Camel Spiders Found in Iraq
Netlore Archive: Emailed photo taken by U.S. soldiers stationed in Iraq show a pair of huge, scary-looking arachnids called camel spiders
Subject: FW: Camel Spider found in Iraq--This is a huge spider!!!!
Yuck. I sure am glad we don't have these here. Although we probably will after this war.....
This picture is a perfect example of why you don't want to go to the desert. These are 2 of the biggest I've ever seen. With a vertical leap that would make a pro basketball player weep with envy (they have to be able to jump up on to a camels stomach after all), these bastards latch on and inject you with a local anesthesia so you can't feel it feeding on you. They eat flesh, not just suck out your juices like a normal spider.
Comments: The photo appears to be authentic. Fortunately for all of us, especially the guys in the picture, the same cannot be said of the accompanying text, which merely repeats false rumors circulating since the start of the Iraq war.
This scary-looking creature (actually, it's a pair of scary-looking creatures dangling end-to-end) is indeed commonly called a camel spider, but it is found in arid locales all over the world — including the southwestern United States — not just in the Gulf region. A typical specimen can grow to about the size of a child's hand, but, though they are known for being vicious predators (see video), camel spiders are neither venomous nor a threat to human beings.
They don't eat camels, either.