BIG! solfugid in US

[Galapoheros]

I've never seen a solfugid this large in the US. I know that is just a small kid in the pic but I'm betting the kid is taller than 20". Scroll down to 14 July, 2005.

http://www.spiderzrule.com/wind.htm

 

[heyjeyniceid]

please tell me your kidding.

 

[edesign]

mmmm.....i have one word about that picture, um..."no". Solifugids are not that large in the US (not even close)...or anywhere else in the world afaik.

and whoever the site owner is apparently publishes anything at face value...look at the caption to go with the infamous Iraq spider picture

 

[Jmadson13]

I'm definitely willing to bet that that was a doctored photo. In the off chance that I really did find something that large in my back yard when the average US solifugid is only about 2'' I would probably send it to an arachnid expert.

 

[edesign]

bet you'd have fun catching AND containing it

 

[Jmadson13]

bet you'd have fun catching AND containing it

no doubt

 

[parabuthus]

My bro seen alot of these critters while he was doing volunteer work in Namibia. Infact, out of all the "critters" he saw -including snakes, T's, thicktail scorps e.t.c- he commented most on solfugids. "Very large, fast, aggressive and scary" he told me. Apparently one charged him down and clamped onto his boot, I kid you not!

Meanwhile the Namibian locals would set them on fire and watch them go...

 

[Scolopeon]

Ive owned that spec. of solpugid, mine was 5'' approx. the one in the pic looks bigger than his foot.. its gotta be doctered.

Looks like somthing out of an alien film when their blown up to that size :O....

 

[ORION_DV8]

all i have to say is lol

 

[Gwegowee]

well I dont know about the picture and I dont know much about solfugids but I'd say im still a pretty smart guy! :? Acording to National Geographic (pretty high in giving truthfull facts in my opinion), camel spiders can get up to 6 inches, (forget the famous iraq photo, that photo was intended to be missleading) I know they are different species but in any case, lets asume for a second that these two pictures with the kid are real. and that the solfigud is 6 inches (I know its a different species but bare in mind), and in relation to the kid, its the same size as his foot. if his foot is 6" then he is probably a little bit over 4 feet tall.

The intention of this photo is to misslead the viewers; just as did the famous Iraq photo, ie: putting a little kid in there, and not showing his face. that gives away age, and a better understanding of scale, and in the end would give away the real size of the creature.

One other argument is that maybe photos are real but the text lies. did you notice the conveniently placed open glass jar on the left side? a jar that the creature would fit into quite well. and why would they not take pictures of it on the porch where it was claimed to be found? Nellis air force base is right near Henderson NV. look at the kids haircut, looks military stile to me... is it possible that they did not find it on the front porch? but instead... father brings it home from some other country (where they might have solfiguds this size) for son to see.

However these pictures would be quite easy to manipulate using Adobe photoshop. considering the evenly textured background of each photo. I could probably do the same with any one of my spiders nomatter the size. Infact I think I will lol.

in the end I am not convinced either way but I for one, am leaning a hair towards a true photo.
ps: please show me how im wrong.

 

[Stylopidae]

Despite what people say, the image of the sun spider in Iraq is not digitally altered. It is a simple illusion dealing with depth perception

The hand is placed close to the camera and the pliers are at an angle to move the solfinguds (sp) closer to the camera, thus making them seem larger

Edit: what are those things on the undersides? They look like the things that hold the tags onto shirts

 

[Gwegowee]

yes... thats what i mean by missleading... I didn't say altered, just missleading. most people dont believe me that those two camel spiders are actually pretty small no more than a few inches!! and u can even see the teeth on the pliars.. so... YEAH! but even still... National Geographic says they get to be 6 inches, and I hold them pretty high in my standards.