Solifugae - aka. Camel spiders became an Internet sensation during the Iraq war of 2003, when rumors of their bloodthirsty nature began to circulate online
Solifugae - aka. Camel spiders became an Internet sensation during the Iraq war of 2003, when rumors of their bloodthirsty nature began to circulate online
Here's a few rumors I heard about camel spiders while deployed to Iraq from '05 - '06:
They can run up to 25 mph
They can grow to the size of house cats
They aren't actually spiders or scorpions, they're their own weird type of insect, which leads some people to believe they're aliens
When they bite you, they inject you with a poison that numbs the bitten area, so you can't even tell you got bit
They will climb into your bunk at night and clip your hair with their jaws to line their nests
If you see a camel spider, don't shoot it because you're more likely to accidentally shoot your foot than the spider
The best part of ^that post is that it's posted by "grasshopper_mouse", a comparably weird desert critter!
I knew a guy who knew a guy who had a friend who was in Iraq around the same time and he said his friend spotted a camel spider running toward them on its hind legs. He unloaded on it with a SAW and blew off a few limbs but it still didn't die!
-a totally true story, I'm sure
I believe it! :)
I did see a guy beat what was supposedly a baby camel spider with a pushbroom, and it didn't die, so he grabbed a foot locker and dropped it on top of it, and that definitely killed it.
They will climb into your bunk at night and clip your hair with their jaws to line their nests
That's kind of a weird rumor to start considering military men don't have hair. I guess maybe it's to scare the ladies?
I dunno, I'm a lady and it didn't scare me. Most male soldiers had a high n' tight haircut, which leaves longer hair on the top of the head, about an inch in length at most. Also, barbers weren't exactly readily available all the time, and hair regulations kind of went out the window depending on your location in county.
When they bite you, they inject you with a poison that numbs the bitten area, so you can't even tell you got bit
I mean, that sounds like a plus.
Camel spiders are most closely related to centipedes IIRC
This picture made its way around the internet, thoroughly horrifying most of us.
The apparent size, as I understood, was a tick of the camera lens. They aren't really that large.
Right. They're using lens foreshortening to make it appear much larger. But we didn't know that back then until after furiously googling in terror after seeing that picture.
That picture is two of them together. They do get pretty big though.
The Wikipedia page makes them seem pretty mundane. Desert bugs that est other bugs and carrion. Most are apparently the size of scorpions or tarantulas?
They are also famous for chasing people because they want to hide in their shadows.
This happened to me in PSAB and scared the living shit out of me. They lift their front legs as they run at you.
I dont care what you say, BURN IT.
.. Why? They seem harmless to humans.
Did you not hear me? I do nit care, BURN THEM.
On the plus side, it's big enough that I can justify shooting it