Camel Spider
A camel spider, which is also in the class Arachnida with spiders interestingly enough, is not a spider at all. A camel spider is actually a solpugid, and there are about 900 species of them known to date. Around 50 species of camel spiders are found in southwest US and about 240 in southern Africa. The reason behind the name ‘camel spiders’ is simply because they are found in the desert. A Camel spider is also known as wind scorpion, sun spider, and wind spider.
A camel spider can run at 30 mph and they have a terrifying scream while they run! At least that is what urban legend and popular myths would have you believe. The truth is that a camel spider can only run about 10 mph. Camel spiders can get up to 6 inches long and are nocturnal creatures (prefer the night). the Camel Spider will dig holes and burrows where they spend time during the day. Because the camel spider possesses no venom and is not poisonous and must rely on other assets, for example their force and their speed.
Camel Spiders
Camel Spiders can jump 4 or more feet into the air, eat the stomachs out of camels, and can grow to be the size of a dinner plate - again, another myth of which none are true.
In fact, the picture of the soldier holding the camel spider is really a picture of two camel spiders attached to one another and held out in front of the soldier to make it appear larger than it really is! The picture of the smaller camel spider below is what you can expect.
Screaming Spider
What spooks so many people is that the camel spider seeks out shadows, so if your walking (and even running), the camel spider will actually follow your shadow! This leads to people imagining that the spider is screaming while chasing them!
Because they run so fast and stay in your shadow, you might think they are chasing you but in fact, they are simply staying out of the light.
The next time you are walking and notice a massive spider following you, don’t get to excited, it’s just you standard camel spider seeking shelter.
Camel spiders are nocturnal and they spend most the day hidden in burrows that they excavated themselves rather than using a pre-existing hole.
A Camel spider is more likely to be seen during the spring and summer months due to the fact that they dislike cold weather. Camel spiders typically feed on insects, scorpions, or lizards and often eat so much that they become bloated and can hardly move (much like I do when eating out!)
The camel spider is not dangerous and typically does not bite humans unless it is on accident or they feel threatened (except for this Camel Spider Bite), as is the case with other spiders. Like other spider bites, it is important to consult a doctor immediately after being bitten by a camel spider, especially if the kind of spider is unknown.
Written by Jim on August 6th, 2007 with
195 comments.
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Although the camel spider can be very large, they are not as dangerous as some would have you believe. In fact, the camel spider has been and is being used to scare the troops by playing on a persons fear of spiders, and the camel spider is big enough to do just that!
Stories are released on the web with pictures of huge gaping wounds from the camel spider’s bite. It’s a pretty successful ploy and plays on a person’s fear of spiders, so successful that some will do anything to avoid coming in contact with one.
Camel Spider bites if treated shortly after being bitten will not cause the damage you see from pictures found on the internet. The fact is, almost any bite, left untreated could become infected and do damage, the key is to seek treatment as soon as possible.
So, the next time you see pictures of the camel spider and the bites from these spiders, stop and ask yourself where you’re viewing the picture from? If it’s from a hospital or university, then take the time to read the article and you’ll likely see that is wasn’t a camel spider and more likely a spider bite that went untreated for far too long.
I did some reading about these things after receiving a “OMG” email about camel spiders… ok, so they don’t run screaming for your blood… the truth is plenty freaky enough.
I live in Las Vegas, My cat found a camel spider!
eww..camel spiders are disgusting!! I feel so bad for the men and women fighting for freedom, not only putting up with people shooting at them..but with these spiders too! God bless the troops!
I want one as a pet. They look cuddly
i love camel spiders there so awsome i want one so bad
Corey,ur CRAZY!
Why would ANY of u want to have one of these camel spiders as a pet???? One of the MYTHS might be TRUE!!
Joe is right!
I am doing a report on the camel spider and i think they are flipping sweet! i still am terrified of spiders though!
My older brother is in the Army and he goes to Iraq in early summer. He told me that he was more fearful of these spiders than of I.E.D’s, Roadside Bombs…etc. I am trying to find information to calm him down a bit. Although you are making them sound harmless, I would hate to have a spider the size of my foot chasing my shadow around in the desert.
I’m going to Kuwait in 2 weeks and have been looking into these things, as my brother, who’s in the Nat’l Guard, told me all kinds of horror stories about them. Mostly though, he said the troops would catch them and make them fight each other or a scorpion or something, like in the movie Jarhead. I just hope one doesn’t decide to hide out in my boots or anything…
Hi Kate,
Can you do me and the readers here a big favor? Can you send me a camel spider? Perhaps you might find a dead camel spider that you could send off? I would be willing to pay you for this, so please let me know if this sounds interesting and we’ll go from there.
Best regards and stay safe!
Jim
to the guys that think that camel spiders are cool, doods rock on. i mean who wouldn’t want to see a spider that big, i mean that would be flippin amazing man. i wan’t one too, i think it would be a cool pet
I want one so bad!!!!!!!!!! those things are awesome. I’d name mine Buck!!!
i went to egypt and my boy friend got bit by a camel spider when we where on the quod bikes goning thought the desert it was horribull they run so fast ;(
Those of you who still believe the myths, please, go back to hunting for alligators in New York’s sewers. Camel spiders just got a bad reputation. How many people are bitten by dogs and cats every day? Now, how many are bitten by camel spiders? Logically, we should be terrified of dogs, who kill people, especially young children, rather than an insect that can give you a painful, but relatively minor bite.
coolest spider iv ever seen
I am in the military guys and let me tell you, these things are fake.
Its like a military prank to tell people horrifying stories about these things, but in actuality they arent that big. The largest they get is 6 inches and they wont just randomly chase you down and bite you.
If you do some research and look for the FULL photo that is shown above, you’ll see that it is an illusion. The 1SG in the pic is holding 2 six inch camel spiders on a string close to the camera lens. When you cut out the guys photo who is actually holding them, you’ll see its just an illusion and actually the spiders arent anywhere near the soldiers leg or near that size.
I am arachniphobic and still i want one of these spiders!
I want to buy a broadsword, go out to the desert, and battle camel spiders.
Dude these camel spiders R awsome
I realy want to go to iraq and im only 14
I want to shoot one for target practice
REALLY REALLY REALLY BAD !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
hey jim, I have a camel spider that my son just found crawling on the ground on my front porch, and we don’t live in Iraq. We live in the U.S. Email me soon because I dont think i will hold on to it too long. It is gross and scary.
Okay
talk to u soon
Well , I have a farm with a nice house that attracts many camel spiders.
Last night I smashed two of the camel spiders ( 2 inch each) I know them well, since I served in Iraq for two years 03-05
If you ( the reader) want to have one of them ! sure we can arrange something!
Just let me know
Im in iraq and i have one in my house for a pet. kind of keeps the varments down
Wow! I hate those camel spiders, they look scary!
Think Camel Spiders are just incredible, and this site is a mine of information. Does anyone know if they are legal as pets? Where could you get them from if they were?
I believe they are legal, but not 100% positive. I have been looking to buy a camel spider for a long time now and have yet had someone who is interested in selling.
If you find out anything, please let me know - perhaps we could get a two for one special on these
Best regards,
Jim.
howdy. im lcpl long and im currently stationed in al asad air force base in iraq and i have had many encounters with camel spiders. i have had to find out some things about these spiders the hard way, but i have found out many of the things posted on this page. i would love to tell stories or give info if you just let me know when and/or to who. just email me and i’ll get to you as soon as i can. i can even get you your own if you like
Well, I can’t sell you one, but I can send you a live wild one straight from Iraq, if you like. I have gotten very close to many in the last few days. The most recent, was also the most aggressive. I was taking out the trash from the RDF I work in (Regional Detention Facility) and to get to the dumpsters, there’s a huge metal door you have to swing open to go out. On the door/gate is a large lock that bangs around when you try to open it.
What happened next, I didn’t even believe. I heard a scratching behind me a few meters away, and from underneath a water pallet it came. It was about the size of my hand, its body alone, and headed in a straight line towards me. Is moved so fast it covered 30 ft in about two seconds flat. I turned to startle it, I guess, only to find it pick up speed! I stomped at it and of course it moved. It just sat there for a second until I tried to stomp on it again. Then it simply turned around and headed back towards the pallet.
I stomped one last time in front of it, trying to divert its course to capture it. It jumped onto my ankle and ran up my leg. I didn’t even notice it was on me until it was at my knee cap. I swatted it down to the ground, where it proceeded to veer its front two legs upward at me and kinda starred at me. I caught it in an empty water bottle and got rid of it later. So far, the other marines and myself have found the spiders do follow your shadows and may attack. Nothing to be scared of, but do take precautions.
Also, the easiest way to get kill them is to step on them or smash them with something. Water doesn’t effect them like rumors say, unless you use an abundance. Also, don’t try lighting them on fire to kill them (we found out the extremely hard way) simply because you will have a running fireball on your hands then.
If there is any other questions or requests for pictures, find me on yahoo or yahooim.
tj long
lcpl usmc
I’ve spent time in Iraq dealing with much of the wildlife (if any) this place has to offer. I’ve seen one man that has been bitten by a Camel Spider. It was about the same if he had been stuck with a staplegun, no poison either. The Camel Spider is nothing more than a great way to scare your friends.
We had camel spiders in Eritrea/Ethopia when we were over there but noting compared to those ones in Iraq. They long really scary.
I’m in Algeria near Hasse Masoud. An electrician was in my porta camp discussing the next week’s work and left to enter the coffe room about 20ft away. As he entered, someone yelled, “it’s on your shoulder” (Camel Spider). He is an Aussi so he threw his cup of water on his shoulder tho’ he saw nothing. The camel spider ran to the other shoulder where he saw it and flipped it into the air. It did a flip or two and landed in the boiling coffee water.
The spider was about 3″ long. I was glad to clear up the urban myths above so I can sleep again!
Read up on Camel Spiders! I have served for 19 years in the military and deployed 7 times to the Middle East during my career; in fact I just returned from Iraq two weeks ago. Read the comments by Will in this forum. The infamous picture you see here and floating all over the web (no pun intended) is an illusion! The largest they get is about 7 inches. Still, yes, that’s pretty freaking big but the ‘average’ North American Tarantula can grow to twice the size of any camel spider and the largest spiders in the world live in South America and grow to the size of dinner plates!
i spend two years searching in books to learn about these little creatures i found in a country house i bought at 2005.The place is called S.George in mount Pelion in central Greece. Its about 620 m. high and the climate is not tropical like i read that the camel spiders live. They appearing about early June,untill the end of September.Every summer night i kill one or two of them because i didnt know how dangerous they were,and because my kids were frightened. I was very lucky when the first days of May i found a magazine of National Geographic from July 2004 ,that had an article about wind scorpions.
I am in baghdad and I got bit by the camel spider and now it is affecting my speech badly and now i am very scared of what and how it is going to affect me in the future.
Please, if anyone out there knows of anything about it let me know.
Thanks so very much.
Hello John,
Where were you bitten by the Camel Spider, in the face? Can you take a picture and post it?
Regards,
Jim.
I think camal spipers are awsome my brother who is a marine is in iraq and he uses them for shooting practice
what does it look like when you grt bit my a camel spider
I want to see some more of these spiders fight that would be just AWESOME!!!!!!!!!
i am currently in iraq and let me tell you these camel spiders are scary as hell and i really don’t want to find out if they are harmless or not. I killed two just yesterday, one of which was crawling on my foot as was looking into a box. I’ve seen about six of them this past week, the largest being about 5 inches long.
I’m in Northern Iraq right now and the Camel Spiders are just starting to come out (about 2 weeks now). We’ve caught a few and the biggest would have to be about 5 inches, including its legs. We fed it lizards (it’s gross to watch these things eat) until the sack in the back (I don’t know what it’s called) became too big for it to move itself. So I guess it’s possible for them to eat themselves to death?
We fought another one about the same size with all kinds of animals. It definitely won against scorpions, and conquered other Camel Spiders too. However, we set it up against a Kangaroo mouse (very cute animal), and the mouse went to town on it. It hopped on the spider’s back and immediately tore off the top two pincers. After that, it tore off part of one of the legs. At that point, the spider was trying to run from the mouse, but it had no chance. It’s definitely not a sprinter like some others claim. The fight lasted about 35 seconds from releasing the two on the table.
Well, I have a few more stories for you guys if you want, so just let me know if you want to hear them.
—Dustin
I want a camel spider so i can scare my family and friends.
I found a 2″ Wind Scorpion (Camel Spider) in the Northern San Joaquin Valley, California. It was in the entryway by the spot where we leave our shoes. It was about 11:45 AM. Creepy…I don’t want these guys in my house! I have little kids that pick up everything!!!I did not know they are way up here. Where is my exterminator!!!!
that is flippen sweet! Now i’m going to have nightmares! To your benafit i’m going 2 tell every 1 about this site!!
These camel spiders are awesome and I want one as a pet!
i had one of these things crawl onto my boot and i just sort of kicked and it flew against the wall. i think i broke one of its legs because it just sort of hobbled off into a corner. i tried to find it but i couldnt.
I am living In Mirpurkhas Sindh Pakistan near the second largest desert of the world THAR DESERT. I have hunted few camel spider and available for sale.
Hey i live in west texas and in just killed a camel spider yesterday. It was only about 3″ long. If you live in west texas, they’re here!
Update:
Well, it’s now a week later and I just killed another one in my office again. The two I have killed were already dying because we have an exterminator come and spray for scorpion, roaches, mice, ect. so if you have a problem with them in you house i would definitly call the exterminator asap!
You can also find them in South Texas as well. They come out to feed on moths and other night insects on my porch at night. They have a voracious and it would be quite a chore to maintain one. If cornered (or poked with a stick) they will rear up in defence mode ready to bite. I usually see them from spring through summer. Just looking at these things makes my skin crawl!
I see that some of you like to have them as pets, but think of it, some times your pet get loose in your room and you have to look for it. So imagine you are sleeping, and that so called pet gets loose at night, comes and crawls all up on your neck and bites you.
But you know what, when it bites, it injects you with a soothing substance that makes it numb for the period of time that it’s needed for your muscle to break down into a mush. That pet of yours, will suck on that degenerated muscle until it is full, or someone else sees it, and kills it. Now comes the good part, Camel-Spider lovers, that pet of yours injected you with a substance that actually eats at your skin and dissolves into mush. Your doctor has to carve at lease an inch or more to stop the progress of your destructive muscle. At last, you will be left with a gapping hole that is if it did not damage your aorta and you die in the process. But, if you are the lucky one that gets it on the arm or leg, you will have a big gapping hole close to your bone.
For your information, think of your kids, brothers or sisters, what you get them for pets.
As for me, I will scream bloody murder if I see one, and that is what I heard from some fellow Marines that have deployed to Iraq.
EWWW - I hate spiders and I hate looking at them. I hate everything about them and I think there just gross!