WEBVTT - Why Are Camel Spiders Harmless?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio, Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, Lauren Voge obamb here. Some animals have a

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<v Speaker 1>reputation that's hard to shake. Take the camel spider. Many

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<v Speaker 1>Americans are familiar with them, based on photos that came

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<v Speaker 1>out of the Iraq War in the early two thousand's,

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<v Speaker 1>a giant desert spider with a leg span somewhere between

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<v Speaker 1>the size of a pack of cigarettes and a full

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<v Speaker 1>grown man's calf, though the latter one turned out to

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<v Speaker 1>be a trick of forced perspective. There were rumors they

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<v Speaker 1>ran through the desert, screaming and jumping on camels, that

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<v Speaker 1>they would hide an ambush and sleeping bags ready to

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<v Speaker 1>inject you with venom. But u S military personnel are

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<v Speaker 1>not the first to tell stories about the camel spider.

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<v Speaker 1>In South Africa, they're sometimes called beard trimmers because some

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<v Speaker 1>people believe that if you sleep on the ground, camel

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<v Speaker 1>spiders will come trim your hair in your sleep and

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<v Speaker 1>use it to line their nests. In parts of North Africa.

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<v Speaker 1>In the Middle East, legend has it that they chew

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<v Speaker 1>at the bellies of camels until their intestines fall out

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<v Speaker 1>so they can eat them, or that they can lay

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<v Speaker 1>their eggs in their stomachs. None of this is true,

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<v Speaker 1>of course, for starters. Camel spiders are not spiders at all,

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<v Speaker 1>but sol a few kids. These arachnids live on every

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<v Speaker 1>continent except Antarctica and Australia, and all one thousand, one

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<v Speaker 1>fifty species have eight legs and two body sections like spiders, scorpions, ticks,

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<v Speaker 1>and mites, but they're different enough to belong to their

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<v Speaker 1>own order. Secondly, they are aggressive, but they're also non venomous,

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<v Speaker 1>and the large jaws of most species can't even break

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<v Speaker 1>through human skin, much less at camel's belly. The largest

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<v Speaker 1>camel spider has a leg span of around six to

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<v Speaker 1>eight inches that's fifteen to twenty centimeters, which is big

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<v Speaker 1>for a spider, but it's not horror movie territory, and

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<v Speaker 1>they seem to take little to no observable interest in

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<v Speaker 1>human hair. We spoke with Christie Reddick, founder of The

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<v Speaker 1>Bug Chicks, an educational company that uses arthropods to teach

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<v Speaker 1>young people about social issues like prejudice, racism, educational potential,

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<v Speaker 1>and personal development. She said, the thing about sol a

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<v Speaker 1>few kids is you don't really need to make stuff

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<v Speaker 1>up about them for them to be fascinating. I was

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<v Speaker 1>in Kenya when I first saw one, and I went

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<v Speaker 1>to catch it, and it ran up the side of

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<v Speaker 1>the wall, right up to my eye height. It reared

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<v Speaker 1>back and rubbed its jaws together to stridulate. Some people

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<v Speaker 1>say they scream, but it's more of a hissing, rasping noise.

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<v Speaker 1>It had such an attitude I just fell in love.

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<v Speaker 1>It would seem difficult to fall in love with an

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<v Speaker 1>interractnet with the stage presence of a pro wrestler and

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<v Speaker 1>the body of an animal whose parts were scavenged from

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<v Speaker 1>the invertebrate salvage yard. But such is the allure of

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<v Speaker 1>the camel spider. Reddick said, if you do a rapid

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<v Speaker 1>count of what appears to be legs, they look like

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<v Speaker 1>they have ten legs, but their first pair are actually

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<v Speaker 1>mouth parts called pedipalps. I kind of think of them

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<v Speaker 1>as mouth hands. They help facilitate bringing prey into their

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<v Speaker 1>big jaws when they run. They use them kind of

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<v Speaker 1>like antenna or long legs in the front. They also

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<v Speaker 1>have mouth claws called chellisare which are used for a

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<v Speaker 1>dizzying variety of purposes, one of which seems to be

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<v Speaker 1>transferring packets of sperm from male to female camel spiders.

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<v Speaker 1>Most solifukids are nocturnal, extremely territorial, and top predators in

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<v Speaker 1>arid eco systems. They eat other predators in the same

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<v Speaker 1>size range as them, or a bit larger. They even

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<v Speaker 1>eat each other. They don't have venom. It's unnecessary because

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<v Speaker 1>their jaws are so powerful. They can manipulate their food

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<v Speaker 1>through their mouths by sawing their prey back and forth

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<v Speaker 1>like an old timey cartoon character eating a cob of corn.

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<v Speaker 1>Sol a few kids are also wildly fast, able to

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<v Speaker 1>reach speeds of about ten miles per hour that's sixteen

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<v Speaker 1>kilometers per hour, and seem to be able to run

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<v Speaker 1>for as long as you care to chase them. But

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<v Speaker 1>with that comes a metabolism that requires nearly constant fueling,

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<v Speaker 1>so they eat a lot. But that doesn't necessarily explain

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<v Speaker 1>one selifugid behavior, mass ant assassinations. For some reason, camel

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<v Speaker 1>spiders will sometimes go after an ant's nest, just tearing

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<v Speaker 1>ants in half left and right until they're surrounded by

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<v Speaker 1>an enormous heap of rended ant carcasses. Some scientists think

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<v Speaker 1>maybe they're killing the ants to save them as a

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<v Speaker 1>snack for later. But Reddick published a paper in about

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<v Speaker 1>the diet of selifu kids, and she and her co

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<v Speaker 1>author found that they don't cularly like eating ants. Another

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<v Speaker 1>explanation for this behavior could be that they're trying to

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<v Speaker 1>clear out the ant nest in order to find a

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<v Speaker 1>nice place to escape the desert sun. But it's really

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<v Speaker 1>a mystery as to why they do this. Arettick pointed

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<v Speaker 1>out that another possibility, though, is that camel spiders attack

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<v Speaker 1>ant nests to get at the larva and pupa inside.

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<v Speaker 1>She explained, these don't bite and are super soft, squishy,

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<v Speaker 1>little protein and fat bombs. But you can add the

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<v Speaker 1>mass murder of ants to the long list of things

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<v Speaker 1>scientists don't understand about. Solid few kids. But remember, even

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<v Speaker 1>though they act wild, they can't hurt you, Eretick said,

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<v Speaker 1>just because something is a predator or even defensive or aggressive,

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<v Speaker 1>it doesn't make it a bad or mean animal. Sol

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<v Speaker 1>a few kids have so much great attitude and they're

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<v Speaker 1>soft and fuzzy. When you pet one, it's like petting

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<v Speaker 1>a little mouse, a little demon mouse. Today's episode was

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<v Speaker 1>written by Jesselyn Shields and produced by Tyler Clang. Brain

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff is a production of I heart Radio's House off Works.

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<v Speaker 1>For more on this and lots of other creepy Crawley topics,

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<v Speaker 1>visit our home planet, how stuff Works dot com. And

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