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).
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.
This 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.
My daughter found a dead one in her garage in Kenniwick Washington. Is there a concern that there will be more in the garage or the house? Any one know of anything they can spray or a bomb that will kill any that may still be there? Freaky looking thing.
Hey im from madera california and I her my wife and I went to see what was going on it was a sun spider
These spiders are really big and I never wanna see one of these spiders because they can be very aggressive!
I just found one of these critters lurking in my bedroom..well 2 b exact on my bed! I was about 2blay down when I saw it run towards me (n being terrified of spiders) I scream my lungs out calling my brother.. once he killed it he look it up the internet n told me it wasn’t venomous but I’m still not sleeping in my room til we fumigate O.o BTW this is in San bernardino, CA n it was the.first time I’ve ever seen one..
I live in a small town in Texas called Alice and I had no idea camel spiders lived here until my little bros teacher found one her cats were playing with and Brang it to his school and I am dying to see it even though there is a 0% chance I will
omg creepy lol, i am terrified of all spidery thingy and all bugs, no joke! these kinda look less terrifying but still, if i ever saw one, i think id poop myself for sure lol
???????Does anyone know if their in or anywhere near Calgary, Alberta, Canada???????????
i hope camel spiders never come to Canada!!!!
and ya from what i hear there is NO numbing agent/venom stuff, all pain comes from the brain so if your not paying attention or sleeping you wont feel a bite, some people have been known to cut off fingers and toes and not notice until they look down and then they feel pain, so don’t believe it they have NO numbing venom anything and no way of injecting it even if they did- but they don’t
i wonder if you put a leash type thing on one and walk it around your home and have it eat bugs and spiders like a living vacuum lol
we have these odd spiders here that i cant identify anywhere, there all dark brown, light brown, or black but all have a rainbow shiny patch on the top of their bottom [exactly like an oil/gas puddle that forms under vehicles you know? you move around it and it changes colors] and their super fast and jump insanely fast and far, If anyone knows what kind of spider they are?? id like to know and how do i get rid of them?? they just keep coming in our windows, mid summer is like that arachnophobia movie no joke
thank you
sincerely
freaked out
Camel Spiders are cool from what i heard! I’ve never seen one but hope to some day!i live in Veedersburg, Indiana by the way
Fact is the camel spider is really a scorpion it has 8 legs an two small claw at the front of its mouth. The camel spider uses its speed to catch its prey and with its claws it starts to rip the prey apart to feed, there for those who have been bitten look like there skin is fading away or like a infected area, camel spiders are not as people think they only get mad if you spray one, i know this because i have a pet camel spider they only are as scared as you are of them, if they feel threatened they will attack you.
fact the largest size of a camel spider is about 12ins “females” they are mostly pregnant an most be that size to protect there young… most camel spider pictures of huge one are prob females if not just edited. hope you like my information an i hope it helps…
Caught and killed one of these in my guardhouse last summer. Being the only person with shoes and also the only person with extreme arachnophobia made me the one to do the honors. From what I understand camel spiders live mainly in desert areas, so what one was doing in the middle of Wyoming I have no idea. But I suppose it’s visit was worth it to see a bunch of life-gaurds freak out 🙂
I saw my first camel spider 3 years ago outside my condo in Las Vegas. I had just happened to walk outside and had my camera phone on. I took video and could not believe how fast it was!! Since then I’ve seen a dozen more. These things are so nasty looking. They are fast!! I’ve killed several inside my house.
These camel spiders are very aggressive! A few years ago I turned the light on in my bathroom and saw this big ugly thing about 6 foot high up the wall. I call it “thing” because I didn’t know what the hell it was. Looks like a big Spider Scorpion apparition. Anyway, this thing was reared up on its hind legs with its front appendages held up in an aggressive fashion ready to attack.
I ran to the kitchen to get the bug spray and went back to give it a good shot. Soon as I sprayed, the thing got pissed off and jumped right on me. I frantically brushed the thing off and ran out the bathroom running into the door jamb as I looked behind me. The thing was really pissed off now and chased me through the bedroom and halfway down the hallway. This happened in a matter of seconds.
I collected my composure and attempted again to spray it thinking I was not going to let this thing get away or run loose in the house. As I approached it, the thing came after me again! This time I held my ground and saturated it with raid. This is not a normal bug you can easily get with your shoe.
They are FAST! Best thing to do is back off when you see one and if it chases you, RUN. They are very smart and aggressive and will go after you if they are threatened.
in Franklin NC we have them but here we just call them crickey spider.
I live in south Texas and I found one today maybe about 1 inch long. I have it in a little cage thing with some dirt so it can burrow its pretty cool I saw it eat a bug today these little guys are so interesting! 🙂
Just to clear things up…camel spiders can technically feed off of a human as a last resort in the desert and the only reason I know this is that 3 years ago when my uncle went to Iraq with the paras he was asleep at night before his shift when he was awoken by feeling something by his ear (this being one of the legs) he woke up to find a camel spider next to him scuttle away with a small hole (but noticeable) on his cheek about half an inch long where the spider had taken a small chunk..when he came back I just assumed he got shot or something but guess I was wrong, and the only reason he didn’t feel it was due to that numbing thing..not venom..but if it came down to it any carnivorous animal would attack a larger creature if it meant it was its only means of food
I served in the Middle East, and in Arabic, their name means “Angel Face”
Saw one of these bad boys kill a small snake outside my room. Scary little buggers.
There is one poisonous species in India, it’s quite striking in appearance (kind of a bluish green and beige) and it has been scientifically proven that their saliva has paralyzed lizards (7 out of 10) very quickly. So i know of at least one poisonous species. (Rhagodes nigrocinctus)
I caught a camel spider October 20, 2011, in my house in Cottonwood, California. I vacuumed it up and it has survived for a week now. My brave daughter was able to dump the spider into a coffee can. It is still alive. I did not know it was a camel spider at the time. I had never seen anything like it in my life. When we first saw it, my first instinct was that it was not a spider at all, but kind of looked like one. My daughter found pictures of the “spider” on the internet. I have examined the creature very closely, and sure enough, it is indeed a camel spider! It is about 1 to 1.5 inches long. I just fed it a grasshopper to keep it alive. Don’t know why, it is really creepy!!! I surely hope it doesn’t have a mate around.
I live in Las Vegas I was working for a furniture moving company in summer 2010, A coworker and I were picking up some empty clothes boxes for a customer that had just moved to Henderson Nevada about 15 miles south of las Vegas from Idaho, soon as i went into the customers garage i saw something jump of a tall wardrobe box out the corner of my eye i tough I was tripping, Until the customer started screaming ! Right then i knew that i wasn’t tripping when I looked back down saw a big ass gigantic bug ! my coworker ran from the moving truck into the garage and when he seen the gigantic bug he tired to stomp on it but his feet was stuck in midair because he was tripping off the size of the insect, ( About 5 inches )
The thing was funnier after all the excitement a took a shovel and smash it ! The customer was happy but she didn’t even give us a tip after all that drama, i later found it was a camel spider on the internet. Oh yeah i was scared to go to sleep at nite for a while after that !!! Lol !!
Actually, these little guys are not poisonous at all. The bite they leave actually is simply prone to infection. No poison left at all.
to my calculations they are not harmful and run quite quick but they do no have any harmful bites either
sincerly,
dr. andrew jackson
Somebody got there facts wrong!! these spiders are VERY poisonous, a friend of mine got bitten in Iraq and almost lost her thumb from the infection the vemon caused! It dissolved the muscle of her thumb, much like a brown recluse does!!
Some of the myths and sizes are true about the camel spider, the photo of the soldiers holding it up is of two spiders, which we all know, but they are not held out to make them look bigger. They do get that big and run that fast in Iraq.
I like camel spiders we would catch them for fun some times on checkpoint for fun in Kirkuk
I was at work today and noticed a little light-brown critter running towards me, it looked (it’s dead now) like a cricket yet it moved too fast and it had two long front legs pointing up in the air while it ran. Upon further inspection along with some internet help I was able to determine the type of spider. I didn’t know those spiders lived here in the Imperial County CALIFORNIA. I work in a clean brand new buillding too.
I caught one this morning in my house. He isn’t huge but if you fed him and kept him in a big enough tank he could be. Suckers are fast! Anyone want to buy him? I can send pics…
I live in the Las Vegas Valley, and have lots of these around my house. We call them sun spiders or wind scorpions. The first one I saw scared me quite a bit, but when I found out they were non-poisonous and preyed on other bugs, including scorpions, I decided to leave them alone and let them keep my house scorpion free. The largest one I’ve seen is no more than 3″, but they are a scary sight. I understand they grow much bigger in the Mideast. They don’t like the light and usually only come out at night. I wonder if you could see them at night with a black light, like scorpions, but I’ve never tried that. I’ve seen babies the size of the one in the picture with a penny for size comparison. Though I don’t want to touch one, I think the ones we have here are beneficial and should be left alone. They are killed by the bug spray exterminators use.
I’m not sure what spider the experts are studying… i am in Iraq now and have seen many camel spiders……. two of which were as big as a Frisbee and are very aggressive……
Got these weirdos in my house and much to my surprise the first one I saw was around 3″ here
in Elizabeth, Colorado. I was hysterical really!!! I thought OMG what is this creature something FREAKY out of a Sci Fi movie??
Was too afraid to get my hand near it to kill it had to use a big shoe. These things are seriously GROSS!..hate them.. I keep finding them…
Camel Spiders are sooooo ugly & scary!!! I’m just glad the MYTHS aren’t true ^^
i just caught one i have it here at work i feed it crickets that i buy at petsmart. its about an inch long i named it chomper. this thing is a good pet and puts on a good show as soon as it spots a cricket. by the way check your shoes before you put them on…. that’s where i found this one!
I caught a 1/2 inch one of these guys one the stairs to my house (I’m a pro arthropod keeper he’s in good hands.)
my husband served in the military and we had a guy who was an amazing story teller in his company. this guy swore up and down that a camel spider got in a friend of his luggage on the trip back from Afghanistan and made it to the guys house. he then told us how his friend came home one day to find his German Sheppard ripped to shreds by a gigantic spider and they couldn’t get the thing out of the house so they had to burn it down…that right there is 1 for the history books boys
these don’t look like spiders.
they look like potato bugs. ughh they are so nasty.
I think Camel Spiders can get bigger then 2 or 6 inches because I have seen ones about as big a ping pong paddle. Those things are cool though i I like this spider way better than the Tarantula
I did not know that they numb you that’s crazy and all of you say you want them as pets your crazy to i hope i don’t come across one cause I’ll run and it will probably chase me
I realize that these *NASTY* creatures are not actually a spider, but in my own opinion, anything that consists of ‘spider-like’ characteristics is a spider and they should be dealt with accordingly(*KILLED*)! I have a disorder, if you will, called arachnid-phobia(really hate/scared of spiders), and these camel spiders don’t bring me any comfort by just knowing that it isn’t actually a “spider”.
Just thought that I would share my thoughts/feelings about them with the world. Thank you for reading and being able to understand that if I was ever to come across one, I WILL kill it, regardless if it is harmless.
CASSIE B*
NEBRASKA
I want this type of spider it is so cool, I would love to have one.
I don’t understand why you guys would want one of these creatures as a pet. Sure they are cool looking but its risky and ignorant to keep one in a cage. Not to mention it is very cruel for the spiders sake, being in such a confined space….
wow some pretty cool spiders………. YEAH RIGHT.
I found this exact same spider in my room and it was 6.5 inches. I know they aren’t poisonous, but this could take a massive chunk out of you.
Dang! Those things are HUGE! Even though they have a poisonus bite, I would LOVE to have one as a pet.
I live at Ft Irwin and I am terrified….I hate spiders my husband says that I actually have a really bad case of arachnophobia. I HATE them big or small I will freak..I basically scream and then freeze in place…I haven’t seen one and pray to God I wont.
CAMEL SPIDERS AREN’T SPIDERS. all you people commenting saying they are “disgusting mutated spiders” or “just have an extra pair of legs” ARE WRONG. they aren’t scorpions or spiders. they are their own thing. they DON’T have venom, and they are very aggressive. their bite is still painful but will not do harm. they are more correctly solifugae.
these are huge
okay people i have looked up this spider its not poisonous okay get is right they attack when they feel threatened and that’s all stop the myths okay thanks!
This is a true story. I am laughing now about this but at the time fear is what I felt.
The story goes like this, I was working on top of a USAF aircraft that was station in the middle east, cant tell you where because the location is secret… I was placing some panels on a jet that I just fixed for wing tip light problem. I started down the pilot ladder, then I noticed this thing that started toward me running very quick and then stop front legs up in attack mode, pincers stamping at me and jumping at me when got closer to the ground. I got back on top of the aircraft were I was safe from that thing (then I did not know it was a camel spider). I started to drop my tools on it but that thing was quick. It sat there with it legs up and ready to attack. I sat on the wing looking down at it waiting for someone to kill it. After half hour latter my boss trapped the spider and gave it to one of the crew chiefs to keep as a pet. I’ve seen that spider kill other things like centipedes, scorpions, and other spiders. It is all cool until someone gets bit. More to come on this story….. Jan
i just saw one today very big but not that scary. it actually ran from us. im in Kuwait. so i took a pic and left it alone. cool experience though
My boyfriend could be going to TX. for G.M. training and I as well as our cat will be going with him. I swear if I see a camel spider it will be dead. I hate all spiders. I saw a spider one time in my apt. (do not what kind.) but I screamed so loud it ran away and the guy who lives above me came running down the stairs because he thought I was be killed by someone. I will scream and then kill the thing with the heel of my shoe. No spider comes near me and live to see the next day.
These sort of spiders actually nip you and inject an anesthetic so it feels numb. Then after that, every other spider come along and eats your flesh to the bone. (and you can’t feel it due to the anesthetic type injection by the camel spider).
2 years ago i was in a “survival” trip in the Judean desert, Israel. During the trip, while walking I saw something really weird, around 4inches big “spider”, that was pretty much same color as the sand, runs really fast and it ran beside me! I was a bit scared, was getting nearer to it and it looked like a scorpion mixed with spider. I was shocked. I tried to explain people what I saw, none knew what I was talking about. I was looking it up on the internet with no success. A few years after I was talking to my friend, we somehow got to talk about my survival trip and what I saw and he told me he knows what I am talking about – “Camel Spider”, later on checking on this website for some images I had proof it was what I saw! I must say it didn’t look like an aggressive “bug”, but it is hideous looking creature that I wouldn’t want to meet ever again, unless if that bug is in a box or something.
camel spiders are my worst nightmare i hate them and i think they should be took out off the world or at least keep out off kentucky forever
No one is a worse arachnophobia than I. But it is not the “bug” I am afraid of, it is the bite that I fear. When I moved to Nevada I encountered these spider relatives; sun spiders, venagaroons, and a single extraordinary amblipygid. These creatures are so odd, ugly, and hideous, that I had to find out what they are. So I did my research at proper education web sites. I found that these creatures are nonvenomous and harmless.
Later, I caught a small sun spider (1 inch) in my house. With considerable “goose bumps” I let the little guy crawl from on hand and up my arm. Nothing to it. I took it out and let it go. Summer 2009 I saw my first “big” sun spider, with a body about 3 inches. I tried to catch it, and it bit my finger with its pincer jaws. The pain was quite startling, but no worse than some grasshopper bites I have had. The bite did not break the skin, and left no trace. This past August, the sun spiders were “running thick.” I caught one, a big one by hand. It ran up my arm into the sleeve of my tee-shirt. I was terirfied. I did not know how I could get my shirt off without hurting it! But I got it off, and found the sun spider in the arm-pit of the shirt. I made a nice home for it, and for a couple of weeks I caught all kinds of bugs and spiders for it. It seemed to be thriving. I was hoping for babies. They are literal “digging and eating machines.”
But it died for some reason and the roaches I gave it for food ate its body, leaving only those formidable jaws. This was a fascinating experience and I wish I could find a source for pet sun spiders. One last observation, when the light hit its eyes just right, they glowed with a beautiful erie green color. The only other time I recall this shade of green was of the aminita “death cap mushroom.” Please try to get over your fear and revulsion of these strange little creatures. They will not, cannot hurt you.
The camel spider looks so big because of the camera angle.
thanks for the info i am doing a report on a camel spider and this site and your comments helped me hugely thanks 😛
Saw one over in of all places-Tennessee. Northern near the border to Kentucky, it was about an inch long,and extremely rare in the east US(I’ve moved around a bit,places like Vir. And SC)and this is one of two incidents I’ve heard of here.
It was fast,yes,but what was so surprising is that it’s forward two appendages were curved downward,it moved it’s mouth mandibles as threatened,and jumped in the blink of an eye. I looked over on the porch about two feet away, readied my shoe for a death stroke,and it leaped again. Couldn’t find it,because this had been at night.(11-ish).
Uncle in the army told me they got they’re names because while they’re not poisonous,some members of the sub arachnid family solifugae(the aptly named camel spider),does indeed have a stunning effect on the bite area-and that there were stories of camel spiders chewing away at camels,but the camels didn’t feel anything,so didn’t react.(but not just named b/c there in the desert)
I’ve never heard of one being longer than 8 inches,but who knows? Hopefully they won’t spread over here,can’t see how they would.
why is it that spiders are so dangerous how come every time they bite humans is because they feel threatened but people just walk around and they try to attack because they feel there in danger well the human racist is in danger by getting bitten by these dangerous spices.
Wow that spider is huge I wonder if there are even bigger spiders out there but for now I like all spiders.
We have them in Montana. They are freaky looking things. I was walking with my friend last year and I happened to look down and saw one. I called one of my friends and told him to bring a container so I could capture it. We brought it home and I took some pictures. Sadly I did not get a chance to release it, it died a few hours later.
This year the same friend who brought the container to capture the spider found one in his bathroom. he freaked out and killed it. Then Took a picture of it.
Hello. My son and I caught a Camel spider here in Henderson, NV (Las Vegas) and he is the biggest one I have seen in this area. I dealt with them a lot in the middle east and just love all the horror stories I hear. Anyway, I have had mine for a week and two days now. It has eaten two large crickets so far. The second one was in cage with him for two days and they didn’t really bother each other. then, the camel spider decided it was time and just ate it. Ate everything but the back legs. Pretty cool.
I have these spiders at my house. They are big and very scary looking and very fast. I just found one today in my garage, and now it is in a jar. Come and get it, I will find another tomorrow. I found 2 last week, one in my bathroom, yikes time to call the exterminator.
Okay, I have read all the posts, I was in the kuwaiti desert from July 2002 – November 2002 for training then we turned right back around (3rd Infantry Division) and Left for Kuwait again in January 2003 for the invasion and both times there I saw very small camel spiders about an inch and a half and when I went outside the wire for training in 2002 and set up my Retrans site that is where I saw the BIG camel spiders. They are out there! The largest one that I saw (and killed) was camped out under my vehicle at the Retrans site because it was shady there. This beast’s body not including the legs was eight inches long!! from the tip of the pinchers to the end of the fuzzy butt, add the leg span and you have the fabeled dinner plate size that everyone says is an urban ledgend. I killed it with an OE-254 antenna pole there was no way I would be able function knowing that, that spider was crawling around my site!
My theory is (and I am in no way a zoologist) the reason you do not see the really big ones near the kabals is because we have disturbed their natural habitat. The things they like to eat like other bugs, lizards, mice etc went away because we disturbed then too. SO like any creature it is going to go where it can find the most food, and the least competition for that food. So I do believe that the famous camel spider picture of the two spiders together is in fact legit. If you look at the button indentation on the cuffed sleeve you can guage the size as those buttons on those uniforms are 3/4 of an inch long. There is no way that even if they had the spiders really close to the camera and then zoomed in, that those spiders are only a few inches long. The ones I saw in the deserts of kuwait were different sizes large and small so I just wish that people would stop trying to discredit another persons experience.
I have seen them run fast ( I did not have a speed gun so I do not a mph speed) fast enough to be very hard to catch. I saw a large one about 5 inches jump up about 2 feet in the air trying to catch a large moth. I tried to kill a smaller one in my tent on my first trip tp kuwait with a 2×4 and after htree good hit it STILL was not dead and while i am engaging the camel spider it rared up its long front feelers and made a hissing sound. I have seen the swollen discolored bite on the leg of my corporal when he was bit by a very small one. I have seen all of the camel spiders that I wish to see and I KNOW FOR A FACT that they are aggressive creatures not because of some monster movie type mythology but because EVERYTHING that I saw in the that desert was aggressive because the desert is a harsh place and aggressiveness = survival.
Renee Biswell
Formerly Sergeant Houston
My wife found a camel spider right by our front door. It is about 3 inches tip to tip. We live in a desert area on the SW side of Las Vegas, NV. It is very creepy and does hiss/click. Didn’t think i would see one here. Good to know its not dangerous.
I found one in our laundry room the other day. Very scary looking. Wish I knew then that it eats other insects and is the good guy. Was 2 inches long.
Just found this site as I was trying to identify what I thought was some kind of cross between an ant and a spider that Ive been finding at my work. Turns out its a camel spider. Who knew. Its not the 6 inch version that you can get pics of from Iraq, this is the smaller one thats underneath that pic up above. Its about the size of the tip of my pinky to the first knuckle. I live in the southwest and although this site says you can find 50 species of the camel spider in the U.S. I never really imagined finding one let alone 5 at my work in the past month. Weird.
the camel spider hisses insted of screaming.
Hi,
I have a Camel Spider and at the moment, its sat with all of its legs up in the air – like a triange position…..been like this for over a week.
Its still alive as it wiggles its abdomen when disturbed.
Does anyone know whats happening??
Please email me on: chris_may1981 [at] yahoo.co.uk
Thanks
Chris May
I grew up in West Texas, and for years I’ve been trying to get someone to identify this bug that looks like a scorpion sans tail, runs fast and will chase you while making a weird clicking noise. I think people thought I was crazy! So I finally did a dedicated search, and here they are! Good to know they aren’t actually dangerous, and it turns out they actually only chase your shadow. However, with all due respect, I must contradict one small point; they CAN jump, I’ve seen them!
i live in South Eastern Washington, and we have found camel spiders HERE as well. These spiders are spreading quickly, probably due to service men coming home or products being shipped from Mexico or southwest states. Pretty Gross. My girlfriend found 3 of them at a school and brought them home for me to see. Definitely a camel Spider.
I’m in Cottonwood, California and I captured a camel spider yesterday. (July 9th 2010) I was told by coworkers that they are not native to the United States, but the information on this website seems to show otherwise.
It *does* have 10 legs (two of which have very tiny pincers). It also is slightly aggressive, and would chase me. When it sees/hears me come up to its cage, it rears up in a defensive position. I found it after dark and it seemed to be digging and catching bugs in the gravel of my driveway, near my garage. It doesn’t seem to ever make any sounds or ‘screams’. It opens its big mouth defensively when it’s provoked/scared.
I was mostly concerned about if I should report it to someone as a non-native species, but if they’re found in Arizona and whatnot, I guess I’m safe!
As for the other comments on here…I think they got a little blown outta proportion on the internet. Don’t be afraid people ;P. Be more nervous of black widows, brown recluses, and rattlesnakes.
i caught one today in my house in Colorado, it’s just a little one, can so far the myths are being proved to be just that myths, and i think the people to put it to the test would be Adam and Jamie from myth busters.
I found one in the garage last night. Scared the crap out of me. I live in Vegas originally from Wisconsin. We don’t have insects like this in Wisconsin. I came up with a story about him. His name is Craig from Yuma AZ. he was trying to crawl out of his fathers shadow who was a door to door shoe repair man. He didn’t know that this would be his ultimate demise of the bottom of a Nike.
i was sleeping one day and i woke up and there was a camel spider that was like 7 inches next to me when i woke up i didn’t know what it was so it really scared me that’s when i asked my friend about giant spiders then she told me about camel spiders and i researched about them almost every day since
i have found a camel spider on my porch tonight and was the awful looking thing, but then again they do have a purpose ,one of them not being a pet,we live in ARIZONA and these are all over, but the first I’ve seen, but it now housed in a jar for my son’s school to learn about this and other species for his safety, I’m sure we will be seeing more of its family members soon but ,””HOPING NOT””
Hi Kandie,
I’m not an expert, but have been researching like crazy because I have found 4 in and around my house in the past week and have small children. I saw one rip the head off a black widow and immediately start chewing away.
They can be called false spiders because they are NOT a spider; no glands for silk, no injection of poison for digestion, bodies are segmented like an ant. Unlike most spiders (that digest their food outside the body and then suck it in) they have no venom! They make up for it with their aggressiveness, speed and huge jaws.
Pedipalps-their antennae that have sticky hairs and are used as front legs. (they can catch insects and climb glass with these)
Chelicerae-huge jaws with 4 scissor-like mouth knives that form a cone when closed. In relation to the size of the body, they are larger than those of any other arachnid. (this should be of comfort, they use these instead of venom- the worst a bite can do is get infected like a cut)
Here is how they eat-
Insects, sometimes still alive, are chewed into tiny pieces, they are quickly crushed, and liquefied into a wet shapeless mass. The muscles in the top of the throat suck the liquid from the mass until it is drained of its fluid and then discarded, nearly dry.
I was really relieved when I found this out. They are still super scary looking guys, but at least I know they are a predator of the black widow which poses more of a threat to my family.
I feel sorry for the fear these creatures evoke- not only for our service men, children everywhere, but for the species too. Most just want to burrow and get out of the sun. (This why they come running after your shadow- not chasing you) Still sometimes, I wish my husband would kill and not be so ecologically sensitive. I wouldn’t kill one with what I know, I just dont want to do the dirty work.
Burke Museum of Natural History & Culture, University of Washington
has a great site called spider myths, and it has link to a Nat. Geographic article which was really good.
They have provided entertainment and education for our family but I’m looking forward to the end of summer when these guys go away.
We live in eastern Montana and we have found 2 little ones in our garden. Nobody has been bitten by one thank goodness but one did crawl up my husbands leg. I freaked out and with my gloves on I grabbed it and smashed it right there. I had chills all over.
Okay,
I’ve heard they are harmless yet aggressive…numbing agent…no venom….what is the truth…
i know they eat away, legit stories saying they see chunks missing….underbellies of camels with holes that the ‘camel spider’ enjoyed….
THEY are Relatives to spiders…..so yes they can have 10 legs…well as we see them as legs
yes they can get big..but bodies are bout size of our hands…legs just emphasize how big they are…
who can tell me what the numbing agent is…i’m roaming the web…and all i get is “strong chelicerae”…and from wiki “Prey is located with the pedipalps and killed and cut into pieces by the chelicerae. The prey is then liquefied and the liquid ingested through the pharynx””
i’ve been told its like the venom of a recluse spider “”have potent tissue-destroying venoms”” that numbs and liquefies the tissue so the spider may injest it…. but in all the quick research i’ve seen so many sites say…Camel Spiders don’t have VENOM….. so….who can tell me the truth
I found 1 of these camel spiders n my bed where im stationed n bagport, the lil guy bit me n made my arm bleed n sweet up really bad, idk if i have an allergic reaction to them, but it is swelling up really bad and blood just keeps poppin out of these 2 lil holes on my arm. I covered it wit a bandage but it isn’t working, please help me!/
These things are pretty evil looking. I was stationed in Ft. Ord (Monterey, CA) in the 90’s and saw them often. First one I saw was at a MK19 range where it was primarily sandy, approaching dusk. They were only about 2-4″ long, varying each time. Very thick-bodied. Their head/face looks more like a scorpions. At first I thought they were whip scorpions until I did some research.
Their front-most legs are held up in the air more like antenna and they tend to move up and down as they walk. I’ve seen quite a few pictures of them over time and I’m pretty confident we are just looking at various species. I think that’s why people report seeing them in a wide variety of locales. While definitely freaky, I wouldn’t harass them unless they’re being belligerent towards you in close quarters.
Quincy,
As I unfortunately don’t live where camel spiders live (UK), I don’t have experience of catching them. But, if they are really fast-moving, I would try a medium sized net – about a foot across – on a long pole.
If the soil is loose sand you could push it under it, and if the soil is hard put it over it. If they are slower moving, maybe place a flat-edged container (dark) in front of it, and it will run in to escape the light.
You could also try the pitfall trap – a plastic cup sunken into the soil, the top at soil level. Put a live insect in it as a lure. Put slats of wood on the ground radiating out from the trap to guide the spiders towards it.
Of course you may trap other predators instead, so place a number of them out. Foxes often steal the bait!
I used the dark container method for catching giant centipedes – far more aggressive creatures than camel spiders.
Peejay
No, Camel Spiders (Solpugidae) are not true spiders,but are related – they are arachnids, and are therefore related to scorpions, spiders, whip scorpions (vinegaroons or grampus), mites and ticks.
They appear to have ten legs, but the front ‘legs’ are really modified mouth parts – like the claws of a scorpion.
The jaws, which they chew their food with are similar to the small jaws of scorpions – but much larger.
I have been interested in spiders for a long time and if you look closely you notice some key points to the point that it is NOT a spider, one it only has one body segment two notice the eating pattern, spiders eat by turning the insides of insects to mush and drinking it this spider actually eats it prey. also I have been trying to find a specimen for testing, do you have any tips for capturing one alive?
Awesome! There is only one speices in South America that has venom, and nobody knows if it can inject it or not.
hmm, the pictures look really scary…but when i saw it digging a hole in the video it did look kinda cute…until it ate the scorpion!
That is freakin “HUGE” and ugly!!!!!!
The camel spider can get that big because it’s very close familiar to a scorpion. Maybe the camel spider is the evolution between a spider and scorpion.
Some soldiers i know who are rebuilding Iraq, found some of those in there pants and boots. The spiders scare them almost to death.
We have these freaks of nature here in Utah….EVERYWERE!
Theyre my biggest fear!
There is also a kind of spider in Brazil that does run and scream after you and it is NOT the camel spider, but it is bigger.
People, there have been cases when someone has lost their leg in their sleep from camel spiders. What they have is some sort of venom or chemical that makes it so you don’t feel the bite.. then they eat.
Corey said:
#5. February 13th, 2007 at 3:36 pm
I want one as a pet. They look cuddly
ARE YOU CRAZY!?
I caught one about 2 inches long in Glamis CA over the weekend. Just went down there to ride and watch the Sand Rails race, and one morning I came out side of the trailer and saw a small white spider digging like Hell! And I just threw a cup over it. When I looked closer I realized that I had caught a freakin Camel Spider!! So I i took it home with me and now its living in my 10 gallon terrarium filled with Glamis sand. So far I’m just feeding it small crickets, hopefully it lives and grows to its maximum length!