Were just sitting here in our cubes and my co-worker pointed it out to me.  Its in a empty water bottle now
[img]http://www.xs4all.nl/~ednieuw/Spiders/solpugid3.jpg[/img]

Who was stupid enough to let it sit on their hand???


Seal the bottle and see how long it lasts!! (lol)

Sorry, I forgot to mention I found that on the net.  I guess its a Sun Spider or something like that.

[shock] WHAT THE HELL IS THAT????? Is that a single eye in the middle?[shock]

damn...who took that picture?...nice close up work with a digital camera. that is a Sol Pugid (Sun Spider)

Ahhh man!  We just found another.  Its fight night 2002 in my cubicle!!

That is the freakiest bug I have seen in a long time.  Good thing its in your cubicle and not mine.

Keving67

When I was a young sailor I lived on the first deck of a barracks that was next to a large field in Pt Mugu.  We used to have these critters crawling into the rooms whenever the barracks doors were left open.
[img]http://ousd.k12.ca.us/~codypren/Images/potatobug2.jpeg[/img]
Potato Bugs or Jerusalem Crickets, take your pick.
We used to catch them and make them fight.  Sometimes we would tie dental floss around them like a leash and tie them up inside of desks, lockers, belt loops, whatever we could get away with.
We even managed to drop a couple of them inside of a Chiefs car one night.

Found this next door to a pizza joint I eat at (in front of the Chinese place I don't eat at):

[img]http://www.aforkinthetoad.com/images/P7210016_small.jpg[/img]

Four of us were standing out front talking after dinner when we heard the Thwap! of this thing falling from the overhang.  So of course we took a picture. And then one guy was dumb enough to step on it. What a mess.

That is a solpugid, aka solifuge, sun spider, wind scorpion.

It's in the order Solifugae.

These arachnids are supposed to have the largest jaw-to-body size ratio of any animal in the world. They have four jaws; two on top and two on bottom.

I used to see them all the time where I used to live. They would get into the house, and I'd catch them in a jar of dirt, keep them for about a week, feed it a few baby crickets, then let it out. They don't keep well in captivity, which is why I always released them soon. I've seen both the thin-bodied and the fat-bodied kind. If you tease it a little with a stick they will open up their four jaws and make themselves look like that alien guy from the movie "Predator", only worse.

The biggest one I ever caught was about two and a half inches long (not including legs) and about as fat as my thumb. They don't get much bigger than *that*. Usually they're about an inch and half long, with the thin-bodied type being about the diameter of a pencil, while the fat-bodied ones are usually about as fat as a small almond.

I remember one time I dropped in a cricket, the solpugid leaped forward and SNAP, chopped its head clean off its body so hard the cricket's head flew off and landed about an inch away.

Here's some links.

Pics of weirdly colored ones:
[url]museums.org.za/bio/arachnids/solifugae.htm[/url]

Info page:
[url]earthlife.net/insects/sunscorp.html[/url]

Page with links:
[url]ufsia.ac.be/Arachnology/Pages/Solifugae.html[/url]

P.S. - Be careful. They CAN and WILL crawl up glass with their "antennae" (pedipalps). They have little suction things on the ends of them.

Professor Evil, that looks like a date beetle - not sure though. They are all over the damn place here 'cause of all the date palm trees in the area. I found one by my porch light once that was about 3.5 inches long.

Professor Evil, Damn is that bug smoking? Id be afraid to squish it. It might flip out and chop someones head off..

USNJoe,


Nothing and I repeat nothing is as scary as a Potato Bug when you're a little kid. We lived in fear of those bastards. They owned my elementary school. I clearly remember the whole class, teacher and all, on top of our desks when a big bug would saunter into our room from the playground. They made an otherworldly clicking sound too. Yeach!  

By the way, scorpions, including solpugids, glow in the dark if you put them under a blacklight. Try it.

that thing looks exactly like a camel spider. only the camel spiders i saw were much much bigger. same head and 4-way jaw and everything. yuk

There was a previous thread about this same critter.  Check it out: [url]www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=130740[/url]

USPC40


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Been to long to remember but I recall something similar to that at my work once...squished it...squished it again...squished it a third time for good measure and it was still kicking.  Freaked me out.

Up here at work, I keep discovering LARGE roaches, about 3-4 inches long! I like to squish them and leave them lay, hoping that management will get a clue that we have a bug problem that needs to be addressed...

Plus, dead roaches may scare the others to flee the area... Maybe I should get some pins and cut off their heads... hmmm.... (better not-- they might send me to see a shrink)

that little bug ain't shit !!!!!!

wait till you run across your first Vinegaroon.., i have a photo of it but can not seem to get it posted, & that pisses me off !!!

YIKES!!!  Let's see if this links:
[img]www.petbugs.com/caresheets/gallery/M-giganteus.jpg[/img]

God, I HATE insects!

I consider them God's one great mistake (aside from allowing Liberals, that is).

==============================================

thats the one.......!!! nasty ugly little bastards..., we moved our hot-tub several years ago & there were about 10 of those suckers under it.......!!!!!!!!!

OK, so call me a dumbass, but I thought arachnids all had 4 pairs of legs(thats 8 total legs for the non-mathmatecally inclined), and that summitch clearly has 5 pair. What's up with that?

The front two aren't legs.  They're attached to the head and are feelers.

Ah Ha! I see. That's cool.....as long as he's not using them to feel me.

Just don't fall asleep with your mouth open...

I'm not sure I am going to sleep tonight.  Or ever again.  I can't stand bugs.  Lot of stuff doesn't bother me.  I honestly think I'd rather be shot than have to touch any of the bugs you guys have shown so far.  I can deal with blood and guts and bloodthirsty animals and all kinds of things.  Just not bugs.  Shit.  I itch all over.  And if I scratch and it's one of those things I don't wanna touch it with my hand.  If anybody needs me tonight I'll be locked in the bathroom with my AR, a shotgun, a blowtorch and some cyanide pills.  Bastards won't take me alive.  Oh I hate bugs.

Unlikely unless they are commuting from the southwest.

[img]http://www.aforkinthetoad.com/images/P7210016_small.jpg[/img]



How come you didn't just offer him a light? [:D]