Are Camel Spiders Venomous?

Look at this cute little camel spider.
Courtesy of AshLin.

This planet is chock full of strange creatures - humans included. Today, we are going to talk about a creature that has come into the spotlight since Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom began. Soldiers came back from the desert with tales of these disgustingly huge, eerily fast and utterly creepy looking creatures. What we are talking about here is the camel spider.

Camel spiders are also known as solifugae. This is not one species of spider, but many, each bizarre enough to be worthy of terrifying legends. The truth is they can have up to a 6-inch leg span. Sure, that does not sound like much, but do you want to encounter an arachnid (they technically are not spiders) that is bigger than your hand? I thought not. They can run up to 10 miles per hour. That might not sound fast, but your top speed is probably around 14 miles per hour. A small child probably could not outrun them. However . . .

Stories have circulated that camel spiders have powerful venom and that they eat chunks of human flesh. This is not true. Yes, they can bite you and it probably hurts like a son of a gun, but they have no venom. That is right. There is nothing to fear from these bizarre creatures except their horrendous, phobia worthy appearances.