I went to a pet store today.

[whoami?]

I saw a scorpion there. But oddly, it wasn't an emperor. It was a small scorpion that looked a lot like this:

I was intered in it, since I rarely see any pet stores carrying anything but emperors. So I asked the manager what kind of scorpion it was. "It's a gold scorpion," she replied.

I then asked what the scientific name for it was. She didn't know. I asked if there was anyone there who did know. She replied, "Probably not. But there's a book about scorpions over there on the rack. You could maybe find the scientific name in that book."

I then asked where the scorpion came from. She had no idea.


That's really pretty scary. Pet stores selling scorpions and they don't even know what they are or where they came from. If they keep on doing that kind of thing, it's only a matter of time before they sell a deathstalker or an Androctonus australis to some 13 year old kid.

 

[XOskeletonRED]

European scorpions: If you count the keels (darker colored lines, basically) on the scorpion's 1st two segments on the mesosoma and the number is five, it is a Deathstalker (often refered to as "FIVE-KEELED GOLD" for this reason). It is the only scorpion from Europe with this characteristic that I know of, other than the possibility of Leiurus jordanensi having it as well, which would be a black scorpion, rather than yellow or yellowish. Come to think of it, I believe Leiurus is the only scorpion genus with five keels on the 1st two segments of the mesosoma. :? Refer to Scorpion Anatomy thread for photos and part descriptions.


adios,
edw. =D

 

[Kugellager]

Looks like a Leiurus...look at the length of those palps...way long. Also a very deadly scorp...but you prob already know that...I truly hope there are no pet stores selling this w/o knowing what its potential is...

John
];')

 

[whoami?]

Originally posted by Kugellager
Looks like a Leiurus...look at the length of those palps...way long. Also a very deadly scorp...but you prob already know that...I truly hope there are no pet stores selling this w/o knowing what its potential is...

John
];')

Looks like a Leiurus because that's what it is. When I got home, I typed "Leirus" into my search engine, and that's the picture that I found.

Now, I'm not saying that's what I saw at the pet store. It very well might have been something else. It just looked like a Leiurus to my untrained eye. I'm just saying that the pet store owners had no idea what they had, and it could have been deadly just as easily as it could have been harmless. Seems rather irresponsible to me.

 

[XOskeletonRED]

Indeed, which is why I posted a major identifying key to Leiurus quinquestriatus. That way, a more untrained eye could identify a scorpion of this magnitude easier. Taxonomy is not as difficult as one may believe with the L. quinquestriatus. Actually, it is one of the first scorpions to be able to be "weeded out" or identified through European taxonomy.


adios,
edw.