Northeastern California. Camel spider?

[Rkirk]

I'm not nearly what I would consider spider savvy, but I am interested. My wife and I were traveling in NE California through a very sparsely populated area, we stopped at a rest stop close to midnight on August 11th that was obviously rarely visited. There were an abundance of black widow spiders (which is one specie that I do know) and a couple larger spiders that I'm not familiar with. We're from the pacific NW so these may be common local spiders that we're just not accustomed to. Walking back to the car my wife was startled by this slider in particular which was running across the walk path and almost onto her foot. She ran in terror and I, as per usual, was interested in the little guy. I located the spider and took a short video from my iPhone as well as 1 pic. It ran very quickly and looked similar to what I would imagine one of these infamous camel spiders would look like in the beginning of life. Now I have heard that the camel spider is not actually classified as a spider but I don't know that for certain and from what I know classifies a spider, this seems to fit. So, to conclude, this may be just an ordinary spider from the area and just seems exotic or foreign to us as we're not exposed to the area much, I just want to satisfy an interest and know for sure. Thanks for looking and possibly identifying for me.

[Itsy Bitsy]

Unfortunately I don't see a picture.

[Ungoliant]

We can't identify it without a photo or video. If you're having trouble uploading directly to this forum, you can upload to another site and post a link here.

Now I have heard that the camel spider is not actually classified as a spider but I don't know that for certain and from what I know classifies a spider, this seems to fit. So, to conclude, this may be just an ordinary spider from the area and just seems exotic or foreign to us as we're not exposed to the area much, I just want to satisfy an interest and know for sure.

Camel spiders are arachnids that belong to the order Solifugae. Their scientific name means "those that flee from the sun," a reference to their nocturnal habits. Other common names for these animals include "windscorpions" and "sun spiders," but they are neither spiders nor scorpions. In the scientific community, they are usually referred to as "solpugids" or "solifuges."

Camel spiders look weird, but they're by no means exotic animals. BugGuide estimates that there are 12 genera containing some 200 species in North America alone. They're usually found in warm, arid environments.

Unlike most spiders, camel spiders do not have venom glands. (They simply chew their food to death.) They're not dangerous to people, but they can bite in self-defense if handled.

There are several amusing urban legends concerning the size, speed, and lethality of these animals. See Snopes.com for a discussion.

[Rkirk]

We can't identify it without a photo or video. If you're having trouble uploading directly to this forum, you can upload to another site and post a link here.




Camel spiders are arachnids that belong to the order Solifugae. Their scientific name means "those that flee from the sun," a reference to their nocturnal habits. Other common names for these animals include "windscorpions" and "sun spiders," but they are neither spiders nor scorpions. In the scientific community, they are usually referred to as "solpugids" or "solifuges."

Camel spiders look weird, but they're by no means exotic animals. BugGuide estimates that there are 12 genera containing some 200 species in North America alone. They're usually found in warm, arid environments.

Unlike most spiders, camel spiders do not have venom glands. (They simply chew their food to death.) They're not dangerous to people, but they can bite in self-defense if handled.

There are several amusing urban legends concerning the size, speed, and lethality of these animals. See Snopes.com for a discussion.

Thanks for the response and the info, I had no idea. I am using my iPhone for this and was unable to post the pic. Where/how can I get a pic to you guys for confirmation? I saw the reply regarding a different site to post the pic to but I'm not certain of the procedure.

[Itsy Bitsy]

If you use something like facebook or photobucket you could upload the picture there and just copy and paste the image location. From what I understand the image uploader doesn't work with phones right now.

[Rkirk]

Try this link, not sure if I got this right...
https://fbcdn-photos-a.akamaihd.net/...044_n.jpg?dl=1

[Itsy Bitsy]

I think you're right. It resembles this Curve-faced Solifugid (Ammotrechella stimpsoni), but I'm not an expert. Maybe someone with more experience will verify.
http://bugguide.net/node/view/501248/bgpage

[Ungoliant]

https://fbcdn-photos-a.akamaihd.net/...044_n.jpg?dl=1

That's definitely a camel spider, but I don't know enough about them to identify them beyond the order level.

[Eric]

It is much more likely to be a male specimen in the family Eremobatidae. That may even be the *only* family found in that part of California. I can't say for certain, either, but one rarely finds the other family.

Eric