Camel spider belongs to the class Arachnida to which other spiders and scorpions belong to. They are not dangerous as you think and they normally feed on smaller insects and centipedes. They are not good jumpers and can crawl on land and climb over trees and walls. Camel spider is short-lived (less than 12 months) and they are nocturnal in habit. They tend to hideout under the trees and rocks during daytime and are active only at night. They are capable of making small burrows into the soil to escape from sunlight and enemies. Their eyes are poor and hence they use vibrations as technique to capture its prey. Camel spiders are largely found in the United States and South Africa.
They are either brown or light grayish and have a pair of sharp claws which serve as the only tool for capturing its prey and attacking the enemies. Camel spiders are not that lengthy and are small creature but some species are long in size. They are also known as solifugae (fleeing from the sun), sun spider and sun scorpion. Average size of a camel spider is 2-6 inches and have rounded abdomen with segments in it. They use their jaws to crush the insects and small spiders to gradually chew them after secreting digestive juices to convert their prey into a pulp.
Do They Really Bite Humans?
Camel spiders are not fond of human flesh and attempt to bite them only if they are scared. You are likely to get bitten by camel spider when you are walking barefooted into the woods during night and accidentally hurt them. Until you disturb them or threaten them it would not bite you.
Your skin gets torn due to camel spider bite. It uses its large claws to tear open the upper skin layer of epidermis. It is capable of creating an open wound on your skin which increases the chance of getting infected by bacteria and other micro-organisms. Camel spider has powerful digestive enzymes that convert the solid flesh (or other insects) into a pulp for easy absorption and digestion.