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Windscorpion Published 11/01 In this Guideline:
Identification Habits Management About Pest Notes Publication Glossary

The windscorpion, Eremobates pallipes (order Solifugae), is a predatory creature related to spiders. Other names used for it include camel spider and sunspider, but it is neither a spider (order Araneae) nor a scorpion (order Scorpiones). In the United States the windscorpion is common from the arid southwest to California’s San Joaquin Valley.

IDENTIFICATION

The windscorpion is 3/4 to 1-1/2 inches long and yellowish brown in color. It has a rounded abdomen without a stinger. Unlike spiders, it does not have venom glands or webspinning organs. It has large pincerlike jaws and a large pair of leglike organs called pedipalps that are located on the head. The pedipalps are used to seize and pass prey to the jaws, where it is crushed. The windscorpion has four pairs of legs, but it walks only on the last three pairs; the first pair are used as feelers. The windscorpion is so named because it runs swiftly (like the wind).

HABITS

Windscorpions feed primarily on living insects, spiders, and other small creatures that they catch. They are active mostly at night and appear on roads and paths and sometimes enter buildings. During the day they hide under stones and other objects or in burrows. The females bury their eggs and may guard them. Adults live less than a year.

MANAGEMENT

Windscorpions occasionally cause concern by entering buildings at night while seeking their prey. Although fearsome in appearance, windscorpions are harmless to people. Those found indoors should be caught and released outdoors. To catch one, place a jar over it and then slip a piece of paper under the jar to form a seal over the jar opening. The jar can then be carried outside, and the windscorpion released. No chemical control measures are recommended for windscorpions.

WARNING ON THE USE OF CHEMICALS

REFERENCES

Borror, D. J., C. A. Triplehorn, and N. F. Johnson. 1989. An Introduction to the Study of Insects. 6th ed. Philadelphia: Saunders College Publishing.

Ebeling, W. 1975. Urban Entomology. Oakland: Univ. Calif. Div. Agric. Sci.

Levi, H. W. 1968. A Guide to Spiders and Their Kin. Racine, WI: Western Publishing Co., Inc.

Punzo, F. 1998. The Biology of Camel-spiders (Arachnida, Solifugae). Boston: Kluwev Academic Publishers. 301 pp.

PUBLICATION INFORMATION

Pest Notes: Windscorpion
UC ANR Publication 7495        

Author: E. Perry, UC Cooperative Extension, Stanislaus Co.
Editor: B. Ohlendorf
Technical Editor: M. L. Flint
Produced by IPM Education and Publications, University of California Statewide IPM Program

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