Camel Spider

Camel spiders, also called solifuges, sun spiders or wind scorpions, make up the arachnid order Solifugae, distinct from both true spiders and scorpions despite the common names. They are marked by unusually large chelicerae, or jaw-like mouthparts, a flexible segmented abdomen, and a tracheal breathing system rather than the book lungs true spiders use; unlike spiders, they cannot spin silk. The largest species reach 12 to 15 centimeters including their legs, though most are closer to 5 centimeters, and are voracious hunters of insects, other arachnids and occasionally small vertebrates, capable of an estimated top speed of about 16 kilometers per hour. Solifuges live mainly in tropical and subtropical deserts across the Americas, southern Europe, Africa, the Middle East and South Asia, and are notably absent from Australia and Madagascar.