Solifugae are the subject of many myths and exaggerations about their size, speed, behavior, appetite, and lethality. They are not especially large, the biggest having a legspan of perhaps 12 cm. They are fast on land compared to other invertebrates, the fastest can run perhaps 10 miles per hour (16 km/h), about as fast as a human sprinting. Members of this order of Arachnida apparently have no
venom, with the possible exception of one species in
India (see below) and do not spin
webs.
In the
Middle East, it was once rumored among American and coalition military forces stationed there that Solifugae will feed on living human flesh. The story goes that the creature will inject some anaesthetizing venom into the exposed skin of its sleeping victim, then feed voraciously, leaving the victim to awaken with a gaping wound. Solifugae, however, do not produce such an
anaesthetic, and they do not attack prey larger than themselves unless threatened. Other stories include tales of them leaping into the air, disemboweling
camels, eerie hissing, screaming, and running alongside
humvees; all of these tales are false, apparently told to new recruits in order to frighten them, to the amusement of the veterans. Online videos indicate that
U.S. Marines sometimes place camel spiders in a ring with
scorpions to watch them fight.
Due to their bizarre appearance many people are startled or even afraid of them. However, the greatest threat they pose to humans is their bite in self-defense when one tries to handle them. There is no chance of death directly caused by the bite, but, due to the strong muscles of their chelicerae, they can produce a proportionately large, ragged wound which is prone to infection.
