It's called a camel spider even though it's not a spider. The one I saw wasn't anywhere near "Iraq-sized". It was probably ~2 inches long. I knew it wasn't venomous and my plan was to get it to go on a piece of paper and put it outside. But I realized that even though spiders don't bother me at all - that thing creeped me out because I learned that for me 2 inches is too big and it was also too fast. So a trip on the paper to outside and freedom was a bridge too far.
I ended up stepping on the poor guy hard when he started vaguely moving in my direction. I turned him into mush. At least his visit with the Grim Reaper was instantaneous.
Solifugae is an order of animals in the class Arachnida known variously as camel spiders, wind scorpions, sun spiders, or solifuges. The order includes more than 1,000 described species in about 147 genera. Despite the common names, they are neither true scorpions (order Scorpiones) nor true spiders (order Araneae). Most species of Solifugae live in dry climates and feed opportunistically on ground-dwelling arthropods and other small animals. The largest species grow to a length of 12–15 cm (5–6 in), including legs. A number of urban legends exaggerate the size and speed of the Solifugae, and their potential danger to humans, which is negligible.
