The camel spider might just be the most misunderstood arachnid on the satellite . Also known as a wind scorpion , it ’s neither a wanderer nor a Scorpio .
What is a camel spider?
The camel wanderer is an eight - leggedarachnid , but it ’s not a true spider . Belonging to the social club Solifugae , it sits between spider and scorpion as a separate group within the arachnids , and despite having a reputation for chasing people , it ’s really not that scary .
Camel spider size
Camel spider went viral during the Iraq war of 2003 as photos exhibit them hanging from troops ’ uniform elongate to almost half the distance of a man . These image were the outcome of imitation view , as the camel wanderer only grows to around 5 centimeter ( 2 inches ) in body length .
Considering most household spiders ’ body size are around a twosome of centimeters , that ’s pretty expectant , but they ’re not the giantSkull Island - esque organisms they ’re made out to be online . One affair that is mega about them is their jaw size , with thelargest chelicerae for body sizeof any of the animals that have these specialized mouthparts . That includes horseshoe crabs , ocean spiders , and arachnids , but the camel spider bite is n’t all it ’s cracked up to be .
Camel spider bite
Get on its nerves and a camel spider will have no problem bite you , and it can be painful , but it wo n’t harm you . Camel spider have no malice , despite what The Internet might say , so any pain you experience is from bite force out alone .
Their diet consists of insects , rodents , lizards , and small snort , and a camel spider kills its quarry by liquidize it with digestive fluids . After all , why waste your energy on mastication when you may just slurp up a weevil smoothy ?
How fast can a camel spider run?
While camel spider can run very fast , they ’re nowhere near the rumored 25 miles per hour you ’ll see on Reddit . “ The maximal speeding cited in scientific author is 10 nautical mile per hour [ 16 km / h ] , and the only accurately measured speed I could ascertain were less than 1 Swedish mile per time of day [ 1.6 kilometer / h ] , ” explainedCurator of Arachnids at the Burke Museum , Rod Crawford .
Camel spider are also famous for chase after people , something that if you ’re not expect it can understandably be quite alarming . The innocent truth is that they have no interest in you , only the fantasm you ’re casting , as their nameSolifugae come from the Latinfor " those that fly from the sun " . There are somegreat videosof camel spiders seek spook in this way .
Do camel spiders screech?
As for the “ screech ” of the camel spider ? We regret to inform you that no , these arachnids can not squeak . They can , however , make a humble strait that is used during aggression display , called stridulating .
Stridulation is the bit of making sound by itch together sure body parts and it ’s a behavior go steady perhaps most excellently in crickets . Some of the Solifugae can stridulate using their chelicerae – the pair appendages in front of the mouth – but it creates more of a clicking than a shrieking .
While the idea of aspidershrieking as it tag you is very mirthful , the camel spider is a much chiller arachnid than the picture its reputation paint , and world have little to fear from them . With no venom , what ’s the harm in bring a fellow Earth resident a little shade ? Being a parasol is fashion cooler than being an arachnid slayer .
The camel spider is really just a shade-loving smoothie-enjoyer.Image credit: RMMPPhotography / Shutterstock.com
