Look what I found... !

[AmberC]

In my bedroom window! I have named him Oscar. He apparantly has been living there! I have never seen a spider quite like this guy before! I just cannot bring myself to kill him. I just love his mustache, but his eyebrows need a little trimming. Note the spikes on the ends of each eyebrow?

Very cool isn't he! I like that green color by his mouth.
[/URL]
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y280/CristaMeganMommy/DSC06026.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y280/CristaMeganMommy/DSC06030.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y280/CristaMeganMommy/DSC06031.jpg




Amber [URL="http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb001_ZSYYYYYYDUUS"]http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/8/8_1_216.gif (http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb001_ZSYYYYYYDUUS)

[AmberC]

Turns out he is some sort of jumping spider. I have this webpage I use for spider reference and I sent an email to confirm hes a jumping spider but I am positive thats what he is :)

Amber

[lhforbes12]

Amber,
It's good to see that you aren't afraid of spiders, since in reality they are our friends. "He" looks kinna pretty.

[AmberC]

Amber,
It's good to see that you aren't afraid of spiders, since in reality they are our friends. "He" looks kinna pretty.

lol.. nope.. not afraid of spiders. I like em. I had a tarantula at this pet shop I worked at in NY that used to ride on the back of my neck while I was working. He would sleep under my hair (back when it was long) on my neck where it was warm and no one even new it was there! :D

Amber

[traco]

Amber, when I opened your thread and saw it was about spiders, eeewww! But then saw him. Love his little "scary face". Looks like he should be a character on Sesame Street.

[Kindredspirit]

he should be a character on Sesame Street




Exactly!! I swear that is dayum close to what I thought!! I thought it was a joke and that it was a TOY of your kidlets woman!!


It so does not look real at all ~



Marie ~ http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/29/29_4_51.gif

[AmberC]

I know! Isn't he cool Barb and Marie! Thats why I named him Oscar lol. Oscar the Grouch has those big bushy eyebrows and this guy has a little green on his face that looks like Oscars green.

Hes definitely real tho.


Amber

[Jeckel]

Amber, how big is he? I have a bit of arachnophobia but I admit jumping spiders are cool. And even I'd react the same way you did to that little face.

I've never seen anything like yours, but since I live in Virginia too maybe they're around here.

Once I watched two little jumping spiders on my office wall. One was bigger than the other. They started some distance away from each other. Then the little one saw the big one (unlike most spiders, jumpers have good eyesight), and ran toward him. Then he apparently noticed the size distance and came to a screeching halt about 5 inches away. As the big one moved past, the little one didn't move except to rotate, keeping an eye or three on the big one until it got far away. It was fun to watch.

Jerry

[AmberC]

Cool Jerry!

This one is small.. I am really bad at judging sizes.. but I guess I'd say a little smaller than an inch? But thats including legs.. He really is little lol

Amber

[Jeckel]

I'm almost tempted to say this spider evolved "facial" markings to discourage people from mashing it. Actually, I doubt many people look closely enough at spiders for this to be a factor. But in this case cuteness seems to have survival value.

[Ryan]

I am afraid of spiders because the ones in my old house were bigger than my HAND.

http://www.giftlog.com/pictures/photo/hantsman_spider2.jpg

*runs around screaming*

And these didn't run from you, they came AFTER you. If you tried to kill them, they would jump off the wall at your face. Jeez, I am so glad to be out of that house now that I think about it.

Ryan

[AmberC]

Yeah.. thats a big spider Ryan.

Have you ever seen these?
http://video.clipstream.com/content/c/camel_spiders/twospiders.jpg

These are Camel Spiders. NASTY things! Extremely poisonous. You find them in the desert out in Saudi Arabia, Iraq... etc. That is actually two spiders in that pic. This pic has been circulating around for a while so some of you have probably seen it. Could you imagine waking up with one of them on your chest?


Amber

[Jeckel]

For what it's worth, the Iraqi camel spider isn't really a spider. It's a sopulgid (sp?). I think it's related to the whip scorpions they have in the western U.S. The stories of it being poisonous aren't true. It has no venom, but has extremely strong jaws, and can take quite a chunk out of you if it gets the chance.

I'm not trying to come on like Mr. Scientist here...I only know this because I looked it up, and I looked it up because I watched a "Fear Factor" episode where people had to EAT Iraqi camel spiders. (As you can see, I try to use my time very productively.)

[candyl70]

Ok..... I am sooooo freaking out here!!! I hate spiders... but I have to admit that yours is sort of cute Amber.

Ryan.... OMFG!!!!!!! I wouldn't be able to sleep knowing those things were around!!!! I won't even comment on the other "spider" or whatever the hell that thing is!!!!!!


http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/36/36_12_1.gif

[AmberC]

For what it's worth, the Iraqi camel spider isn't really a spider. It's a sopulgid (sp?). I think it's related to the whip scorpions they have in the western U.S. The stories of it being poisonous aren't true. It has no venom, but has extremely strong jaws, and can take quite a chunk out of you if it gets the chance.

I'm not trying to come on like Mr. Scientist here...I only know this because I looked it up, and I looked it up because I watched a "Fear Factor" episode where people had to EAT Iraqi camel spiders. (As you can see, I try to use my time very productively.)

No your right.. and I was gonna come back and state that they aren't poisonous. I put that because thats what I thought I had remembered reading, but then I double checked and they are not... just didn't get to come back until now :)

Amber

[Jeckel]

Also, it may be comforting to know solpugids don't grow more than a few inches long (body length). The famous photo from Iraq has a false perspective effect, making the critters look much bigger than they are. Still, they're not something I'd want to have to deal with.

[AmberC]

Also, it may be comforting to know solpugids don't grow more than a few inches long (body length). The famous photo from Iraq has a false perspective effect, making the critters look much bigger than they are. Still, they're not something I'd want to have to deal with.

They ARE that big. The LEG span is 5"-6"


Origins: The photo displayed above does indeed show camel spiders encountered in Iraq, but a number of the claims about them multi-legged creatures made in accompanying text are inaccurate or exaggerated. http://www.snopes.com/photos/bugs/graphics/camelspider3.jpg Claims of camel spiders being flesh-eating anesthesia-injecting beasts are folklore, not reality, so worry not that those serving in our country's armed forces in Iraq are having to deal with man-eating creepy-crawlies the size of small cats.

Camel spiders, also known as wind spiders, wind scorpions, and sun scorpions, are a type of arthropod found (among other places) in the deserts of the Middle East. They're technically not spiders but solifugae (http://www.enhg.org/b/b16/16_25.htm) (although, like spiders, they belong to the class Arachnida). Camel spiders are the subject of a variety of legendary claims, many of them familiar to Americans because they were spread by U.S. servicemen who served in the Persian Gulf War in 1991, and re-spread at the beginning of the Iraq War in 2003:

Camel spiders can grow to be as large as dinner plates.
Camel spiders can traverse desert sand at speeds up to 25 MPH, making screaming noises as they run.
Camel spiders can jump several feet in the air.
Camel spiders eat the stomachs of camels and lay their eggs there, hence the name "camel spider." (Legend includes the detail that camel spiders eat camel stomachs from either the outside in or the inside out. In the former case they supposedly jump up from the ground and grab onto camels' bellies from underneath; in the latter case exactly how spiders allegedly as large as dinner plates get into camels' stomachs intact remains unexplained.)
Camel spiders are venomous, and their venom contains a powerful anesthetic that numbs their victims (thus allowing them to gnaw away at living, immobilized animals without being noticed). U.S. soldiers were said to have been attacked by camel spiders at night but remained completely unaware of their plight until they awakened in the morning to find chunks of their flesh missing.These claims are all false. Camel spiders (so named because, like camels, they can be found in sandy desert regions, although they aren't technically spiders) grow to be moderately large (about a 5"-6" leg span), but nowhere near as large as dinner plates; they can move very quickly in comparison to other arthropods (a top speed of maybe 10 MPH), but nothing close 25 MPH; they make no noise; and they capture prey without the use of either venom or anesthetic. Camel spiders rely on speed, stealth, and the (non-venomous) bite of powerful jaws to feed on small prey such as other arthropods (e.g., scorpions, crickets, pillbugs), lizards, and possibly mice or birds. They use only three pairs of legs in running; the frontmost pair (called pedipalpa) is held aloft and used in a similar manner to the antennae of insects. Camel spiders shun the sun and generally hide during the day, coming out at night to do their hunting.

Although the creatures shown in the photograph above appear to be far too big for camel spiders, they look misleadingly large because of their closeness to the camera, which creates an illusion of exaggerated size. (Note their size in comparison to the uniform sleeve which appears in upper right-hand portion of the picture.)


Source: http://www.snopes.com/photos/bugs/camelspider.asp\

Amber