The truth about camel spiders

Posted by MacDood
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Comment: cool spiders---

Here's the myth about camel spiders, the monsters of the Iraqi desert.

"Supposedly they leap onto the backs of camels and suck out the blood. I've been told that a couple of these things can kill a full grown camel."

Link

"Here's the lowdown on camel spiders, which aren't spiders at all:

In reality, camel spiders aren't some mysterious Arabian creature -- we have them in the United States and in Mexico, where they are called matevenados. They are slightly smaller than the human hand, and while they do run quickly, their top speed is 10 miles per hour, not 25. But they also make no noise, they excrete no venom, and although they can be voracious nocturnal predators, they don't eat camels. They eat delicious crickets and pillbugs, and sometimes scorpions."

Link [Boing Boing]