Tag Archives

Camel Spider

Fascinating Creatures

JM Perez By JM Perez2 min read610 views

It’s a gorgeous day here today and the weather is bearable than the previous days. There will be no gardening for me today. Instead, I am making myself comfortable on one of my outdoors swings and sharing a few photos of fascinating creatures I spotted and photographed the last couple of days.

Yesterday on my way to check the mail, I spotted a Seaside Grasshopper next to the entry door. It stood still as I walked my way to the mail box. On my way back, the little creature was still there. I quickly grabbed my camera and took a photo. Usually they hop away when someone gets close, but this one didn’t move an inch (it probably didn’t feel threaten). As soon as I was done taking the photographs, it hoped away. As much as I enjoy looking at this picture, I am not fond of grasshopper as they often damage my beautiful plants.

Grasshopper.
Seaside Grasshopper.

Last Friday, after watering a few plants in the backyard and proceeding to move the trash cans out of the way and rake some dead leaves which has piled behind them, I saw a weird looking creature coming underneath one of the trash cans and moving really fast. Just by taking a quick look of it, I guessed it could be a spider perhaps? However, after seeing its large mouth and mouthparts, I had to research it.
It turns out that it is a Camel Spider also known as wind scorpions, sun spiders or solifuges. These little creatures have eight legs, move really fast and are carnivorous, eating insects and bugs such as: grasshoppers, spiders, crickets, lizards, small rodents and reptiles. Click here, here and here for more information.

Camel Spider.
Camel Spider.

A couple of days later, I spotted a Megachile, Brown Bee, twitching and spinning in circles on the ground. According to the website PesticideResearch.com, this is one of the symptoms of acute pesticide poisoning in bees. After a while of twitching and spinning around, it flew off.

Brown Bee, Megachile.
Brown Bee, Megachile.

I found a Soil Centipede hiding underneath a Garden Statue while hand weeding around my Daffodils. I found out that it can move both backwards and forwards and they will feed on pretty much anything that is soft-bodied and smaller than themselves such as larvae and worms.

According to WikiPedia, the centipede’s venom causes pain and swelling in the area of the bite, and may cause other reactions throughout the body. The majority of bites are not life-threatening to humans and present the greatest risk to children and those who develop allergic reactions.

Soil Centipede.
Soil Centipede.

Now back inside for some sweet tea and a quiet moment watching Les Misérables. I could watch it all day, every day without ever getting bored. It is beautiful, moving and features some of my favorite actors.

Wishing you all a lovely weekend and enjoy the rest of your day.