Galeodes arabs

Galeodes arabs
Galeodes arabs from Libya
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Arachnida
Order: Solifugae
Family: Galeodidae
Genus: Galeodes
Species: G. arabs
Binomial name
Galeodes arabs

Galeodes arabs, common name Egyptian Giant Solpugid or Camel Spider, is a species of solifuges or sun spiders native to North Africa and Western Asia.[1]

Subspecies

Description

Galeodes arabs is one of the larger species of camel spider and can reach a length of about 15 centimetres (5.9 in). They have large, powerful jaws, reaching one-third of their body length. These fast running nocturnal predator arachnids can reach a speed of 10 miles per hour or around 16 km/h. They are not venomous, but their bite is painful.

Diet

They eat insects, small rodents and lizards. Using their chelicerae, they can chop and saw their victim’s flesh. Their jaws are equipped to shear hair and quills from their prey as well as cut through skin and the thin bones of small birds. They then utilise digestive juices to liquefy the flesh of their prey so they can suck it into their bodies.

Predators

Some of their predators are large slit-faced bats, scorpions, toads and other insectivores or camel spiders. They are heliophobic and nocturnal in order to avoid predators, have better hunting and stay out of the hot sun.

[2][3]

References

  1. ↑ Biolib
  2. ↑ National Geographic
  3. ↑ J. L. Cloudsley-Thompson SOME ASPECTS OF THE PHYSIOLOGY AND BEHAVIOUR OF GALEODES ARABS
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