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cacoseraph · Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 11:03 am Post subject: Random Scorpion in situ Pictures

from wastelands:
I believe i have caught at least two species of scorps (there are something like 25 sp and ssp in my surrounding three counties (counties are subdivisions of a state that contain one or more cities. states are subdivisions of USA (hehehe)) (i live in San Bernardino Co. but quite close to parts of Lost Angeles Co. and Riverside Co.).

I am pretty much a flipper hunter... i just walk around flipping stuff over to see what is shaking underneath. I have tried flooding a few times, but in summer chap i am MUCH more interested in drinking any water i have been lugging aroudn for miles, rather that pouring it into random holes (unless it is in my face and full of teeth, i guess).

The following pics are ofabout the fifth or sixth specimen of one of the species (::lol::, i'm eyeballing the species for now... but i am researching them here on my website.

Ah, this looks like a good board to flip. It is decently shaded (for the area that is decent shade!), lying flat on the ground, and is pretty good size.

FLIP!

hmm, do you see anything?
click here to see what i saw when i first flipped the board over

how about now?

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Here is the pretty little thing after i caught it

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ZOOM I SAY!

The scorpion was in a burrow that seemed to extend back more than the couple of inches i could see directly into. I have seen this type of burrow enterance numerous times, but this is the first time (er, i *think*) that i have caught a scorpion in one! I am quite curious if the scorp digs this type of burrow itself (horizontally oriented enterance that is wider than it is tall, built in VERY sandy soil). This type of burrow seems to be much more horizontally than vertically oriented... this is a good thing! When it is safe for the bug i like to try to block their retreat by stabbing a knife into the ground behind them and then grabbing them very quickly. This one stung me a couple times then calmed down. The venom doesn't seem to do anything more than sting (::lol::) at about .1/5 (like a papercut that gets some sweat in it, dang, that is actually quite similar to what it feels like) and in no way dissuades me from hand catching them

(my hand/fingers looks like they are in a funny position cuz they are... i was holding the scorp in that hand

Spongy absorbant debris (pillows, mattresses, various clothes drifts) is probably my favorite to look under. I think it is edging out boards (my second favorite) in the number of interesting things i find under it.
This appears to be a sponge cushion from some kind of seating pad.

well, what do we have here?

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why, it's a cute little scorpion!

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This guy was much more stingy and its stings were .2/5. It actually stung me enough that i dropped it! I recaptured it after it made the mistake of retreating towards me to try to get out of the sun Smile

I am certainly not sure... but i *THINK* this might be a third species. It is small, wellunder 2"/5cm and my other specimen is similar size. Both are quite a bit more nervous seeming that the other lokes i have caught in the past, and both seem to have slightly more painful venom than the 10 or so other specimens of other species i have stung by

cacoseraph · Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 11:41 am Post subject:

from when thiscordia and i hit up the wastelands

I wasn't feeling that well and had missed the two previous days of work, so i didn't take very many pictures. This is one of the three vaejovids we captured. We also caught what was the smallest scorp i have seen in the wild yet. It was probably a third instar of one of the vaejovids in the wastelands.

Here is one of the cranky little darlings. This might be a Paruroctonus silvestrii but i usually wait to see what Prymal/barkscorpions/Luc thinks and just sort of parrot him. Ah... standing on the shoulders of giants Smile

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