#Camel Spiders

[snototter]

A striped feather-legged solifuge (Solpugiba lineata) in Karatu, Tanzania

by erica_onnis

[matter-for-mass]

hey i know google ai overview being wrong is maybe played out at this point but

THIS IS NOT TRUE

I CANNOT STRESS ENOUGH HOW NOT TRUE THIS IS

i am in actual tears. they. with their chelicerae they make this cute tiny little raspy noise, it sounds like running your nails along a butterknife or something else serrated or whatever.

it’s very cute but. they don’t SCREAM

they will seek shade and you can find (moderately upsetting and i say that as a spider enjoyer) videos of them crawling around people’s hands following the shade. but they. i cannot emphasize hard enough that they don’t chase people down for shade

and their prey is like. mostly other arthropods but sometimes lizards/rodents. they are not chasing a human person down.

and they do not run at THIRTY FIVE MILES PER HOUR

that is as fast as a COYOTE

their top ever measured speed was like 10mph for a short burst. i’m mostly sure their usual speed is maybe a couple miles per hour. they don’t. they. they’re not breaking school zone laws

anyway camel spiders are a little freaky but they’re also just silly little guys and they will NOT chase you down at 35mph screaming and trying to bask in your shade

[moviesandmania]

Arachnophobia: Spiders on Screen - article

A fear of spiders is one of the most common phobias that people have (technical term: arachnophobia). Even normally fearless individuals can be reduced to quivering wrecks by the sight of a tiny house spider lurking in the bathtub, and even those of us who don’t have a terror of all things eight-legged would admit that it’s pretty unnerving to see a spider dangle from a web in front of your face…

[mysticmonkiebusiness]

Happy 5th Anniversary!

[maythedreadwolftakeyou]

oh you are going to regret asking me this, because i love bugs and can't resist a soapbox!

so in dragon age we have historically fought a lot of giant spiders. In one of the DA4 behind-the-scenes videos we got a few years ago, they showed a still frame that showed a very large arachnid with distressingly human hands attached to it. of course some people screamed in horror and some others of us instantly mentally became attached to this abomination bc we are broken people.

next part of post contains A LOT OF BUG PHOTOS so anyone who is arachnophobic you are gonna wanna skip this one probably. i cannot add a read more on mobile im so sorry please press 'J' to skip down your dash now

.

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So this is (a cropped shot of) the Image In Reference:

Look at that! Eight legs plus two creepy arm-hands! And those big bulbous mouthparts are called chelicerae, and they're huge and stick straight forward rather than curving down! And the back of the body is way more flat/oblong than it is bulbous.

Compare this to the spiders in DAI and earlier, which conform to a pretty standard shape across all 3 games:

It's pedipalps (kind of pre-leg by the mouth) are raised, chelicerae curved under, big bulbous abdomen. your classic fantasy spider shape although spiders do come in a much greater variety than this. which makes deviating away from the 'standard' a pretty significant move!!

So the hands-spider, to me, WAY more closely resembles a different organism that while it is an arachnid is NOT a spider, genetically speaking. This is the solifuge!

You'll notice they have a flatter and rigged abdomen (butt) in comparison to a spider, and those extra big pointy mouthparts. It uses its pedipalps like an extra pair of legs in the front rather than for chewing/holding food... or shall we call them an extra pair of HANDS???

Taxonomically/phylogenetically speaking, they are not within the spider class. Though they are also often called sun spiders, camel spiders, or even wind scorpions (they are also not technically scorpions). I like the term 'solifuge' because it lets them be their own unique thing! Depending on where you live you may never see one, but I live in a desert so I have seen many. They can be freaky but are just one of natures many miracles you learn to appeciate, or else you will be doomed to whimper sadly on the sidewalk instead of finishing your hike.

anyway the similarities between this guy and hands-spider stood out to me instantly. even if the devs didn't know what they were basing it off of, one definitely used a reference image of these guys when building Mr Handsy. since they've announced there won't be any spiders in DA:V it is likely he was scrapped 😞 but in my heart i tell myself maybe thye just realized the taxonomic error the fanbase made, and they are simply being correct in identifying these as "not spiders" and we will see them after all in the game :) (<- delusional)

big round of applause for mr hands spider the solifugae!!! and he can even clap along!!!

im Not Looking at the achievements list or any other spoilers, but it has got me making mental lists instead of what the funniest things to get spoiled could be. like

Bothersome: you "Annoyed Solas" 1000 times!

Stop That: you tried to eat the magic rocks and got possessed by a titan

Veilwhoops: selecting the "maybe he has a point" option as Soals tries to open the veil results in game over when everyone dies in the resulting explosion

Dragonrider: your attempt to kiss a dragon resulted in total party death

Shopaholic: you spent all the Veilguard's gold on outfit upgrades

Illiterate: you refused to read any letters, codex entries, etc you found and only vaguely understand what's going on now

Bingo Night: you interacted most with those Old Men (Emmrich and Solas)

[onenicebugperday]

Devil scorpion, Smeringurus grandis, preying on a camel spider (Solifugae)

While camel spiders (aka wind scorpions aka solifuges) are predators, they have no venom and are easily subdued by a venomous scorpion.

Photographed in Mexico by mhedin

[herpsandbirds]

Black Camel Spider (Rhagodes melanus), family Rhagodidae, order Solifugae, found in North Africa and Israel

Camel spiders are also referred to as Sun Spiders, Wind Scorpions, and Solifuges.

They are arachnids, but are not spiders. They are in their own order.

photographs by Clemens Schweiger

[spricket-central]

when i first met Donut, i wasnt sure he'd survive the night.

i caught him while he was hiding in the folds of my bedsheets, with my cat Wembley still in pursuit. the poor thing had taken a beating: he was missing his right jumping leg, and his 2nd right walking leg appeared to be completely paralyzed, dragging behind him as he nervously skittered around in his temporary enclosure.

luckily, his injuries were purely external, and he pulled through brilliantly!

i moved him into a large enclosure with Baguette, a solitary adult female i had rescued only a week prior. she was a tad stand-offish with him at first, but the two quickly became friendly, spending most of their time hanging out together!

his paralyzed leg was eventually discarded, possibly by him gnawing it off himself. he moved about rather clumsily, only having one leg on his right side to work with his undamaged left limbs, but he seemed to have no problem getting around regardless. he loved to climb around the enclosure, and could still haul ass when he felt surprised or threatened, ahaha.

Donut was such a character. i have no idea how he managed to fit so much energy (or cucumber) into that funny little bean-shaped body. im so glad that i was able to give him a calm, easy life after his brush with death. i just wanted him to be comfortable, but he didnt just survive: he thrived.

Donut, i love you dearly, and I'll miss you and your antics so much. i promise I'll take good care of your girlfriend. im even thinking of incubating some of her eggs, so who knows, you may even end up a father!

I'll think of you tomorrow when im cutting up everybodys cucumber 💚

Donut

10/17/23 (caught) - 1/8/24

[cheapsweets]

Solifuges always pushing things to the next level :)

arachnid pedipalps:

spiders: extra leg. also puts sperm here. sex leg.

scorpions: snip snop

pseudoscorpions: snip snop (venomous)

amblypygi & vinegaroons: *grabs you*

harvestmen: more or less all of the above

solifuges: extra leg. with SUCTION CUP

[hannahorca]

The inspiration vs the monster 👁️

The camel spider, spider, and scorpion were all found and photographed by me!

[deathbyclown]

Cross Guild Headcanon: How they react to bugs/insects

Mihawk:

Totally unafraid of whatever bug he finds. Venomous, poisonous, lots of legs, no legs, winged, flightless; it doesn’t matter, he hasn’t met a bug scarier than a person

Will pick up random bugs and examine them, absolutely unconcerned about stingers or pincers

Does his own taxidermy and has an extensive collection of strange insects he’s found on his travels.

Whatever bugs he doesn’t take home he sketches and writes about in meticulously kept journals

His favorite bug: the camel spider- vicious, unloved, solitary

Crocodile:

Doesn’t really think about bugs and is unbothered by them.

Except for scorpions and tarantulas. If he sees a tarantula on the wall or in the corner of the room he’s leaving. And then quietly sending someone else to get rid of it.

He will deny this fear. “Would a man who keeps man-eating beasts be afraid of some small… many legged…venomous creature?” Yes. He would.

Had an unbelievably uncomfortable meeting with Mihawk one time where he met at Mihawk’s castle and the whole wall was lined with scorpions. They never met at Mihawk’s place again.

His favorite bug: a dragonfly - eye-catching, quick, born from the water and lives in the light

Buggy:

Does not like any bug! If that thing flies at him, if it has too many legs, or looks pointy he will freak out.

He doesn’t even like the most acceptable kinds of insects; ladybugs, butterflies, caterpillars, etc. It doesn’t matter how harmless, if they have too many legs, he will not go near them.

When he was a kid, he used to collect them with Shanks. But he had a traumatic experience when he brought a spider back into their room and it released an egg sac that had hundreds of little spider babies.

After that incident, his relationship with bugs continued downhill. The straw that broke the camel spider’s back was visiting an island with humongous insects and getting lost in the jungle for hours with wasps chasing him.

His favorite bug: If he was forced to choose, probably a butterfly (but at a distance!)- colorful, flashy, can’t technically hurt him

[snototter]

A solifuge of the genus Rhagodima in Tamil Nadu, India

by deepakdeshpande

[vintagewildlife]

Solifuge By: Aldo Margiocco From: Éditions Rencontre Cards 1978

[barksbog]

senior dog basking under his heat lamp

[sandpaperoctopi]

little guy I saw at the park

[katkalis-the-fanartist]

Board of animals I love and also like to look at...👁👁