camel spiders are nothing, and despite popular belief they dont follow you in your shadow, nor do they scream as they attack (very timid species im told)
pictures youve seen are doctered, have a bad size comparisen or is the infamous one of two of them stuck together (they died like that i should add)
just looking for the testament of an acquitance who was stationed out that way.
not big, not scary... certainly not the spider im about to link to scary
anyways.
(note: this image is probably doctered, but im assured by several australians they have seen hunstman this big..)
-BIG spider warning!-
-no! REALLY BIG!-
http://www.wcsscience.com/biggest/spider.html
edit: lookey lookey:)
camel spider stuff, not terribly graphic but might scare spider haters.
According to most spider experts, these claims are all false. Camel spiders (so named because, like camels, they can be found in sandy desert regions) grow to be moderately large (about a 5" leg span), but nowhere near as large as dinner plates; they can move very quickly in comparison to other arthropods (a top speed of maybe 10 MPH), but nothing close 25 MPH; they make no noise; and they capture prey without the use of either venom or anesthetic. Camel spiders rely on speed, stealth, and the (non-venomous) bite of powerful jaws to feed on small prey such as other arthropods (e.g., scorpions, crickets, pillbugs), lizards, and possibly mice or birds. They use only three pairs of legs in running; the frontmost pair (called pedipalpa) is held aloft and used in a similar manner to the antennae of insects. Camel spiders shun the sun and generally hide during the day, coming out at night to do their hunting.
Although whatever is shown in the photograph above appears to be far too large for camel spiders, the creatures look unusually large because they were held close to the camera, creating an illusion of exaggerated size. (Note the man's sleeve which appears on the right of the picture.)