Identification
Scientific Name:
Syndaesia sp.
Common Names:
Solifugids, wind scorpions, sunspiders, camel spiders, hunting spiders

Classification
Class: Arachnida
Order: Solpugida
Family: Daesiidae
Genus: Syndaesia
Species: There are over 600 known species of solifugids worldwide, of which the United States os well endowed with some 100 species.

 

Solifugids are sometimes called " hair cutters " because it is said that if a solifugid gets tangled in hair it will cut its way free with its chericerae. A fallacy of course.
  

Habitat
Solifugids are abundant in dry, arid or desert regions, mainly in Africa and the Near East. Some species live in the southwestern United States.

Profile
Solifugids, of which there are over 600 species worldwide, are not insects but spiders. Solifugid comes from Latin and means " fleeing from the sun." The larger species, whose bodies can be up to 6 cm long, are quite ominous-looking. Their ballooned abdomens, which have a quaint " Michelin man " look about them, belie their terrible predaceousness, and their powerful jaws, or chelicerae, could serve as a model for the jaws of the monster in the next Alien film.
 
Solifugids could be described as walking shredders. The spider swoops down on its prey at lightning speed, seizing it in its pedipalps, which look like legs but are actually gripping organs. The prey is seized and chewed by the chelicerae over and over again to extract every drop of liquid. After a minute or so, a large grasshopper is eaten to a pulp . . . !
 
Catching a solifugid is no picnic. Problem No. 1: most are nocturnal, hence difficult to spot. Problem No. 2: solifugids can move incredibly fast. Even caught in a net, they often manage to escape. As soon as a spider gets free and hits the ground, it's gone in a flash. It can disappear into the soil in the blink of an eye. They are extraordinary burrowers.
 
Solifugids seem to live in fast motion, a characteristic that makes them remarkable predators. However, this great speed has its price: unlike other species of large spiders, solifugids seldom live longer than a year.

Despite their unsympathetic appearance, solifugids are quite harmless to humans. They can probably bite, but do not have venom.
  

A large solifugid can bring down a scorpion and even small vertebrates such as lizards, small rodents and birds.
  

In its lifetime, a solifugid may dig some forty burrows, some two metres deep.