15 replies to this topic

[JLS]

I've lived here my whole life and have witnessed scorpions in the area but not this one yet. I was watching tv with my wife just now on the couch when I felt something running on my neck. I threw it on the carpet and smashed at it (squishing the butt apparently). I was a little shocked and freaked out by my finding...

 photo-33.JPG   104.67K   128 downloads
(size of a quarter)

After doing some googling it looks as though this critter is a Sun Scorpion, Sun Spider, Camel Spider, or Solifugae (all the same thing or in the same family I believe). I was afraid I got bit and just didn't know it yet but everything I found states that it's very painful so I'm thinking I'm in the clear. Plus, if I'm right on what it is then it's non-venomus but due to the large painful bite it's typically prone to infection etc.

Odd thing is that it states this species is found in the desert areas and southern california etc. Have you ever come across one here in EDH or Folsom? The articles I found told me to report it if I you find one in an odd area (in this case not being near a desert) but I'm not sure if that's extreme? I'm interested to know if this is something regular for the area that I somehow overlooked all these years or maybe to give warning to others to be on the lookout.

All I know is... I'd rather not have one on my neck again :0

[MrsTuffPaws]

I don't know what it is, but I know what it isn't. It's not a spider, it has 10 legs, not 8. So that will help rule things out.

[asbestoshills]

OMG! My kids and I have been trying to figure one we had last summer we found dead on the sidewalk, the gardener weedwacked it and it looked exactly the same! We thought it was a mutant bee/scorpion. It's the grossest thing ever, where do you live? Are they poisonous? We couldn't figure out what the heck it was exactly.

[keyplayer]

We had a camel spider on the door screen about a week ago. They are not true spiders. Glad it wasn't as big as some of the pictures on the web.

[Steve Heard]

You're okay as long as it didn't have time to inject its eggs into your neck. That's what they do, right at the base of your hairline.

Just kidding. I don't know what the heck it is but I know Rick Vetter of UC Riverside who is a renowned spider expert.

I sent him a copy of that. Let's see if he knows what it is!

[AMETHYST PRODUCTIVITY]

Steve, That was EVIL! LOL

[JLS]

You're okay as long as it didn't have time to inject its eggs into your neck. That's what they do, right at the base of your hairline.

Just kidding. I don't know what the heck it is but I know Rick Vetter of UC Riverside who is a renowned spider expert.

I sent him a copy of that. Let's see if he knows what it is!

Sounds good to me! Let me know...

I'm pretty sure it's the camel spider or sun spider/scorpion.

Where do you live? Are they poisonous? We couldn't figure out what the heck it was exactly.

Serrano...

If I'm right on what it is then it's not poisonous but packs a powerful bite that hurts. It mentioned those biten prone to getting an infection from it...

[Steve Heard]

Just got my answer:

"steve, the creature is an arachnid of the Order Solifugae which is also known as solpugids, camel spiders, wind spiders, wind scorpions and in South Africa, barber spiders because their myth is that they shave off your hair at night when you sleep (if there is any truth to this it could be that they remove feathers and hair from dead animals they run across before eating into them.)"

[Sac Projectors]

You're okay as long as it didn't have time to inject its eggs into your neck. That's what they do, right at the base of your hairline.

Just kidding.

HAAAAA!!!!! LOL!!!!! That totally just made my whole morning! "That's what they do, right at the base of your hairline" Steve you are totally cracking me up with that! I took you seriously for just a second when I read this. When I found out you were kidding I almost fell out of my chair laughing!
But in all seriousness I am glad nobody was bitten or hurt from this beast. I have experienced the creepy crawlies on my neck before and it totally freaked me out. Thanks for the heads up JLS and I will be on the lookout.

[Steve Heard]

HAAAAA!!!!! LOL!!!!! That totally just made my whole morning! "That's what they do, right at the base of your hairline" Steve you are totally cracking me up with that! I took you seriously for just a second when I read this. When I found out you were kidding I almost fell out of my chair laughing!
But in all seriousness I am glad nobody was bitten or hurt from this beast. I have experienced the creepy crawlies on my neck before and it totally freaked me out. Thanks for the heads up JLS and I will be on the lookout.

Glad to help.

[ducky]

Question: How did this thing get into your house?

I’d be out spraying the yard, bombing the garage and testing my doors for cracks which would allow this thing to enter my house.

Good way to check doors is to wait until dark, then go outside with a flash light and have your wife stay inside and see if she can see any light, when you place the flash light around the edges of the door.

Spiders can bite and cause a lot of pain. If a person is allergic to spider bites they will be miserable and will need to see a doctor.

We had this delightful creature in our house a few months ago. I just about started to pack, so we could move!!!

http://somethingscrawlinginmyhair.com/2008/12/06/european-house-spider-tegenaria-domestica/

Seems that Folsom has it ALL, from rattle snakes to scorpions and huge spiders! UGH!

I guess you could do all that poison bombing, but I just feel like all you're doing in the end is poisoning yourself, too. I think there's a place for those kind of remedies, but I'd only resort to it if there were a huge infestation and not just one sighting.

[supermom]

Do yo have a creek or water fountain pretty close to your house? They are prolific along the AR corridor starting at the dam. We would find them crawling the walls in the apartment we were in that was the closest building to the creek and AR bike path. If you rode your bike along that path it is entirely possible you picked one up and brought it home by either stopping and not realizing you picked up a stowaway, or one of them dropped out of a tree limb and attached itself to something (hoodie, hair, tee shirt).

[Devdave]

It is an Arachnid class species (hence a spider), some spiders can appear to have 10 legs.

If I saw that, or swatted it off my neck, I'd be running and screaming like a little girl. Just sayin...

Arachnids are a class (Arachnida) of joint-legged invertebrate animals in the subphylum Chelicerata. All arachnids have eight legs, although the front pair of legs in some species has converted to a sensory function, while in other species, different appendages can grow large enough to take on the appearance of extra pairs of legs. The term is derived from the Greek word ἀράχνη (aráchnē), meaning "spider".

Although Solifugae appear to have ten legs, they actually have only eight, as most other arachnids do. Each true leg has seven segments: coxa, trochanter, femur, patella, tibia, metatarsus, tarsus.[9][7] The first of the five pairs of appendages are not "true" legs, but pedipalps; they have only five segments each. The pedipalps of Solifugae function partly as sense organs similar to insects' antennae, and partly in locomotion, feeding and fighting. In normal locomotion they do not quite touch the ground but are held out to detect obstacles and prey; in that attitude they look particularly like an extra pair of legs.

I don't know what it is, but I know what it isn't. It's not a spider, it has 10 legs, not 8. So that will help rule things out.