Fang, or Solifuge - Solifugae
The appearance of the fang is frightening. Its body, 5–7 cm long, is usually brown-yellow in color and covered with numerous tactile hairs. The first two head appendages, which are used for grasping and grinding food, are well-developed in solifuges and resemble large pincers or claws. In total, solifuges (fangs) have 10 legs. Unlike the front legs, which serve a tactile function, the hind legs of the solifuge are equipped with sticky claws, between which are peculiar suckers. Thanks to this structure of the limbs, camel spiders can easily climb vertical surfaces.
There are many myths about the venomousness of the fang. It can injure a person to the point of bleeding, but no more than that.
It has no venom glands, and the mild inflammation at the bite site occurs because remnants of decaying food get into the wound from the solifuge's claw.
Solifuges inhabit steppes and deserts. They are nocturnal. During the day, they hide in various shelters, in the burrows of rodents and other animals. They are quite easy to encounter: just light a fire, and they will come running to the flames. Light attracts fangs, and they are also eager to feast on insects that are drawn to the fire.
Fangs are characterized by their extraordinary voracity and indiscriminate eating habits. They attack literally everything that moves and stirs. Despite the absence of venom glands, their diet includes large insects and even small animals. The primary food for these arachnids consists of various millipedes, pill bugs, termites, scorpions, and spiders. Larger species can even handle lizards, small birds, and small rodents.
Sometimes, before copulation, courtship dances are performed. After fertilization, the female becomes very active, and the male quickly tries to make his escape, as the female is not averse to eating him out of hunger, which is significantly heightened during this period. After fertilization, the female solifuge begins to feed vigorously and lays between 30 to 200 eggs in a burrow that she has previously dug. The process of developing new individuals begins while still in the mother's oviducts. Therefore, soon tiny fangs emerge, covered with a transparent but strong and flexible film (cuticle).
In the first days, the solifuges are immobile. They gain the ability to move independently after their first molt, which occurs after 14-20 days. At that time, the young also begin to grow the characteristic hairs of this species. The mother stays with her offspring until they become strong and initially provides them with food.
The life of camel spiders is subject to strict seasonality. With the onset of cold weather, fangs enter a deep hibernation and survive adverse conditions in this state.
Fangs are typical inhabitants of desert, semi-desert, and steppe areas with tropical, subtropical, and mildly temperate climates. Some species of solifuge have adapted to forested areas. In the post-Soviet countries, solifuges are found throughout Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan), the North Caucasus, the South Caucasus, and the Crimean Peninsula. Fangs are only absent on the Australian continent and the icy expanses of Antarctica and the Arctic. In Kyrgyzstan, they are widespread throughout the territory.
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