Description: Viral image
Circulating since: April 2004
Status: Authentic image / Inaccurate text
Text example:
Email contributed by Kim N., April 7, 2004:
FW: Camel Spider found in Iraq -- This is a huge spider!!!!
Yuck. I sure am glad we don't have these here. Although we probably will after this war...
This picture is a perfect example of why you don't want to go to the desert. These are 2 of the biggest I've ever seen. With a vertical leap that would make a pro basketball player weep with envy (they have to be able to jump up on to a camels stomach after all), these bastards latch on and inject you with a local anesthesia so you can't feel it feeding on you. They eat flesh, not just suck out your juices like a normal spider.
Analysis: The photo appears to be authentic. The same cannot be said of the accompanying text, however, which reiterates a tall tale circulating since the beginning of the Iraq war.
Fact: A 'camel spider' isn't really a spider
This scary-looking creature (actually, what you see in the photo is a pair of scary-looking creatures dangling end-to-end) is indeed commonly called a camel spider (also a "wind scorpion"), but in fact it's neither a spider (entomologists know it as a solifugid or solpugid), nor is it exclusively found in the Middle East. Camel spiders reside in arid locations all over the world, including the southwestern United States.
Fact: Camel spiders aren't venomous or a threat to human beings
A typical specimen can grow to about the size of a child's hand, but, though they are known as predators and can kill insects and very small animals, camel spiders are neither venomous nor a threat to human beings.
For the record, they don't eat camels, either.
See also: U.K. Family Says Camel Spider Killed Their Dog
More outrageous animals:
• Hoax Quiz: Can YOU Spot the Fakes???
• Image Gallery: Crazy Critters!
• Photo Fakery: Animals & Insects
Share This Article
Sources and further reading:
Deadly Scorpions, Camel Spiders and Snakes...
U.S. Marine Corps News, 17 April 2003Spider Myths: Horrors of the Desert (Camel Spider)
From the Spider Myths SiteFact Sheet: Camel Spiders
Force Health Protection & Readiness Website, 29 December 2010Egyptian Giant Solpugid (Camel Spider)
National GeographicThe Arachnid Order Solifugae
Scientific information on solifugids (or solpugids, e.g. camel spiders) from Solpugid.comCamel Spider - The Official Arachnid of Gulf War II
From the Lycos Top 50, 7 April 2003
Last updated: 07/27/11
