walking, so the animal effectively walks on six legs and explores with two. Each of these "antenniform" legs is covered in thousands of sensory hairs and specialised receptors that detect touch, air movement, vibration, humidity, and chemical cues. The whip scorpion sweeps them continuously through the air and taps them over surfaces to build a picture of its dark surroundings, follow the trails of prey and mates, and navigate back to a home crevice from many metres away — a genuine feat of spatial memory that researchers study.

Yes, and they have become popular in the invertebrate hobby, helped by their appearance in the Harry Potter films. They are low-maintenance for an exotic — a tall, narrow enclosure with a slab of cork bark to climb and hide behind, warmth, high humidity, and a few appropriately sized live insects a week. They are nocturnal, slow to settle but not aggressive, and safe to handle gently once calm. Points to know — they are fragile and can lose a leg if startled into a fall, they must be kept singly unless the species is known to be communal, and they need vertical space and something to grip because they moult hanging upside down and a bad moult is often fatal.