Though the camel spider became infamous in the West relatively recently, it has long been the stuff of legend in the Middle East. Forced-perspective photographs made the spiders look as big as a human leg, when in reality, “Even where they are very large, in the Middle East, they could be easily squished under a person’s shoe,” said Bills. Their fame only grew when the United States invaded Iraq in 2003. The camel spider first gained notoriety in the West during the Gulf War in the early 1990s, according to National Geographic. Unlike spiders, camel spiders breathe with a trachea, which allows for fast oxygen intake and helps them move quickly. “They are fast runners and adapted to desert living,” Bills said. According to National Geographic, camel spiders “utilize digestive fluids to liquefy their victims' flesh, making it easy to suck the remains into their stomachs.”
After seizing a victim, they turn it to pulp by chopping or sawing the bodies with their jaws. Despite their reputation and frightening appearance, they are of negligible threat to humans. According to, they eat other bugs, lizards, small birds and rodents. Camel spiders are primarily nocturnal and flee from the sun.Ĭamel spiders are carnivores. The Yellow-and-black Argiope (pictured below, top left), one of the largest spiders in Kentucky, is a type of orb weaver.While most commonly found in Middle Eastern deserts, camel spiders also live in the southwestern United States and Mexico, according to the NSF. Some orb weavers are very large, but, like most Kentucky spiders, the bites of orb weavers are harmless except to allergic individuals. Occasionally, they will wander into a home and build a web in a doorway or windowsill. Notes: Orb weavers are commonly found on porches and gardens in Kentucky, especially in late summer. Orb weavers are almost always encountered inside their webs. Some are solid tan or brown, while others are colorful with vivid patterns.įeatures: Orb weavers are distinguished by their webs: no other common Kentucky spiders make organized, circular, grid-like webs. silver dollar, with legs outstretched.Ĭolor: There are many species of orb-weaver spiders in Kentucky. Size: Orb weavers range in size from tiny (the size of a pencil eraser) to a little larger than a U.S. Read More: Eliminating Spiders Around Homes and Buildings (ENT-623), Kentucky Spiders: Wolf Spiders Wolf spiders are among the most common kinds of spiders in Kentucky. Like most Kentucky spiders, the bites of wolf spiders are harmless except to allergic individuals.
Because they are brown in color, wolf spiders are often mistaken for brown recluses. Notes: Wolf spiders often wander into homes. silver dollar, with legs outstretchedĬolor: There are many species of wolf spiders in Kentucky, but most are dark or light brown, usually with contrasting spots or stripes.įeatures: Wolf spiders are fast-moving and they are typically seen running on the ground. Size: Wolf spiders range in size from tiny (the size of a pencil eraser) to about the size of a U.S. Read More: Eliminating Spiders Around Homes and Buildings (ENT-623), Kentucky Spiders: Grass Spiders Like most Kentucky spiders, though, the bites of grass spiders are harmless except to allergic individuals. Because they are brown and of a similar size, grass spiders are often mistaken for brown recluses. They also occasionally wander into homes. Notes: Grass spiders are very common in Kentucky lawns where they build large, funnel-shaped webs. Many other spiders have spinnerets, but they are very large and distinctive in grass spiders. quarter, with legs outstretched.Ĭolor: Brown with prominent longitudinal gray or tan stripes.įeatures: Prominent hind spinnerets: these are two, small, finger-like projections on the end of the grass spider's abdomen (used to spin the web).
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