Velvet Worm from the Peruvian Amazon.

One of the exciting finds on a recent trip to the Peruvian Amazon was a different velvet worm. We find velvet worms from time to time, usually in the lower foliage (less than 2 meters from the forest floor). We often find them at night, curled up on leaves. But the species we normally encounter has a white "collar." Not sure if this is a different species - but no white collar. Very cool animals. For those not familiar with onychophorans, they are in their own phylum - onychophora - and are small, predatory invertebrates. They are found around the world, mostly in the tropics - at least a couple of species live in caves. They shoot a stream of glue-like material from "slime glands" on their heads and snare other small invertebrates, which they eat. Some species are social and apparently even hunt in small groups. Velvet worms are soft bodied (no rigid exoskeleton) and have a hydrostatic skeleton. As an interesting herpetological tie-in, Hemprichi's Coral Snake (Micrurus hemprichii) eats velvet worms.