Big camel spiders in Jordan

[@misterx168]

My man travelling biblical deserts in the dead of night looking for chelicerata

[@mhb41]

My brain knows that the camel spiders are harmless but damn seeing you grab them makes me squirm ahahha

[@lowlee78]

Oh my god same. My face after the first grab: 😮

[@BlackReaper0]

The way he fearlessly yoinked it made me squirm more than the camel spider itself.

[@alveolate]

i was a little like "whoa" when i saw just how quick and hairy they were. then i saw those ginormous chelicerae operate in that sawing motion and i went "NAH BRO"

[@ExpandDong420]

Seeing it lunge for his fingers holding the ant lion was not comfortable to watch

[@farmerjohn2262]

Same here. Harmless but creepy as hell. 😮

[@SithMami]

5:35--My god. I just read that medical literature on the beetle which sprays formid acid. The picture of the man's leg which had been sprayed by that beetle was INSANE. I was not expecting it to be that serious... I had to look, because I was low-key shocked when you encountered the beetle, and chose not to handle it. You always handle the specimens you come across. Well, I was shocked, until I saw that pic. Good thing you know what you're doing!

[@NoMetaWorldPeace]

I always get excited when I see you've uploaded a new video because they are so informative and fascinating. They've helped me get comfortable handling large house centipedes. Thanks for uploading!

[@Darwinholics]

Without going into too much personal detail, what are you involved with that you gives you the opportunity to handle house centipedes?

[@GeneralApathy]

You are welcome. :D

[@squidikka]

@@Darwinholics Having a house... lol. That's why they're called house centipedes. They're commonly found in your home depending on your geography.

[@AssailantLF]

​@@squidikkato be fair, no one asked youm they were asking the original commenter what their specific circumstances are for dealing with centipedes, they weren't just asking generally where house centipedes are found...

[@Darwinholics]

@@squidikka I know. I grew up seeing them all of the time. I was just curious if this person has experience in a field associated with entomology, as that is something I’m very interested in!

[@angusfairtheoir]

Encyclopedic knowledge, excellent videography, and an obvious respect for the environment. Another great video, thank you!

[@Most_Unclean]

When i was in the Army i spent a year in western Afghanistan. Our trucks have a thermal camera mounted on the hood that you can control through a screen inside. On very dark nights you can see TONS of these running around through the scattered brush on that camera.

[@wormwh0re]

Loved this one!!! The patterns on the huntsman were gorgeous. Also the info about people digging for ancient graves was a cool side fact.

[@TheGribblesnitch]

I love the potential encounter though. Imagine committing a felony at night and someone comes and along and is like "woops, don't mind me, just looking for bugs"

[@guardiandaytona8454]

I bestow upon you the highest honor I can give as a viewer. You are the youtuber I watch when I eat

[@kylerinker8191]

A sentiment many have shared, but you make pretty much exactly the type of videos that a lot of people feel starved for. Full documentaries take a long time to come out and can sometimes drag a bit without going into a satisfying amount of detail. You've found an excellent formula for videos. That plus you have an admirable eye/ear/brain for finding animals, along with the knowledge on how to keep them quite calm. Also, if you read this, I'd love to know if you've ever had any close to or outright dangerous encounters in your field time, animal or otherwise. Edit: After watching this video, you've at the very least seen actual ghouls

[@cyclopes683]

bro is everywhere

[@PlaySA]

this is true. i saw him inside my trash can examining new species of isopods this morning. i think hes still in there actually

[@alveolate]

bro also knows every arthropod in latin

[@Tiki7391]

Fr. And tbh I’d be more scared of those grave robbers than any of the creatures out there.

[@dazc9965]

14:44 aww, cutie incredible video as always! Your knowledge of all these overlooked and maligned creatures is super impressive and keeps inspiring me to learn more too.

[@amaCaspar]

of all the people in the world i have never spoken to, you're my favorite

[@gcrauwels941]

I really like these videos. Most people would never suspect such a diverse world of animals are there. Fascinating stuff.

[@billy_g_44]

The ants just wouldn't leave that gecko alone!

[@fernandoflores3161]

I love solifuges! Thanks a lot for another wonderful short documentary!

[@zaikoji]

Hands down the best wildlife commentator I’ve seen. Thanks!

[@frankdughtank8327]

That Dwarf Gecko was so cute!

[@blank2556]

If you like those, you should also look at the Namib web-footed gecko. They are also pretty.

[@goawag]

Thank you as someone who loves insects and a as a Jordanian, I found this very interesting

[@Daniel-lz1qu]

Just found your channel and already viewed around 24 of your videos. Verry surprising to me to see just how docile most of these arachnids and reptiles are around you. Keep up the good work man!

[@manytoolsmike]

I live in Abu Dhabi and have been building a collection of insects from UAE, Oman and GCC countries. This was a great video. Thank you

[@jasonkeleher]

Sick video, hand feeding a wild camel spider is super cool

[@Bugsman333]

Camel spiders are my favorite arachnids. First one was so calm, I didn't except that

[@emiluemi]

I wonder if the formic acid spray from the ground beetle could be the origin of the old rumor/myth of camel spiders having necrotic bites/eating into people while they sleep. Perhaps some soldiers got sprayed without noticing, woke up with necrosis one day, and blamed the wounds on camel spiders.

[@GeneralApathy]

This possibility has crossed my mind many times, so I’m quite happy to see this comment. I do not think it is a likely coincidence that these stories originate from the same regions where Anthia live.

[@a_lethe_ion]

That reminds me of someone who talked about being bit by a spider that is known to be not medically significant and when talking with the user i got them to describe the symptoms and they far better fit blister beetle. User talked about how those beetles were around in their garden too, so that was interesting

[@ExpandDong420]

It's easier to blame the spider in many cases because people fear and hate them

[@dreadknight1668]

​@GeneralApathy I have seen the picture in that paper you linked absolutely attributed to camel spiders, it had been so long I forgot how gnarly it is. I'm glad you have educated us on the real cause for it as I'd been absolutely horrified of camel spiders for so long as a consequence. Thank you for educating us on these animals.

[@anthonydavies6021]

Wow thank you so much for a superb video. What beautiful creatures (!) with the most gorgeous color schemes. I think the geckos are my favourites, but the green mantis at the beginning was also a very handsome insect. I'm not sure if you have upgraded your equipment and/or your filming skills, but this was truly a feast for the eyes, as well as being very informative about this distinctive and harsh habitat. More, please!

[@thezanzibarbarian5729]

Great video with great, knowledgeable presentation and no silly gimmicks as with some KZbinrs. Just the facts. For years, Praying Mantis have always been my No1 arthropod. But having started to read up on Camel Spiders, they're right up there with the Mantids now. _Is it me, or do they seem to have a personality that others don't have?_ And I'm always surprised how some species can single-handedly take on and butcher an ants nests. Show any other small animal an ants nest, and they're gone. Ants have this reputation for being aggressive. But drop in a Camel Spider and it's full on attack. No holding back. And you've just got yourself a new subscriber too 👍

[@robertdiehl1281]

While watching you pick up that creepy crawly creature I forgot to breathe. Appreciate your courage. Cool video dude.

[@Pyraus]

surprising how bite averse they are, even with those huge jaws. They seem to not even think of biting.

[@derppogopvp7430]

Your content is fuel for my passion for the natural world. Easily the best youtuber on the platform!

[@noiwidzisz4591]

I love watching these videos before sleep, they are just so relaxing and help me visualise what I love the most - exploring nature at night thx!!!

[@thejuiceisloose]

I hope we're getting more videos from Jordan and the Middle East.

[@10siWhiz]

What an incredibly well adapted arthropod. Wild what natural selection does over time.

[@azrobbins01]

Great Video! Hope to see some snakes next time!

[@SFforlife]

What a gorgeous sandy desert landscape. It looks like a professional tank set up but it’s natural. 😌 What beautiful animals too.

[@SirSpinalColumn]

I love these videos, so interesting. I would also appreciate learning what animals form the predatory subject species' primary diet.

[@MemoGGG16]

Thanks for sharing. I have learned a lot!

[@BlackReaper0]

The fingers on that gecko looks cool! And the malleoli.

[@browdser]

That grasshopper is really pretty, almost looks like bone or ivory. This is also the first time I've seen camel spider footage and thought, 'Hmm, almost cute.'

[@kyleforbes1366]

Fantastic video! So many amazing critters.

[@Aa-ji2yf]

Dude your videos are great. Keep doing what you’re doing!

[@kazi2121]

Keep up the great work man

[@skiptoacceptancemdarlin]

Beautiful creatures, all of them

[@GrandDukeMushroom]

Amazing video! Very informative! Love to see it, cheers from the mediterranean.

[@GrandDukeMushroom]

I especially appreciate you giving both the english and latin names in the description/verbally and in font, in the chapters. It's very clear !

[@charleyyoung262]

Very interesting! One of the best on the subject

[@ectotherm_aesthetics]

Absolutely spectacular finds! Great video

[@krampus6585]

very cool and informative content!

[@blazelo1301]

I really like these camel spider guys after seeing one of your other videos showing it chase shadows.

[@readmore8974]

Awesome video as always!

[@gertballyhead]

always great content

[@maekoo2036]

I really like your videos, it actually helped me a lot to reduce my stress sometimes. I have a question for you, why does camel spiders fluoress in UV light ? Is this a form of communication between members ?

[@GeneralApathy]

The purpose of fluorescence under UV, if there even is one, among all arachnids (and some other arthropods) that possess this trait is largely unknown. The compounds responsible for this effect are not as mysterious, but don’t provide much insight into understanding why so many taxa share this trait. To your point on communication, consider the fact that many species with little to no reliance on eyesight or interactions with conspecifics also fluoresce under UV. This is part of what makes this case difficult: finding a common thread that links a diverse array of species.

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

Your macro shots are absolutely immaculate, what equipment do you use to capture those visuals? Also good grief I'm glad that our ground beetles don't cause tissue necrosis!

[@boopthesnoot4465]

Camal spiders are so cute 🧡

[@reYouMad]

Nice video, thank you for sharing

[@Dellvmnyam]

Thanks! Solifugids are amazing!

[@destructiveideation3784]

"And this one has a fatty :) " is crazy

[@bobs5596]

wow, cool mantis! i have mantises all around my house in wash DC, they are the regular green or brown, the females get 6'' long.

[@mcspikes1]

Nicely done. Well researched. Factual. Good narration with no drama or exaggerated incorrect facts as are many of these videos. In a word - professional. Are you by any chance a professional adcademically educated entomologist/arachnologist ( as I am ). My only wish is to have been able to travel more. ( I didn’t get out of Brazil). Enjoyed your effort. Thanks.

[@markrusher8377]

Thank you for my lesson of the day, some very unusual arthropods in my class with Teach General Apathy..

[@saffcat101]

yesss an extra long general apathy video!!

[@chubbypuppy_5681]

New to this channel so excuse if these have been answered but how do you know so much about everything? Like there is never anything you don’t know how is that? Is your job to do with animals or are you just interested in them. PS your videos are perfect

[@gapeape3895]

love me a good sun spider, theyre some of my favorite critters

[@tesseract_1982]

Very enjoyable video - as always! 🕷😊👍 Hiking at night is such a special experience! (For me and the occasional mysterious reflective pair of eyes in the bushes... 😉 🦊) I would also like to say, that's an impressive lamp there. Mind sharing model and (approximate) price? For walking I only need a small light or none at all, but using any normal kind of flashlight it is nigh impossible to make nice-looking (phone) photos or short videos of an insect moving. The main reason I'm asking, is: I HAVE seen 100+ $ high-powered LED lamps/floodlights that give such impressive results on a landscape, yet even their batteries have a very short run time when cranked up to such a brightness. So basically my question is, is your lamp just better than that, or can the batteries be exchanged and you took with you additional ones, or did you time its usage (at high power) just very well between the cuts? Thank you very much. 💚

[@reddithistoryarchive8563]

Will never get bored of these vids, comment for the algo

[@charlesseiderman29]

Great video.

[@russelmaida5096]

People don't know we have these sun spiders in the desert's of America

[@harisrehan1454]

There is some information that I'd like to correct or give some personal feedback on about the Anthia Duodecimguttata from my own experience with the species. As they are quite prevalent here in the deserts lf the U.A.E. as well, I hadn't heard of their formic spray having such a severe effect and believed them to have a formic spray similar to other smaller carabids that I had at times just caught with my hands. I always grabbed these guys that way as well and while they do release a strong vinegar-like acid, it never had any effect on my hands or fingers and would typically dissapate after a few hours itself. If I knew this before, I'd be more careful, but just to throw this in there too 🙂

[@johnlecavalier6199]

I was wondering why you were particularly cautious about that beetle more than any other bug I've seen you handle. Then I read the paper and now completely understand why. Nasty wound.

[@pierre-alexandreclement7831]

nice!❤❤❤❤

[@sixevensage7004]

They are cool and cute when they dig around

[@DiscountSupport]

new herp vid let's go

[@hiyaviyaof]

Our camel spiders too speedy you cant catch. 😃 Probably different type of camel spider. Hi from North of Konya / Turkey

[@MrMasterKaio]

Poor Jordan man... hope he's alright after that fright.

[@pku0865]

Very interesting!

[@theadventureclublisboa]

Bro really teleported from Colombia do Jordan 😂😂😂

[@jackdawminuet]

Camel spider gets a feature reel on itself and a snack for the road

[@stelley08]

very cute gecko, i always think to myself that they don't belong in sand dunes for some weird reason (even though they're very well suited to those areas)

[@tesseract_1982]

Perhaps that is because of the many care instructions that admonish new owners to NOT put sand in gecko enclosures, as it would stick to their feet. Obviously, these gecko species here are built differently! I was surprised too.

[@stelley08]

@@tesseract_1982 I'm from New Zealand, our unique geckos are usually found in lush native forests and rocky regions

[@ianredgate4031]

did they crawl up into Barkley, Bird or Clyde the Glide as well?

[@Swamisloc]

Will you ever film a video on the Channel Islands?

[@Tanapseudes]

So much information. Is the camel spider eaten by the black fattail scorpion?

[@SevenGC89]

I'm glad I learned the truth about Camel spiders, I remember when the war in Iraq started all those videos came out of soldiers running from them and it looking like Camel spiders were chasing them (that's what all the videos said) when in reality they are attracted to our shadows because they are trying to get out of the sun so obviously when you run from it your shadow moves so the spider moves to get back in your shadow hence it looking like the spider is chasing you, I think that paired with its..off putting appearance lead to it being coined one of the "worst spiders to encounter" when obv it's harmless. Also that mantis and gecko are SOO CUTE! Oh my jesus that necrotic ulcer from that beetle in the paper you linked is horrific, that's scary man! Ok forgive me for not knowing but I always thought spiders injected their prey which essentially liquified their insides than the spider sucked it out... I didn't know some species ate their food whole like at 6:40 wow that was awesome to catch on camera! What are those web looking things on the plant next to the Mantis @ 10:47 spider webs or something else?

[@Junyrmint16]

I think camel spiders are so creepy looking, awesome video though!

[@Arizite]

you should go to Laos and get us some actual footage of the giant huntsman spider

[@FKyoutubeSERIOUSLY]

I live in Las Vegas, and I've seen exactly one(1) camel spider, hell, I didn't even know these bad boys were in the Mojave. Unfortunately, before I could gain the courage to handle it, it was squashed quite mercilessly by a coworker who wanted us to get back to work. I still don't think he knew what it was that he killed.

[@aleksanderlenartowicz5659]

Awesome video, thank you. The latin names usage implies there are no English common names for those animals?

[@FKyoutubeSERIOUSLY]

No, he's just using their scientific monikers.

[@UshiSound]

i thought camel spiders had a wicked bite but seeing you grab that mf has changed my mind😂😂

[@EddieUrsus]

So many friends

[@nmay2991]

You shoudl do a q and a. You go to a lot of different places so I'm sure youd be interesting lol

[@seanborden7595]

Hello there @General Apathy. I am curious as to what your occupation is knowing so much about these animal species. Are you a biologist?

[@PotooBurd]

LOOK at that pretty boi’s leggies! (The spider) he’s a stunner! 😂

[@chir0pter]

I recently discovered the phenomenom of solifugid 'ant massacres'. Perhaps the first time I've seen another arthopod soloing a horde of ants. Does this only work against docile, non-formic-acid-having seed eaters?

[@GeneralApathy]

I think it has the potential to occur whenever the ants are not predatory or too small. Definitely an odd phenomenon.

[@chir0pter]

@@GeneralApathy It really needs to be studied lol. Like is it just stealing their burrows? Predatory instinct repeatedly triggered? Just hates ants? Also which species does it work on? Can solifugids control fire ants?

[@MarioXcore1]

hells yeah

[@alveolate]

was told that blue is a rare colour in nature... but we saw it on the mantid, a gecko, and that grasshopper. apparently blue is not so rare in the desert?

[@actionturnip395]

Why do camel spiders seem to “breath” and pulse so much when sitting around compared to other critters?

[@catsonmeth1]

my monkey brain tells me to avoid the harmless little camel spider at all costs and that I should pick up the flesh-melting beetle instead.

[@fossilguytom4977]

Do the camel spiders only occur in July or are they common all year round?

[@clintparsons3989]

Is it supposed to breathe heavy like that?

[@siriusness7505]

What's the difference between a "grave robber" and a "archeologist"? By the way, this is like watching national geographic. Thanks for the great video.

[@skiptoacceptancemdarlin]

“Desert Gigantism?”

[@richardmiller1345]

I found a few in Asia. Solifugae, what are the funny tubes that hang from there thorax?

[@richardmiller1345]

Oooooooooo. Last bit cheeky monkey

[@spencerthompson1049]

Ground beetles spray that causes necrosis.

[@solongstarbird9835]

Are those spiders.... breathing? Or is that rising and falling of the body something else?

[@GeneralApathy]

I’m not sure what this behavior is. I’ve wondered myself. Seems to only occur with larger ones.