# The 5 Most Horrifying Bugs in the World

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-5-most-horrifying-bugs-in-the-world/465215>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [September 25, 2008, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-5-most-horrifying-bugs-in-the-world/465215 "2008-09-25T20:26:48Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\
**Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-5-most-horrifying-bugs-in-the-world/465215/41 "2008-09-27T17:02:04Z")

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> [@InvisibleWombat](#):
>
> I think **BBS2K** was referring to the highly-publicized [picture](http://www.camelspiders.net/large-camel-spider-picture.htm) of the camel spiders with the soldiers in Iraq that circulated a while back. The way they shot the picture, most people compare the size of the spiders to the soldier’s legs in the background, and it looks like the damned things are 18" long. If you compare the spiders to the sleeve in the foreground (and remember that there are two in the picture) you get a much better idea of their size.
> 
> It’s not that the picture is a fake–it appears to be completely real–it’s just that the perspective gives a highly exaggerated perception of their size.

I wouldn’t call that picture “fake” by any stretch of the imagination. I know there was some big hoo-hah over it awhile back, but I saw it before all the hype - and before I had ever heard of a camel spider - and it was obvious to me that there were 2 of them there, and some unintentional forced perspective going on. I don’t want to look at the picture again but IIRC the guy is holding them at arm’s length, very close to the camera. That’s a pretty obvious clue. But how do we know that’s what bbs2k was referring to, anyway?

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**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\
**Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-5-most-horrifying-bugs-in-the-world/465215/42 "2008-09-27T17:25:06Z")

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> [@Cisco](#):
>
> I wouldn’t call that picture “fake” by any stretch of the imagination. I know there was some big hoo-hah over it awhile back, but I saw it before all the hype - and before I had ever heard of a camel spider - and it was obvious to me that there were 2 of them there, and some unintentional forced perspective going on. I don’t want to look at the picture again but IIRC the guy is holding them at arm’s length, very close to the camera. That’s a pretty obvious clue. But how do we know that’s what bbs2k was referring to, anyway?

I didn’t call it “fake” either.

And we don’t know what **bbs2k** was referring to. I just figured this was it because that picture got circulated so widely, and like so many other widely-circulated pictures, legions of people screamed “fake.”

**bbs2k** , let us know if that’s what you were talking about!

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