do other people remember when “camel spiders” were like a meme because everyone swore they could scream and leap and eat people’s faces off
instead watch this fluffy chicken lobster get scared of a tinier cricket for long enough that the guy gives up filming her for a while
It’s a shame they don’t live very long in captivity. They believe they live up to a year in the wild, but it could be more! We just don’t know yet.
I’ve heard that a lot of them pass away after six months when kept as pets. It could be they are missing a vital nutrient or environmental aspect that we don’t know or can’t duplicate in captivity. I hope they figure out how to fix that soon.
But yes, here is another amazingly pretty animal. If you encounter them in the wild and they run at you, they aren’t trying to attack you! They just want to rest in your shadow where it’s cooler 🙂
A hobbyist in Taiwan stumbled onto it first, keeping their solifugid alive for more than two years by feeding it a whole lot LESS than what’s normally advised and giving it a winter dormancy period. There isn’t even scientific documentation that they hibernate, but when allowed to cool off in the winter months, their solifugid stopped eating completely and buried itself until spring!So for all these years, incomplete information on solifugid habits – even from the most professional sources – had hobbyists overfeeding them and just completely running them down in a few months 😦
I found this weird… critter while I was going for a walk at night in Southern California. They appeared blind, and only responded to me poking them. Any clue as to what it is or who may know?
P.S. you’re my favorite artist I love you
oh hello this is a solifugid ! theyre known as camel spiders or wind scorpions, but theyre not actually either of those things – theyre ground dwelling hunters that dont spin webs or sting and mostly feed on whatever small things theyre quick enough to catch with a 10 mph running speed ( a bunch )
they live mainly in desert areas and are mostly nocturnal ( and the order name solifugae means ‘those that flee from the sun’ ) but not always ! theres a bunch of species thatre found everywhere but antarctica and australia, and as none of them have been found to have a venomous bite, the worst they can really do is give you a sharp nip if you try to pick em up
its yoshi night though so i cant legally post this without making a compromise
BettSplendens Tumblr Evac 