huge scary looking iraqi insect

wasnt sure where to put this, it doesnt quite fit in cryptozoology, so here goes.

just got linked to this pic with by a friend who said "if you think youve got bug problems, be thankful you dont live in iraq"

the link went to a picture of the biggest bug ive ever seen. its bigger than my dog is, and very creepy looking.

its a pretty big pic, so heres the link

now my friend said he foung the picture on a funny website, so it is possible that this is a fake. any photoshop experts out there?

holy # that's gross... i hope it's a fake... damn!

Holy crap! That thing is huge. Those white things near the abdomen look like suckers. What do you think they are? I have never seen anything like that before in my life.

I think there are two of them in the picture but even so one of them is big enough !

It looks like two seperate insects.

It also appears that somebody had a lot of time on their hands and a copy of photoshop. If there were a species of super-sized bugs in Iraq it seems that somebody would have documented them before.

That being said if that bug(s) is real i wonder what it feeds on?

Look at the hand above it, though. It's actually only about the size of the soldier's hand. Maybe some kind of trantula? It actually looks like it's 2 arachnids either eating or mating with one another. Still, I'm glad I'm not out there!

It's a solpugid. It's related to the cricket. They are harmless. All they do is pinch you a bit.
Out in New Mexico, they call 'em vinegeroons.

here's a link about them.

www.utep.edu...

no # , i didnt even notice those little sucker things before. i also just noticed that theres 2 of them. one is biting the others ass.they look like some kinda spider.

oops, Helena-Justina
beat me to it


[Edited on 4-7-2004 by dunkleskates]

i wonder why the photo is cropped in such a manner ???

that makes me think its fake but who knows ???

Might be a camel spider, www.frgnews.com...

Originally posted by watcheroftheskies
i wonder why the photo is cropped in such a manner ???

that makes me think its fake but who knows ???

I think it was cropped to draw attention from the guy holding it, so you'd compare the size with the soldier's leg in the background. If they had the soldier who's actually holding it in frame, too, it would look a lot smaller. Shock value

Originally posted by TPL
Might be a camel spider, www.frgnews.com...

i think the camel spider and the solpugid are the same thing, just in different regions

It does look smaller when you look attentivly, but it's still a goddamn disgusting bug. It looks damn real to me, I don't think it's a fake thing.

"Megasoma acteon. South America's male Acteon Beetle is one of the bulkiest of the abundant order of beetles, and it is often considered the "largest" in the world. The males can grow to be 3.5" long by 2" wide by 1.5" thick."


"Deinacrida heteracantha. The heaviest insect on record was a pregnant Giant Weta, a rare and endangered New Zealand species that weighed in at 71 grams (just over 2 ounces)."


"Titanus giganteus. The extremely rare South American Longhorn Beetle checks in from time to time at lengths greater 6" long. In his 1874 work, Insects Abroad, the Reverend J.G. Wood reports on a 9" long Titanus specimen. Could it be that this legendary, but undocumented beetle was measured with antennae extended? Average Titanus specimens check in well over 5" on average."


"Megasoma elephas, Goliathus goliatus, and Goliathus regius. These gargantuan scarabs, the Goliath beetles, have the greatest visible body mass. A Megasoma has been observed in captivity to consume an entire avocado in one day, but much of the comparative weight data gathered by entomologists comes from the dry weight of beetle exoskeletons."


"Pharnacia kirbyi or Pharnacia serritypes. The female of the species of this Borneo stick-insect can be over 14" long, but she's thin as a rail."

ask.yahoo.com...

Its not a fake, making all those tiny hairs would be difficult.

::shiver:: yuck. 8 Legged Freaks 2

haha. Send David Arquette to get rid of those things.

In my previous post, I said they were harmless. The creatures I have seen (true vinegaroons) are harmless. These things however have some interesting jaws. Read this article.

kaweahoaks.com...

Scary stuff out in the desert. Wouldn't want one of these in my bedroll.

Sleep tight

Sleep tight

*shudder*

Never again, man. Thanks a ton.

True story.

One of my buddies was in Desert Storm (Marines) and while he was there, he found a huge beetle. He kept it since back at the barracks, the Marines had a barrel filled with sand and would bet on animal fights. Mostly scorpion to scorpion stuff.

Well, he decides to put in the beetle, which was matched up to a scorpion. Everyone bet against him. The fight starts and the scorpion does a whack, whack, whack with the venom tail and nothing. Doesn't even get most shots through. Then the beetle finally moves and just graps the scorpion and kills it. He won a ton of $$ and named it the Battle Beetle. This goes on for a week, until nobody bets against him.

Then a local comes around and after seeing things explains. That beetle (large and ugly) hunts scorpions. That's what it eats.

Anyway, crazy stuff out there. That huge spider is nasty. They have some crazy stuff in the desert.