While visiting a friend in California last week I found a very odd looking "insect" in the house. To my unaided eye it looked like a cross between a spider and a scorpion. Stuck it in his freezer and took it home with me. Under the stereo I could see it was something I had never found before... a solugid. They are in the class Arachnida, order Solifugae. Apparently there are some very large species ( (5–6 in including legs!), but this one was small... with a full body length of around 3/8-1/2 inch. Still, under the scope it looked pretty formidable, with two prominent sets of fangs (called chelicerae).
Solpugid. (AKA "camel spider", "wind scorpion
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- Charles Krebs
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Your images are always great!
Cheers Kanga
Cheers Kanga
Try, try again. Fall down nine times get up ten.
www.peterkinchington.com
www.peterkinchington.com
Nice pictures!
I used to keep these as pets, along with various mantis and other assorted bugs in Cyprus when I lived there. They are amazing insects with some of the strongest bite strength in the insect world depending on species. They can make very short work of locusts and the like. While not poisonous nor of any significant danger to people, they can easily make a painful set of holes in your fingers if not careful, those jaws open wide
They are fascinating creatures and I'm glad you got to study one.
I used to keep these as pets, along with various mantis and other assorted bugs in Cyprus when I lived there. They are amazing insects with some of the strongest bite strength in the insect world depending on species. They can make very short work of locusts and the like. While not poisonous nor of any significant danger to people, they can easily make a painful set of holes in your fingers if not careful, those jaws open wide
They are fascinating creatures and I'm glad you got to study one.
- carlos.uruguay
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- Charles Krebs
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