Moss neobisid

Neobisium carcinoides

Eats: Other bugs and small animals Scorpions, ticks and friendsForests and woods8 legsNot an insect, but a bug cousin

The moss neobisid is a pseudoscorpion, a tiny cousin of spiders and scorpions. It looks like a mini scorpion with big claws but no tail and no sting. It is dark brown with dark red claws.

Fun fact: this one is not an insect. It is an arachnid with eight legs, a cousin of the spiders.

Lives in

Almost all of Europe, in moss and leaf litter

Length

5 mm (0.2 in)

Top speed

about 0.58 km/h (0.36 mph)

On foot, estimate

Can it hurt you?

Harmless

Harmless. It has no sting, and it is far too small to hurt you.

What does it eat?

It hunts tiny creatures that are even smaller than itself, grabbing them with its claws.

Photo of Moss neobisid — Picture by Donald Hobern from Copenhagen, Denmark. CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

small enough to sit on your fingernailcould run across a dinner table in 6.2 secondsmoves 32 times its own body length every second

How big is Moss neobisid compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

How fast is it?

A garden snail about 0.05 km/h (0.03 mph)

A tortoise about 0.3 km/h (0.19 mph)

Moss neobisid about 0.58 km/h (0.36 mph)

A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)

cool stuff

Fun facts

It is only about 5 millimetres long, so you need sharp eyes to spot it.

It has eight legs, four on each side, like a spider.

Its claws are dark red, while the rest of its body is dark brown.

The very first one described by scientists was found near Strasbourg in France.

you asked

Most asked questions about Moss neobisid

?Can a pseudoscorpion sting?

No. It has no tail and no sting at all.

?How big is the moss neobisid?

About 5 millimetres long, about the size of a grain of rice.

For bug experts

Scientific name: Neobisium carcinoides
Named by: Hermann, 1804
Group: Scorpions, ticks and friends
Family: Neobisiidae
Classification: Arachnida > Pseudoscorpiones > Neobisiidae
Lives on: Europe

Where the facts come from

Neobisium carcinoides (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
Picture by Donald Hobern from Copenhagen, Denmark. CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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