The Truth About Camel Spiders

A couple of weeks ago one of my buddies was sent a recent copy of National Geographic that contained an article on Camel Spiders. I was busy and never read the article but I did look at the pictures and that is partly what inspired me to snap a few shots of my own. In fact, as I had my camera out there, I thought about something that was brought up in the comments. I threw a quarter on the ground, but the creature ran away from it, and then I tried to get close and snap a shot of it next to my boot but it started running to my boot (far too close for comfort). I decided to look up the National Geographic article and excerpt some of it for everyone reading the blog. Although I didn't find the exact story, this one comes close:

In Iraq the "camel spiders" [wind scorpions] have gotten all sorts of bad press. They are said to run as fast as 25 miles an hour (40 kilometers an hour), jump six feet (two meters) in the air, and lay their eggs inside a camel's belly.

The Middle East isn't the only place where solifugids have a bad name. In Mexico, they're known as matevenados, which translates as "deer killers." When he talks with people in Mexico about the solifugids, the first thing people say is how dangerous they are, Savary said. "You look really macho by picking them up," he said.

Solifugids are generally seasonal, nocturnal, and solitary hunters. "It takes a lot of effort to find them," Savary said. Most North American species lay their eggs in burrows or in woody crevices. Males begin to appear during spring, and then females can be spotted by early summer. By wintertime, only young solifugids are likely to be seen.

I guess you could consider me lucky for seeing two different "wind scorpions" in one week then huh?

Comments

[bicyclemark]

They sound like the misunderstood badboy of the desert.

[Alice]

All I can say is I would be checking my sheets REALLY WELL before jumping into bed.

[Eric]

im in iraq right now and have seen things we all call "camel spiders" really big (easly the size of your hand) kinda' thin bodys. eight legs and two long things in front that look like legs that they hold up in the air when they run. freaky looking things really.

[Sam]

While this is informative I would just like to point out that yes they have them in Mexico, the Middle East, and VERY southern parts of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. There are only two species of wind scorpion that live in America otherwise and they are the Pale windscorpion which are very small but do still bite and look just like solifugids but have a black abdomen and are extremely small. The other is slightly larger and more common in the east rather than the pale windscorpion. and the "long things" in the front are its "pincers" (hence the name windscorpion) which they use to tear apart their prey and suck out the juices from individually just like a spider. I don't mean this to be rude but merely informative. Thank you for your time.

[Cristy]

We have several here in uvalde Tx...we have seen over 5 within the last 2 weeks. ranging from dime size to half dollar size...i actually have one as a pet. Very interesting bugs!