The creature that looks like a cross between a spider and a scorpion appearing in Royal Natal National Park has been identified as a camel spider.
Pedro Goss, 18, was walking on a muddy, dry dirt road in Royal Natal National Park, South Africa, when he came across a strange creature he described as unlike anything else he had seen in his life. “At first I thought it was a spider that looked like a scorpion, but when I looked closer it wasn’t really a spider. I really didn’t know what it was,” he said. Goss said.
Images recorded by Goss on his phone and shared on Mirror on October 11 show the little animal trying to dig a burrow to hide in the ground. He is also described as moving very quickly and able to change direction suddenly.
According to Astri Leroy, president of the Spiders Club of South Africa, the creature Goss encountered was a Solifugae, also known as a camel spider or wind scorpion. Although named after both species, Solifugae is actually not a true spider or scorpion, but a distinct species from the arachnid class.
Camel spiders are small, but they are quite aggressive predators. Due to their high metabolic rate, they have to eat a lot and actively hunt. Solifugae is not poisonous but very fast and strong with scissor-shaped molars. The burying observed in the clip is typical behavior of the species when it feels threatened.
“I’m from London. It’s a great opportunity to see wildlife other than pigeons, seals or land rats that one is used to seeing in the UK,” Goss said of the unforgettable experience in South Africa.
