Egyptian giant camel spider
The Egyptian giant camel spider is a big, hairy desert hunter with enormous jaws. Its jaws are a third as long as its body. It hides from the hot sun during the day and comes out to hunt at night.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
It is one of the biggest camel spiders and can be about 15 centimetres long.
It can run as fast as 16 km/h, about as fast as a child sprinting.
Its jaws can cut through hair, skin and even the thin bones of small birds.
It stays out of the sun because sunlight makes it easy for its enemies, like bats, scorpions and toads, to spot it.
It is a hunter of the night.
Most asked questions about Egyptian giant camel spider
?Is the camel spider dangerous?
It is not venomous, but its big jaws can give a painful bite. It is best to leave it alone.
?What does a camel spider eat?
Insects, and also small rodents and lizards.
?How fast can a camel spider run?
Up to about 16 kilometres per hour.
Myth buster
Myth: A camel spider is a real spider.
Truth: No. It belongs to a group called solifuges or sun spiders. They are cousins of spiders and scorpions, and unlike most spiders they have no venom.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Galeodes arabs
- Named by
- C. L. Koch, 1842
- Group
- Scorpions, ticks and friends
- Family
- Galeodidae
- Classification
- Arachnida > Solifugae > Galeodidae
- Lives on
- Africa, Asia
- Also known as
- Egyptian giant solpugid, Camel spider
Where the facts come from
- Galeodes arabs (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Karim Haddad. CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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