Velvet Worms

These animals are: real

Three species of velvet worms: Solórzano's velvet worm (the pink one), Eoperipatus totoro (the brown one), and the New Zealand Peripatus (the blue one).  

Velvet worms (Phylum Onychophora) are squishy, worm-like creatures. They are native to tropical and temperate places in the Southern Hemisphere, from Central and South America to parts of Africa, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. They like dark damp habitats, like in amongst the moss and leaf litter of rainforests. They are mostly active at night, when they come out to hunt bugs. 

The two cute little nubs on their faces are tubes for squirting strings of very sticky saliva (rather like a Bug-Type Pokémon using string shot) at speeds of 3 to 5 metres per second. The glue sticks down their prey so it can’t escape. The velvet worm walks up to its stuck prey and chews a hole in the bug using its sharp ‘fangs’, which are usually concealed it its very cute little mouth. Then it injects saliva into its prey, making the unfortunate bug’s insides liquid, which the velvet worm eats up. Velvet worms also use their slime in self-defence, squirting it at a predator, so the worm can make its escape. 

Velvet worm claws are made of chitin (the same stuff as insect exoskeletons), and these claws are where they get their Latin name - Onychophora means ‘Claw-Bearers’. Velvet worms use their claws to grip when walking on uneven stuff, when on smoother surfaces they retract their claws and walk on their soft feet. Their ‘fangs’ are modified limbs, which is why the ‘fangs’ resemble the claws on their feet. 

At the base of each of the velvet worm’s antennae is a simple eye. The worm’s whole body is covered in little papillae (bumps). This gives them their velvety appearance and makes them water-repellent. The papillae have tiny hairs that are sensitive, they are used for touch and smell. 

Velvet worms have been around for a very long time, fossils we’ve found of them come from the Cambrian period, which was a long, long time before the dinosaurs!

Solórzano's velvet worm (Mongeperipatus solorzanoi) is one of the biggest velvet worms, growing to around 22 cm long. Other species are much smaller, they are about 5cm long on average (but some species are even smaller).

Eoperipatus totoro was named after the 1988 Studio Ghibli film My Neighbor Totoro. The first specimen was caught in 2007. The team that found it wanted to name it after Totoro because the velvet worm’s many-legged cuteness reminded them of the Catbus in the film. So far Eoperipatus totoro is the only velvet worm described (given a Latin name and officially recognised as a species) from Vietnam. The species can grow to be up to 6cm long.

The New Zealand Peripatus (Peripatoides novaezealandiae) gets its name from the word ‘peripatetic’ meaning ‘wandering’. The Māori name for velvet worm has a similar meaning – ngaokeoke comes from the word ‘ngaoki’ meaning ‘to crawl’. This particular species is about 10cm long (I can find no official measurement of how big they grow, I got that figure from looking at photos of them next to rulers). 

External links:

A short arcticle with a video of a velvet worm hunting and photos of Solórzano's velvet worm on The Wild Episode

An article about Eoperipatus totoro with cute pictures on Wired 

Lots of pictures of The New Zealand Peripatus on iNaturalist 

My illustration is available on a mug from Redbubble