# You thought T blondi's were big!



## Chris V (Apr 2, 2004)

My cousin sent this me. He has friends stationed in Iraq but I dont know if they sent this to him or he found this on the internet. He called them "Camel spiders".


----------



## scorpio (Apr 2, 2004)

Thats a solfugid.  They arent really that large I dont think.


----------



## cotton (Apr 2, 2004)

looks like a shed is still attached to its body.


----------



## sansoucie (Apr 3, 2004)

THAT is one thing I wouldn't keep as a pet.. icky looking. Never seen or heard of one. It looks BIG from the pic! I can add that to the many many reasons I am NEVER going to the middle east


----------



## Mr Ed (Apr 3, 2004)

Camel spiders are really hated and feared in the military.  I've never personally had any dealings with them, but have heard lots of horror stories about critters. When I got back after operation Iraqi Freedom at Ft. Bragg, there were a few soldiers there with injuries from these guys.  Supposedly they will bite/anesthetize an area and then eat the anesthetized tissue.  Most often its fingers, toes and other soft tissue.  One guy had the tip of one of his toes eaten, whil another guy lost the tip of his nose.  I've never seen any of these injuries, but have heard lots of incidences like this.  Then again, it could be just an "urban" legend, who knows.


----------



## cotton (Apr 3, 2004)

Urban legend to be sure, Camel spiders arent dangerous to humans unless you were to grab ahold of one, and even then they would just give you a good nip.


----------



## sansoucie (Apr 3, 2004)

Don't care if it's harmless.... that is a horribly scary looking and ugly thingy and I would soil myself if I found one in my tent.


----------



## DnKslr (Apr 3, 2004)

EEEWWW! Is that what those egg depositing creatures from "Alien" were modeled from?


----------



## Anansi (Apr 3, 2004)

I found a smaller one (about 3 inches) under a rock in the mountains once...Those things are soooo gross...


----------



## Mr Ed (Apr 3, 2004)

Oh I agree with you Cotton, I've never seen any injuries from them, I've just heard the rumors and was recalling a few.  Before we went down range some of the soldiers that had gone over before really played them up as being bad.  I guess just another incident of giving an arachnid a bad name.


----------



## Walter (Apr 3, 2004)

Do camel spiders eat a camel's stomach until its intestines fall out? 

Camel Spiders: The Official Arachnids of Gulf War II 

Camel Spiders


----------



## Lopez (Apr 3, 2004)

I'd love to keep solifugids as a pet. They are hyperactive, and have enormous appetites. Plus they have to be one of the coolest looking arachnids on the block.
Unfortunately they have extremely short lifespans 

PS this needs moving to the "Other Arachnids" forum


----------



## Immortal_sin (Apr 3, 2004)

we found quite a few at the ATS conference last year. They are really cool to watch running across the desert...and they are FAST! And they are voracious predators. We didn't pick any up to bring home though, as Lopez mentioned, their lifespans are just way too short.


----------



## JohnxII (Apr 3, 2004)

Oh! I think this is where H R Giger got the idea of "Face Huggers" from...


----------



## G_Wright (Apr 3, 2004)

Diane S said:
			
		

> EEEWWW! Is that what those egg depositing creatures from "Alien" were modeled from?



H R gigers aliens were mainly based on Termites Well in the second film they were


----------



## Love to Foxtrot (Apr 3, 2004)

*Solfugids*

I kept an adult Solfugid native to the U.S. for several months, and I loved him! He was so mean I used a wire coat hanger to remove/replace his water dish because he would try to run up my tweezers.    He looked just like those in the picture, just somewhat smaller. In fact, I do not think that they are ugly, I think they are one of the best looking arachnids. He ate very well for me and would dig a new burrow all night every night. They are extremely fascinating creatures to keep, and I would love to have another one.  

Aubrey


----------



## K MUELLER (Apr 3, 2004)

:?  Looks like something from ''ALIENS'', as if our troops don't have enough enemy's to deal with!!!


----------



## krtrman (Apr 3, 2004)

H R Geiger's design for the face hugger in the Alien series was actuallly based on various sexual parts of the female body. the theme of Bio-Mechanical sexual images was the reason he was hired to design the creature. if you look closely at the creature you can see what i mean.


----------



## who stole fred (Apr 3, 2004)

I take it thats a fake pic?


----------



## sansoucie (Apr 3, 2004)

I would like to see a better pic of them, cause to me they are hideous! I have never seen or heard of a camel spider! You say short life span... how short are we talking here?


----------



## Peloquin (Apr 3, 2004)

Solifuge are quite hard to keep in captivity.The longest I've ever had one for is just under 18 months.
 The first one I had was given to me and I was still new to the hobby.I didn't realise quite how fast they are (no internet in them days sonny)and somehow got a little nip from it.Bloody hell they can bite hard.
 Awesome creatures though.I'll be getting a couple more in a few weeks.
Does anyone know if they can be kept communially?


----------



## sansoucie (Apr 3, 2004)

definately keep us updated and send some pics. 

I remember the pre internet days fellow oldster! LOL! When if you were interested in Entomology in any form ya had to pay an arm and a leg to join a society or go to college to get in the know 

18 months is way to short.. what longevity do they average in the wild?


----------



## JohnxII (Apr 3, 2004)

For those who want more camel spider pix/info, I found a link.

As for the Face Hugger design, yes it's the human spinal cord + human female genital as the "mouth", but the legs are very tarantulary. In fact, I remember one of the scenes where someone was examining a dead specimen, and the poking of the sternum resulted in spidery leg contractions.


----------



## Palespider (Apr 3, 2004)

All this "eww"" and "gross" reminds me of some of the reactions I got for my T's in the past.  


Todd Gearheart has a great page on these at his site:
http://www.tarantulaspiders.com/pages/solifugid.htm

Very fascinating creatures.
Jim B.


----------



## Angelo (Apr 3, 2004)

man those things are way gnarly! i think there totally cool. i dont know much about them but i think that im going to look into keeping one. well first im gonna find out alot more about them. cool pic!


----------



## Peloquin (Apr 3, 2004)

Some of those links are cool.According to a few of the sites, the lifespan ranges from 12 months to approx 5 years, depending on the species.
They are definately worth getting.A couple of points to remember with them are:-
You need a large enclosure, they are constantly moving.
Loads of food, they never stop eating.
Dry substrate and a small water dish-this is what almost every site says about them but the one I had for a while used to have water tipped in 1 corner of the tank once every couple of weeks so that the sand would stick a little so it could burrow.I used a theory that because they eat so much, if the food was well hydrated, the Sol. would get all the water it needed from them.


----------



## danfekar (Apr 3, 2004)

Those are cool looking arachnids   

I don't think it looks THAT big though. It definately looks like a shed exuvium is still attached to it, and if you compare it to the hand and the sleeve in the right/upper right corner of the picture it doesn't look very big at all.

I'm still going for the blondi for size   

Regards, 
Dan J


----------



## Angelo (Apr 3, 2004)

BTW what do they eat. crix and stuff?


----------



## Love to Foxtrot (Apr 3, 2004)

*food*

Mine used to eat large crickets very well. I never fed him anything else, and he seemed pretty healthy and active until he died of old age.  

Aubrey


----------



## sansoucie (Apr 3, 2004)

Palespider said:
			
		

> All this "eww"" and "gross" reminds me of some of the reactions I got for my T's in the past.



Can't help it.... all I could envision was waking up with it in a tent with me! Eww gross nothing, I'd be scream run stomp piss myself..... and THEN come around to the Oh cool maybe this would be neat in a collection stage  :}


----------



## blackacidevil (Apr 4, 2004)

G_Wright said:
			
		

> H R gigers aliens were mainly based on Termites Well in the second film they were



I thought the original "Alien" was inspired by a certain kind of copepod from "the Deep Sea".....or so it says in the Blue Planet DVD.


----------



## Wade (Apr 4, 2004)

The picture isn't fake, it's just extremely foreshortened. Someone is holding them with a pair of pliers up to the camera. Don't pay any attention to the solider behind them, as he's probably further in the background than he appears. For size reference, check out the shirt cuff and part of a hand on the right side. The critters are probably in the 5-6" legspan range. 

I believe it is clearly two animals, one biting the other. I remember hearing that soliders would catch and stage fights (and possibly bet on them) with solifugids to kill time. Possibly, this is what was going on when the picture was taken. Being extremely pugnatious and voracious, they are more than willing to attack one annother when placed together.

The animals pictured are likley the genus Galeodes, wich containtains the largest members of the order Solifugae. These do come into the pet trade from time to time, but as others have mentioned they don't live long. Although this may be partially husbandry related, I think it's mostly due to a naturally short lifespan. The exporters collect the largest individuals, which are probably also the oldest and nearest to the end. Unfortunately, there has been almost no captive breeding at all of these. The little success that has been had has been with the NA genus Eremobates, smaller than the middle eastern ones but impressive nonetheless. If captive breeding procedures could be established, these could become a part of the hobby much as mantids have.

The movie monsters that were most inspired by solifugids have to be those things from "Starship Troopers". Anybody remember them?

Wade


----------



## abstract (Apr 7, 2004)

So the question is....who sells 'em?


----------



## Wade (Apr 7, 2004)

From time to time, I've seen them offered by Regal Reptiles, Glades Herp, and Todd Gearheart, among others. Todd was offering some very unusual ones awhile back, but I'm not sure who is selling any now. I suspect their availability is very seasonal.

Wade


----------



## Eurypterid (Apr 7, 2004)

Wade said:
			
		

> The movie monsters that were most inspired by solifugids have to be those things from "Starship Troopers". Anybody remember them?
> 
> Wade


I agree. The first time I ever saw one I was about 6 years old. I was digging in a harvester ant mound (don't ask) in Arizona, and I uncovered one. They apparently often prey on the ants and bury themselves in the loose sand of their mounds during the day. When this thing emerged it was, well, not happy. It immediately began grabbing ants in its chelicerae and tearing them in half. It would pick one up in both chelicerae, spread its chelicerae apart (ripping the ant in half), immediately drop the two halves and grab another ant. The ants began attacking, but even though they outnumbered the critter by the hundreds, and have a very nasty sting (with the highest LD-50 of any insect) it just mowed through them. It really did look just like one of those "Starship Troopers" bugs ripping through the soldiers. A very cool bug, and most definitely not gross.

Gary


----------



## abstract (Apr 7, 2004)

These guys are SPAZZES!

Look what I found (video):

http://www.ecologicproductions.com/video_projects/TSCK/endangered/TSCK_spider.html


----------



## FelixA9 (Apr 7, 2004)

So what are those little "shark tooth" looking things on the rear leg/abdomen area?  They were one of the first things I noticed and surprisingly nobody has asked about them.  Anybody know what they are? :?


----------



## Nikos (Apr 8, 2004)

FelixA9 said:
			
		

> So what are those little "shark tooth" looking things on the rear leg/abdomen area?  They were one of the first things I noticed and surprisingly nobody has asked about them.  Anybody know what they are? :?


 these  are the fangs and are on the front side not the rear....


----------



## FelixA9 (Apr 8, 2004)

vardoulas said:
			
		

> these  are the fangs and are on the front side not the rear....


Yuck, yuck, yuck.  Maybe you ought to look at the picture and actually read what I wrote and work a little on the comprehension while you're at it.


----------



## Wade (Apr 13, 2004)

They're called malleoli or "racguet organs" and are sensory in nature (chemoreception), probably simmilar in function to the pectines of scorpions. The solfugids can often be seen probing and brushing the groud with them as they move about.

Wade


----------



## Mendi (Apr 13, 2004)

Here is a link to someone holding one. I think this is pretty much the max in size as well. 

http://unpa.org/photogallery/op-iraqi-freedom/64 Camel spider.JPG

There's a lot of false information out there on these, though I'm sure they would give you a nasty bite should you step on one in the dark. Someone did have a lot of fun with photoshop fixing that hoaxed one though


----------



## Wade (Apr 13, 2004)

Mendi said:
			
		

> . Someone did have a lot of fun with photoshop fixing that hoaxed one though


Which hoaxed one? The one that started the thread?

Again, I'm pretty sure it's real, just taken at close range making them appear large in relation to the soldiers in the background. I don't think this was done to deliberately missrepresent the size, or else the hoaxter would have taken the time to crop the hand, shirt sleeve cuff and pliers out of the picture (all of which can plainly seen on the right side of the photo)! Compared with those objects, an estimated legspan of 5-6" is reasonable and not at all unusual for Galoedes.

Wade


----------



## Mendi (Apr 13, 2004)

Yeah, the one that started the thread... I don't know if it was camera position or editing but it was done to be a misrepresent the critters size


----------



## Wade (Apr 13, 2004)

If the intention was to missrepresent the size, why would they leave the hand in the picture? It's a dead giveaway as to the real size of the animals, and it woul be easy to remove. I know nothing about manipulating photos with photoshop, but even I know how to crop a photo. 

I think the reason the photo is being passsed all over the internet is because the first impression is that they're much bigger, due to the foreshortening cased by the close range. I think this effect was accidental, it appears to me that they're being held very close to the camera, possibly by the photographer himself. The popular interest in this photo is a result of viewers focusing on the critters themselves in relation to the soldiers in the background and overlooking the clues indicating the real size. Clues that even the most incompetent hoaxter could have easily removed.

Wade


----------



## FelixA9 (Apr 13, 2004)

Mendi said:
			
		

> Yeah, the one that started the thread... I don't know if it was camera position or editing but it was done to be a misrepresent the critters size



No it wasn't.  All they were doing was holding them up for the camera and saying "look".  Any comments of "wow look how huge" by those who did NOT take the picture come from not knowing how to interpret a photograph.  Consider also that the soldiers are American.  The US isn't exactly overflowing with huge spiders so something that large likely has some of the novelty effect in there too to account for the enthusiasm.  And yes I know "that large" is not Blondi sized.  The combination of oddness, size, and ferocity of the little devils accounts for the stories and exagerations.  No need to insult those taking the picture by trying to make them out as hoaxters.


----------



## Eurypterid (Apr 17, 2004)

krtrman said:
			
		

> H R Geiger's design for the face hugger in the Alien series was actuallly based on various sexual parts of the female body. the theme of Bio-Mechanical sexual images was the reason he was hired to design the creature. if you look closely at the creature you can see what i mean.


While I don't doubt that he added his own bio-mechanical sexual touch to the overall look, I believe the face hugger was based on a parasitic animal called a pentastomid. They are small parasites usually in found in the lungs or nasal passages of vertebrates, especially reptiles. In the adult form some species (such as _Cephalobaena_) look almost exactly like the face hugger in miniature.

Gary


----------



## Mendi (Apr 18, 2004)

FelixA9 said:
			
		

> No it wasn't.  All they were doing was holding them up for the camera and saying "look".  Any comments of "wow look how huge" by those who did NOT take the picture come from not knowing how to interpret a photograph.  Consider also that the soldiers are American.  The US isn't exactly overflowing with huge spiders so something that large likely has some of the novelty effect in there too to account for the enthusiasm.  And yes I know "that large" is not Blondi sized.  The combination of oddness, size, and ferocity of the little devils accounts for the stories and exagerations.  No need to insult those taking the picture by trying to make them out as hoaxters.



It's made the list at *Snopes Urban Legands Camel Spider* 

*Below is sited from the above page* 


> "Although whatever is depicted in the photograph above appears to be far too large for camel spiders, the creatures might just look unusually large because they were held close to the camera, creating an illusion of exaggerated size. However, since we don't know the source of the picture, we can't yet rule out the possibility that some other misdirection was involved (e.g., digital manipulation, a misdescription of what the photograph depicts, some soldiers goofing around with plastic figures or something else spider-shaped, etc.). "



Sure, it well could have started just as you say, but someone, maybe even one of the soldiers saw the "appeal" or in this case the "gross shocking effect" it has, in which means most people aren't going to spend more than a few seconds looking at the strange little arachnids analysing it and sent it out to FOAFOAFs that were likely to forward emails... And it worked very well, as it has gotten the desired effects and has been forwarded likely all over the world. And maybe only 10% of the people would spend more than 15-20 seconds looking at it before the heebie-jeebies sets in. I knew what it was as soon as I received it, maybe 5-6 days before made it here. Whichever, I'm pretty sure who ever sent it out online that time was looking for a sensation

Have you never heard of Claire Squire..? It is a pretty well known occurance for any email to be forwarded for sensational effects, and this picture, I could bet, made it around the world faster than Claire's personal email discussing the certain tastes

Just because they are soldiers doesn't mean they don't have the desire to be the someone that let *"the cat out of the bag"*

Just my take on it, and I had it as soon as the 1st time I got it... 

~my $0.02 subject~


----------



## Wade (Apr 21, 2004)

The size and appearance of Galeodes is such that it is shocking to nearly anyone who sees them for the first time, especially those who are not already fammiliar with large arachnids. Show an uninitiated newbie a T. blondi with a 10-inch leg span, and in the retelling it will become as big as a manhole cover! This is not a deliberate attempt to distort the truth, but an uncosious trick of the mind.  The first time I saw a giant centipede, I swore the thing was 18" long. Looking back (with several years of centipede experience under my belt), I'm now certain that my first impression was wrong and the animal was probably about half that leangth, but the foot and a half monster lingers in my memory.

The point is, I doubt any soldier or photographer visiting the region would feel any pressing need to exagerate the size of these animals deliberately, because they really are freaking huge (I know, I've kept them). If they get bigger in the retelling, it's only because of the impression they make on the minds of the people who see them for the first time.

The stories and legends circulating with the picture is a whole seperate issue. While nothing about that picture itself suggests it's a fake, the stories attached to it obviously are, although I have to wonder if most of them are just local "old wives tales" passed on to the gullible forigners. The snopes site is full of examples of real photos with bogus descriptions. I don't doubt that the reason this photo is being passed around is the sensational nature of the stories combined with the unintentionally misleading image.

Wade


----------



## princess_lover (May 21, 2004)

*hmm*

i got this picture sent to my via chain latter..  so i dunno whats going on i got it about a month ago.. it said something like the biggest spider in the world or something to that effect. But then i found it somewhere on the net and it was actully two of them together.. thats what they gave as an explaination.. so i might have gotten the wrong info.. or something but i don't think your brother's friends are in the pic.. or maybe they are.. i have no i dea


----------



## Highlander (Jun 1, 2004)

Man I agree with Sansoucie if I were to see one of those guys it would freak the hell out of me!


----------



## MANSON (Jul 13, 2004)

Chris V said:
			
		

> My cousin sent this me. He has friends stationed in Iraq but I dont know if they sent this to him or he found this on the internet. He called them "Camel spiders".


http://www.gophergas.com/funstuff/camelspider.htm


----------



## Mendi (Jul 13, 2004)

Here is a site where someone is using the illusion the picture gives about the size of these things to get completely false information just to make a $1


http://www.buckstix.com/camelspider.htm


At this place, there has been some photoshopping on the original as there is a new tape measure adding to the illusion. I hope he loses money on all his products, spreading lies like this


----------



## Wade (Jul 14, 2004)

What's funny is that it's obviously the same picture shown twice, the second time with a VERY BADLY photoshopped tape measure. That site is soooo bad that I almost wonder if it's intended as a total joke. At least the overall badness should be a warning to the unwary.

Wade


----------



## MilkmanWes (Jul 14, 2004)

Wade said:
			
		

> What's funny is that it's obviously the same picture shown twice, the second time with a VERY BADLY photoshopped tape measure. That site is soooo bad that I almost wonder if it's intended as a total joke. At least the overall badness should be a warning to the unwary.
> 
> Wade


IMHO the guy is a wannabe gaffer - someone who shows off the odities and abhorations of nature even if it means sewing a monkey to a fish and calling it a Fiji Mermaid. This is a form of entertainment that is very old. It involves illusion, story telling, and con artistry. This guy is just a bit more hackneyed at it than most.

You start with a sensational story - Camel Spider and it's habits. You expand on it by creating the story of the nests and add details that give you credibility. You then present the eggs from the nest to the oohs and ahhs of the audience and describe them that except for careful treatment it is a vertiable time bomb. Then for one low cost and a promise of following strict instructions for the good of all mankind lest a monster be unleashed on you and your loved ones you too can amaze your friends with your daring and cunning at owning this monster of nature. Sounds familiar right? In fact some kid traded a cow for some of these once which is why this would be classified as a Magic Beans Gimmick IIRC.

This guy isn't all that good at it, but it is nothing but a new take on a very very old theme that made such people as PT Barnum and Ripleys rich.


----------



## Runaway987 (Jul 14, 2004)

Lol i like the "male and female egg so you can have both sexes!!!" part...


----------



## Fergrim (Jul 14, 2004)

oh my freaking god.


----------



## Alex S. (Jul 14, 2004)

Thats just sad...

Alex S.


----------



## LAking (Jul 15, 2004)

Wade said:
			
		

> What's funny is that it's obviously the same picture shown twice, the second time with a VERY BADLY photoshopped tape measure. That site is soooo bad that I almost wonder if it's intended as a total joke. At least the overall badness should be a warning to the unwary.
> 
> Wade


What's even funnier is that all of you seem to think this CLEAR attempt at a joke is something real. Come ON!!!! The guy is making a joke. Did you even bother looking at the page that tells you HOW you can get a T-shirt? 

Maybe this gives it away:
"If you submit a "Outlandish Story" about the Camel Spider ..... you can buy a T-shirt ..... 
If you submit an "Unbelievable Exaggerated Fact" about Camel Spiders ..... you can buy a T-shirt ..... 
If you submit a "Convincing tail of a Hoax" that's true ..... you can buy a T-shirt ..... 
If you can "Make Something Up" that "Outlandish but Believable" ..... you can buy a T-shirt ....."

Some people are sooooo gullible. Not all negative stories about inverts are meant to be taken seriously you know. Some are jokes...you know....HA HA funny?

Check out this part of the same web page:
"How to Hunt Wisconsin Whitetail Deer with a
12 pound Mountain Howitzer Cannon
.... by Buck Stix "


----------



## LAking (Jul 15, 2004)

Eurypterid said:
			
		

> While I don't doubt that he added his own bio-mechanical sexual touch to the overall look, I believe the face hugger was based on a parasitic animal called a pentastomid. They are small parasites usually in found in the lungs or nasal passages of vertebrates, especially reptiles. In the adult form some species (such as _Cephalobaena_) look almost exactly like the face hugger in miniature.
> 
> Gary


Based on everything this "Alien" fan has seen and read i can safely say the face hugger was completely designed by Giger and not based on any real life organism. The original screenplay author came up with the basic idea of an alien that "screws" the victim and is thus brought on board the ship before it bursts out of the persons chest. However, Giger did all the visual designing. In fact the author had even met Giger and seen his work before he ever finished the screenplay. Giger decided to add fingers as the legs of the creature because he always thought creatures with human hands were scary. You can see a lot of hands and fingers in much of his art. The "mouth" was suppose to be a vagina-like orifice with a penis-like tube that penetrates the victims mouth. Sorry about the graphic descriptions but that's just how they were designed. Hope i'm not offending anyone. 

EDIT: BTW, i finally found a picture of the organism you are talking about and it looks nothing like a face hugger. It looks much like a tape worm actually.


----------



## Wade (Jul 15, 2004)

LAking said:
			
		

> What's even funnier is that all of you seem to think this CLEAR attempt at a joke is something real. Come ON!!!! The guy is making a joke. Did you even bother looking at the page that tells you HOW you can get a T-shirt?
> 
> Maybe this gives it away:
> "If you submit a "Outlandish Story" about the Camel Spider ..... you can buy a T-shirt .....
> ...


These lines have been added to the site very recently, like since yesterday. I'm thinking he got alot of complaints, and now is covering his butt by pretending it was a joke all along. Also,when the link was first posted, there was no mention of the shirts and eggs being sold out, they were simply being offfered  for sale.

Wade


----------



## Mendi (Jul 15, 2004)

You're right about that Wade, none of this was there when I posted the link. I know it has gotten the some threat postures from fellow ATS members, as that is where I 1st got the link. Maybe a little more than a week ago... Several were working on a way to inform his ISP of false information and scamming. Maybe someone got through, and his ISP possibly told him if he didn't make disclaimers like this they wouldn't host him any longer


----------

