How would you react if you came face to face with this hybrid creature, a mix between a scorpion and a spider, under your roof? That's what happened to Thomas Acosta, a young mason from Phoenix, Arizona (USA).
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This is not a demonic creature born of an unholy union, but merely a ‘camel spider’ known by its scientific name solifugae. ‘I had heard about it in Iraq [...] I did not know they could be found in Arizona,’ the young man told Kgun9.
A spider with 10 legs
Known as the ’10-legged spider’ because of its 2 additional appendages, which are in fact large pedipalps (sensory organs), the camel spider is actually not a spider per se. It is closer to a scorpion because of its large jaws and powerful pincers. But she is neither one nor the other.
The beast actually belongs to an order of arachnids which are cousins of the orders to which belong spiders and scorpions.
In adulthood, carnivorous solifuges are large enough to hunt and eat small rodents, lizards and even birds. But they only very rarely attack people and are not venomous. Phew!
