Solifugae - clearly a misunderstood taxon
Beautiful sun spider captured by Brian Chan. Check out that massive beak, with its paired, saw-like chelicerae. What an awesome predator! Can it kill a dog though?
Where do I begin my commentary on this recent article from CNN.com? Perhaps with some background information about Solifugae (a.k.a. Solifugida or Solpugida) - the sun spiders, camel spiders, or windscorpions. These arthropods are predators of other arthropods, small vertebrates, and just about anything (of similar or smaller size) that gets in their way. Their prosomas harbor massive, saw-like chelicerae that are used to subdue and grind up prey, effectively liquefying the hapless organisms before consumption. One can find these amazing critters throughout the desert Southwest (U.S.A.), the Central American tropics, the Middle East, Africa, India, SE Asia and other hot, arid climates. Though only one species, the Central Asian (India) Rhagodes nigrocinctus, is known to have evolved poison glands, these arthropods are incredibly effective predators and can deliver a nasty pinch to your finger (usually breaking skin) if you let them.
So, here comes CNN with an intriguing story about a "poisonous spider [that] apparently killed [a] pet dog." 99.999% of true spiders (Araneae) are poisonous, so I was compelled to read on. Was it the infamous black widow (Latrodectus mactans)? The legendary funnel-web spider (Atrax robustus)? Then I read that the "...pet dog Cassie confronted the creature, which [was] identified on the Internet as a camel spider, but ran out whimpering when it hissed at her." (Cassie died soon thereafter.)
So it was not a true spider after all, but rather a sun spider - a taxon with about 1,200 described species, 99.917% of which are not poisonous. Hmmm...earlier in the article the reporter declared that the offending arthropod apparently hitched a ride in a soldier's gear, as he returned from Afganistan. So it's possible that this specimen does indeed belong to the one known poisonous species. I have never heard of a "hissing" sun spider, but we certainly have insects that hiss by forcing air out of their spiracles.
Then came the kicker (emphasis mine): "..the desert-dwelling camel spider, actually an insect rather than an arachnid..." Well, I know that's wrong! Arrrggghhh... Phylogenetically speaking, Solifugae are deeply nested within Arachnida (Chelicerata), probably as sister to the pseudoscorpions (Pseudoscorpiones). Any quick search of the Web would alert the author to this fact - even Wikipedia has a readable and reasonably accurate accounting of the lineage!
You forgot to mention how Al Qaida recruited terrorist sun spiders in Iraq.
http://www.damnfunnypictures.com/html/The-Camel-Spider.html
read the captions under the photo if you dare. Did you know camel spiders have a venom that anaesthetizes camels so their stomachs can be consumed?
I think google should hire one of us to police the internet for arthropod-related inaccuracies.
Posted by Keith on August 29, 2008 at 12:02 AM EDT #
There is so much that is wrong with this! It must be a hoax - but the url definitely reads, "www.cnn.com" Where does CNN do its research - this sounds like something overheard in a junior high bathroom!
Posted by Ted C. MacRae on August 29, 2008 at 12:05 AM EDT #
This article is indeed FILLED with misinformation. I can forgive the misconception about them being poisonous, and I suppose it's possible that a few species possess the ability to make hissing sounds (though I doubt it). What I find truly tragic - and even unforgivable - is the the statement that these are actually insects.
In my experience, no matter how uninformed a person is about arthropods s/he still knows that insects have 3 pairs of legs. These same people also tend to know that spiders have 4 pairs of legs. Even the photo that accompanies the article reveals an organism that clearly has more than 3 pairs of legs.
A news organization that strives to be "among the world's leaders in online news and information delivery" should know better than to deliver MISinformation.
Posted by ardeans on August 29, 2008 at 08:10 AM EDT #
Five min. of research would have saved a whole of embarrassment for CNN, which makes me suspect they might not be very concerned about it. It really seems the main concern here is reinforcing the idea of the meddle east evilness. "Anything that comes from that area would damn sure kill ya!!".
Posted by Pompidus cassandra on August 29, 2008 at 11:53 AM EDT #
I just read about Solifugae in Wikipedia. There is a heading Venom Controversy which seems to confirm these species do not have any venom in them except for one unconfirmed experiment on a single species in India. Why do these controversies happen in the India and its neighboring countries? Probably because the people are so uneducated in many issues concerning the nature.
But an article from CNN is way too bad. But arachnophobia is such a rampant issue everywhere that we cannot resist writing about such incidents. You know there are even communities in Orkut named 'I hate Spiders' where professional arachnophobics (read people who cannot help daily spreading verbal abuse on spiders) gather to discuss their hatred of spiders. Mind you, they are not afraid of spiders, they just hate them ;)
BTW, if you guys are interested you can visit my blog on Indian insect species. Started it just a week ago but got about 150 species images and am posting daily.
Posted by deadmanswill on August 30, 2008 at 12:24 AM EDT #