this post was submitted on 23 Apr 2024
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Solifugae - aka. Camel spiders became an Internet sensation during the Iraq war of 2003, when rumors of their bloodthirsty nature began to circulate online (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted 6 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 20 points 6 months ago (5 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 10 points 6 months ago

The best part of ^that post is that it's posted by "grasshopper_mouse", a comparably weird desert critter!

[–] [email protected] 8 points 6 months ago (1 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 months ago (1 children)

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?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 months ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago

Camel spiders are most closely related to centipedes IIRC

[–] [email protected] 15 points 6 months ago (1 children)

This picture made its way around the internet, thoroughly horrifying most of us.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago (2 children)

The apparent size, as I understood, was a tick of the camera lens. They aren't really that large.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 months ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago

That picture is two of them together. They do get pretty big though.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 6 months ago

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?

[–] [email protected] 10 points 6 months ago (1 children)

They are also famous for chasing people because they want to hide in their shadows.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 6 months ago

This happened to me in PSAB and scared the living shit out of me. They lift their front legs as they run at you.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I dont care what you say, BURN IT.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 months ago (1 children)

.. Why? They seem harmless to humans.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Did you not hear me? I do nit care, BURN THEM.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 months ago

It would be a great pity if you also got burnt in that fire but not a total surprise.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 6 months ago

On the plus side, it's big enough that I can justify shooting it