# scorpion ID



## Galapoheros (Mar 7, 2009)

Anybody know for sure?  I was thinking Cheloctonus sp. or Opisthacanthus asper(?)  This one is a male.


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## calum (Mar 7, 2009)

yeah, looks very like a _Cheloctonus_ Sp to me too. jonensii, perhaphs?


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## davidbarber1 (Mar 7, 2009)

Cheloctonus jonesii?? According to "Scorpions Of Southern Africa" by Jonathan Leeming pg.60 - "Up to 90 mm long. Coloration black overall in northern Natal; brown with yellow legs in Mpumalanga." "Males are more slender than females and have a prominent tooth on the moveable pedipalp finger, which is absent or reduced in females." Just my opinion. Hope this helps.

David


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## calum (Mar 7, 2009)

I still think it is from the _Hemiscorpiidae_ family, if not _Cheloctonus_...


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## Michiel (Mar 7, 2009)

And why do you think this Calum, based on what do you think this not O.asper, (which this is by the way  )


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## davidbarber1 (Mar 7, 2009)

O. asper?? "Up to 100 mm long. Uniformly black in the northern part of its range. Males are known to tap their pincers to inform females of their intention to mate. Males have a bump on the inside margin of the pedipalps. None stridulates." Pg. 59 of "Scorpions of Southern Africa."

David


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## calum (Mar 7, 2009)

I didn't say it WASN'T  O.asper... as I said It looks like something from Hemiscorpiidae. but probably opisthacanthus..


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## Galapoheros (Mar 7, 2009)

OK thanks everybody.  Also, the female has babies but they all stay underneath and none go to her back, is that typical of O. asper?  The wholesaler said they came from Mozambique.


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## calum (Mar 7, 2009)

O.asper is present in mozambique.. so is jonensii. 

probably Asper then.


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## tabor (Mar 7, 2009)

need more info. where/who did you get it from. Looks like an Opistocanthus spp. to me.


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## Galapoheros (Mar 8, 2009)

What do ya mean Ryan, the country it's from?


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## CID143ti (Mar 9, 2009)

Okay T, I'm gonna need you to put that animal down.  What have I told you about handling things that you don't know what they are?  Second of all, place it in a box and ship it to me since you don't know what it is then you obviously don't need it.  Anyway, I vote O. asper since he doesn't look European.  

W. Smith


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## Galapoheros (Mar 9, 2009)

I wasn't 100% with which it was but was confident it was one of the two.  No prob handling it, mostly because I knew what it wasn't.  You want babies W?  I'm going to try to take care of these babies, esp. after I read gestation can last 18 months(true?), that's a pretty long time to wait for more.  Well everybody sounds as sure as I do on the sp except Michiel who seems 100% it's O. asper so I'll discard Cheloctonus for now.


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## Michiel (Mar 9, 2009)

Given the pics, I am still going for O.asper. Opisthacanthus is closely related to Cheloctonus and their general morphology is the same in many ways. It can be hard to see, especially from pics. 
The distribution of O.asper and C.jonesi overlap, but O.asper is arboreal, while C.jonesi is a burrower. Both species have a totally dark morph and a morph with lighter legs. 
By the morphology of the carapace (shape of the edges and the location of the median eyes), the granulation on the pedipalps and the coloration pattern I stick to O.asper. 
Remember, I am not a foolprove IDing computer 

PS> Both species are not medical important, so unless you are allergic to scorpionvenom, you could hold them in your hands. don't know if their sting is painfull, you might not want to find out!


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## Galapoheros (Mar 9, 2009)

I read the same things before I posted but I still wasn't sure.  One thing I did was offer this one bark "and" substrate, it dug a hole so that made be wonder if it was C. jonesi.  But I still have it in a small container so I wondered if it's hiding options were so limited that it might be O. asper that tried to dig a small hole so, guess I still don't know for sure but thanks for all the input.


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## Michiel (Mar 10, 2009)

Well, that's interesting and if it dug a hole into the substrate (instead of a scrape under a piece of bark), I am starting to doubt too. I would not expect that from O.asper. 

Anyway, I am more of a Buthid man, so my knowlegde about these guys is limited. Maybe skinheaddave can help you out, so shoot him a PM.


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## Kugellager (Mar 12, 2009)

How about O.validus? The one below is from an area just west of Kruger in South Africa. It would help if you knew where your specimen is from.

John
];')


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## Michiel (Mar 12, 2009)

Good thinking Robin, to the batcave  

Sorry for that. Good option kugel!


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## Galapoheros (Mar 12, 2009)

Son of a diddlydoodle, I didn't expect another one to get thrown in as possibility.  Well, as I said earlier, I was told it came from Mozambique.  I don't have any more locality info more specific than that.  Thanks for throwing that in, makes it a little more interesting.  They are funny little dudes and seem pretty hardy.


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## Kugellager (Mar 18, 2009)

Well southern Mozambique does border the area of South Africa where I photographed that O.validus.  Certainly should be considered in the mix of possibilities.

John
];')


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## Galapoheros (Jan 1, 2010)

Just a couple of pics/update on some babies.  I'm still not sure of ID.  Maybe another clue is that sometimes they will play dead.


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## skinheaddave (Jan 1, 2010)

Can you get a picture of the denticals on the cutting edges of the claws?

Cheers,
Dave


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## Galapoheros (Jan 1, 2010)

Yeah I can give it a try with my camera, pretty limited zoom compared to the new ones but I'll try it later thanks.


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## H. laoticus (Jan 1, 2010)

bit off topic, but what kind of substrate mix is that? looks pretty neat


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## Galapoheros (Jan 2, 2010)

It's desert substrate ...ha  No really, it really is, I got it during a trip to the desert last year.  I got permission out there from an older lady, filled up a plastic tub.  I brought back some darker stuff too, it's like gold to desert terr stuff so I have to be careful with it, I'm running out.


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## Galapoheros (Sep 19, 2010)

One more brood from this female.  I still have four from the other brood, funny, kind of goofy scorps.  The female is dead in the pic.


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## H. laoticus (Sep 19, 2010)

You out of that special desert substrate, yet? lol
Nice looking scorps, I really like their look.


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## Galapoheros (Sep 19, 2010)

I try to recycle it lol. I put some outside in containers in the sun and rain for weeks and reuse it, use it for cacti too.


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## Galapoheros (Sep 20, 2010)

OK Dave(if you're there), finally, real easy when they don't move much


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