Found this little guy trapped in my back yard. National Geographic says that they can grow to be 5 inches long. They also have some of the largest and most powerful jaws compared to body size in the animal kingdom. Fast, fierce little monsters. And creepy looking! He's awesome.


Gave him some dirt, a rock and a leaf to hide under for the night. Gonna free the little guy tomorrow.

Anyone else here have experience with these little terrors?

That's creepy as shit. Where in the hell do you live?

Super creepy. He's just in time for Halloween.
I live in Fresno, CA. These guys love desert-like climates. They must love the summer here. Not sure how they deal with the winter... I don't believe they are very common here. This is only the second one I have seen in 7 years.

Yeah I just read this
Wind Scorpion
Tucson, Arizona, USA
May 14, 2004
Every night many of these can be found racing around my porch, they are very fast and somewhat aggresive they range in size between 1/4" and about 3". The smaller ones have long arms carried above them and the lager adult have more of a set of pincers held close in. This is medium size one about 2" however it lacks the pincers the lagest ones have. This one was stuck in a glass left on the porch, I'm not willing to catch these as they seem to willing to chase you instead.

oh and The creature is able to climb glass with the use of those suckers.

I used to breed exotic herps and got bit by a bunch of crazy animals. Super tiger reticulated python, golden monitor, black tree monitor and dozens of others. I was never scared of any of them. We also had tarantulas and bugs though and damn some just make your skin crawl. Sunburst ornamentals, Indian ornamentals, and Thai cobalts are scary fast and have a vicous bite. I watched a Thai cobalt run onto a guys hand and bit right through his thumbnail. Had his arm swollen and intense pain for a week. The one that always creeped me the F out was this guy.

They use that little whip to take out other insects and then their mandibles stab it from both sides and it pushes it into it's mouth with those claws. Frightening stuff to watch them eat, it stick in your brain.

Here is a Thai cobalt for reference. They like to lift their front two legs and spread their fangs. They are so fast that they move and then you see it like a blur. They are aggressive and will go after your ass.

reminded me of bug fights

http://www.japanesebugfights.com/

very strange

Oops, I thought you asked if we had experiences with other creepy crawlies. Never ran across these guys in particular.

I know they are "just bugs". But that shit is seriously fucked up.



@ Daimyo- That Thai Cobalt is a beautiful spider! I'd hate to find one in my house though. Scary.

definitely creepy
we get these on our front porch and sometimes in our basement.
they are usually attacking the wolf spiders around our house

you guys are assholes i have now spent and hour watching bugs fight... stoked.

I have run into about 3 of these digging in Fort Ord. They are very aggressive little suckers. The mouth reminded me of a mini-predator. Another neat bug not to mess with is the velvet ant. Those little buggers will draw blood if they bite you.

i have a hard enough time w/ spiders. so glad we dont have scorpions in VA.

Wow. I love insects, but could never bring myself to handle or keep venomous species.

I hatched and raised Praying Mantises a few summers.
I had one big mean mother from Madagascar that was aggressive as holy hell. Actually grabbed my finger and started chewing on it.

Never had any other variety that acted like that one.

I also had a 2 inch long pet Potato bug or Jerusalem Cricket.

A neighbor kid bright it to me in an old margarine container as I had asked him to do if he'd found one. I left it in my room and when i got up for work, it had chewed it's way OUT( 2-3 MM plastic!!!!)and was loose in the house.
Had to take apart my room to find it under table, I was late to work, but I had to!
I bought him a small terrarium and fed him carrot and potato. Had him for months.
One night I heard a strange tapping, it was him "thumping" his abdomen on the ground. I think that's how they "booty call".

Did you take a picture of the mantis? I would love to see it....

Jerusalem Crickets heard bite hard too...

I had a pet Black widow for a month... (became a pet after simple green killed it for a day and it came back to life)

theres an hour glass on the abdomen...

That's okay, that was very interesting. Bit through a man's thumbnail?!?!?!

I knew a guy that died from a spider bite, infection, kidney failure , eventually death. Luckily in Ohio that's about the worst we have.

Damn, an undead Black Widow.

The miss found this in our garden a few weeks back.

I have pics of it sitting on my desk dead as I was taking a closer look. Taking close up photos. So I put it back in the jar (almost didnt) and went to sleep. In the morning I go to look at it and start opening the top when I see it walking around... Scared the hell out of me.

There has never been a recorded death from the bite of any tarantula. Ever. It's those small bastards that kill people.

These guys are prevalent where I live. Just saw two running around the other night. They always manage to find their way into the house. My wife gets creeped out by them. And yes, the thumping is their booty call.

found this guy when I went on a trip to mexico:

Yup, the ones I mentioned are about the wort of the tarantulas. I'd take any tarantula bite over a hobo spider, widow or brown recluse any day. Even most of the spider wont kill you unless you have an existing illness or weakness that compounds the bite. That isn't to say a tarantula bite can't be incredibly painful though. Gila monster bite is one of the worst according to a guy I know who has been bit by a few hots.