Camel spiders in Iraq (Don't read if you hate spid

6pOriginal

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Camel spiders in Iraq (Don\'t read if you hate spid

Read this in another forum...


[ QUOTE ]
This is an email that was forwarded to me.

From someone stationed in Baghdad. He was recently bitten by a camel spider which was hiding in his sleeping bag. I thought you'd like to see what a camel spider looks like. It'll give you a better idea of what our troops are dealing with. Enclosed is a picture of his friend holding up two spiders.

I wonder how they taste fried???

[/ QUOTE ]
camelspider.jpg
 

GJW

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Re: Camel spiders in Iraq (Don\'t read if you hate spid

Camel spiders, also known as wind spiders, wind scorpions, and sun scorpions, are a type of arthropod found (among other places) in the deserts of the Middle East. They're technically not spiders but solifugae (although, like spiders, they belong to the class Arachnida). Camel spiders are the subject of a variety of legendary claims, many of them familiar to Americans because they were spread by U.S. servicemen who served in the Persian Gulf War in 1991, and re-spread at the beginning of the Iraq War in 2003:

Camel spiders can grow to be as large as dinner plates.

Camel spiders can traverse desert sand at speeds up to 25 MPH, making screaming noises as they run.

Camel spiders can jump several feet in the air.

Camel spiders eat the stomachs of camels, hence the name "camel spider." (Legend includes the detail that camel spiders eat camel stomachs from either the outside in or the inside out. In the former case they supposedly jump up from the ground and grab onto camels' bellies from underneath; in the latter case exactly how spiders allegedly as large as dinner plates get into camels' stomachs intact remains unexplained.)

Camel spiders are venomous, and their venom contains a powerful anesthetic that numbs their victims (thus allowing them to gnaw away at living, immobilized animals without being noticed). U.S. soldiers were said to have been attacked by camel spiders at night but remained completely unaware of their plight until they awakened in the morning to find chunks of their flesh missing.

According to most spider experts, these claims are all false.
Camel spiders (so named because, like camels, they can be found in sandy desert regions) grow to be moderately large (about a 5" leg span), but nowhere near as large as dinner plates; they can move very quickly in comparison to other arthropods (a top speed of maybe 10 MPH), but nothing close 25 MPH; they make no noise; and they capture prey without the use of either venom or anesthetic. Camel spiders rely on speed, stealth, and the (non-venomous) bite of powerful jaws to feed on small prey such as other arthropods (e.g., scorpions, crickets, pillbugs), lizards, and possibly mice or birds. They use only three pairs of legs in running; the frontmost pair (called pedipalpa) is held aloft and used in a similar manner to the antennae of insects. Camel spiders shun the sun and generally hide during the day, coming out at night to do their hunting.

Please see http://www.snopes.com/photos/bugs/camelspider.asp
 

BlindedByTheLite

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Re: Camel spiders in Iraq (Don\'t read if you hate spid

ha, you had me going with the beginning of your post. i was about to clear up the myths until i saw you already did so.

still, a very intimidating looking creature to see crawling up your cot.

take a gander @ this gal tho! definitely a dinner-plate sized spider! the pinkfoot goliath tarantula. full grown size can be over 13" /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

T-apophysis.jpg


here is a page from the same site that picture is from about camel spiders.
 

bhds

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Re: Camel spiders in Iraq (Don\'t read if you hate spid

---- me! 5" and running up to 10mph? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif
 

MichiganMan

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Re: Camel spiders in Iraq (Don\'t read if you hate spid

Ok for those keeping track, I estimate that I'll be waking up screaming around 1:30 tonight...

Yeesh!
 

FC.

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Re: Camel spiders in Iraq (Don\'t read if you hate spid

Same here. No sleep tonight /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/twakfl.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 

Jack_Crow

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Re: Camel spiders in Iraq (Don\'t read if you hate spid

Hi all,
Yeah we saw that photo here about two weeks ago.

Either way I expect to hear a burst of gun fire some night and one of those stiched to the ground.

Damm they are ugly bugs.

From a wonderful part of the third world.

Jack Crow in Iraq
 

shankus

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Re: Camel spiders in Iraq (Don\'t read if you hate spid

That's the color, and general shape of these things they wrongly call vinegaroons here in the Mojave desert. Only an inch and a half or so, though.

What are those tack looking things in the back of low spider on the totem pole?
 

chiaroscuro

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Re: Camel spiders in Iraq (Don\'t read if you hate spid

Shelob lives! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/faint.gif
 

BlindedByTheLite

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Re: Camel spiders in Iraq (Don\'t read if you hate spid

bhds..

dude! that thing must have got into some soldiers barracks and drank outta the coffee pot!
 

Turt

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Re: Camel spiders in Iraq (Don\'t read if you hate spid

Maybe we need to ship some Industrial strength Raid in our next shipment through operation enlightenment. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif
 

illumiGeek

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Re: Camel spiders in Iraq (Don\'t read if you hate spid

And they EAT Scorpions! Cool! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

I just finished my taxes; only slightly less painful than being bit by one of these. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mecry.gif
 

Greta

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Re: Camel spiders in Iraq (Don\'t read if you hate spid

Yep... we have those here. We call them sun spiders.

Arachnology

I keep a can of Raid handy for thes guys cuz they are REALLY messy when you squash them... and while they really don't bother me too much, the mess they make when you hit them with a shoe really makes me queasy... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif
 

JackBlades

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Re: Camel spiders in Iraq (Don\'t read if you hate spid

I had one of those caught in a jar several years ago. It would DEVOUR a june bug dropped into the jar. And yes, they are very fast. I've never seen one over 1.5" long, though.
 

Greta

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Re: Camel spiders in Iraq (Don\'t read if you hate spid

Jack... I've seen them up to about 2.5 inches here... that's the body. The "leg-span" on that nasty was out to about 4.5 inches. Yeah... big bugger! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif
 

Hobo

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Re: Camel spiders in Iraq (Don\'t read if you hate spid

A very nice looking spider. I'd love to see one in person. No deserts around where I live, though.
 

Unicorn

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Re: Camel spiders in Iraq (Don\'t read if you hate spid

If you look at the picture closely, the spiders are only about 3-4 inches long, not oncluding the legs. Compare it to the 1SG's sleeve, and the part of his hand that is visible. His sleeve is folded back at the seam, and the cuff is about 3 inches. It's just the way the picture was taken. The US flag on his right shoulder is 3X5, but looks tiny compared to his sleeve.
From what we were told when we arrived in Kuwait was that they have a top speed of 10 mph, are really some sort of a cross of a spider and a scorpion, and really aren't verry agressive. They like the shade of course, and will follow it. This sometimes leads to the impression of being chased by one when a person moves, and the spider moves with him to stay in the shade.
 

Ginseng

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Re: Camel spiders in Iraq (Don\'t read if you hate

Yecccchhhhhh! I did NOT need to see that picture.
.
.
.
.
still got the creepy goose bumps. Ick!

Wilkey
 

6pOriginal

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Re: Camel spiders in Iraq (Don\'t read if you hate

Sorry.....but you've been warned, well...sort of, the subject line is not long enough for me to enter all the words... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
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