What did I buy from the pet store?

vtecgsr

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 21, 2005
Messages
200
I saw some "Asian Scorpions" all bunched up in a tank and got some.I cant tell what species they are or if they still have any molts left.

Is this a Longimanus, Spinifer, or Laoticus? I took notice of the black telson, so im guessing Laoticus..


 

Chrome69

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 12, 2009
Messages
268
It's not longimanus, need to see the head more clearly for granulation patterns to discern between laoticus and spinifer but if you got it from a pet store it is most likely a spinifer.
 

GartenSpinnen

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 17, 2005
Messages
1,407
Its really hard to positively identify Heterometrus spp. through photos. There is some keys to help identify them, but sometimes that is even hard if you have all the keys and know what you are looking for. Another key piece of information is the original locality that they were collected in, but gaining that information is hard when you buy from pet stores.

The best thing that I would recommend is to not take photo ID's on Heterometrus spp. seriously. Either get someone who knows their stuff to take an in-person observation of what you have, try to look up a paper on identifying descriptions of the various Heterometrus spp. There is a paper out that details the identifying factors and what distinguishes them somewhere but do not recall the source. You could use this and try to make an ID yourself, or you could have someone who knows their stuff take a look at your specimen to get a good ID. Or you could take high quality macro shots. If you can get some good macro shots people might be able to distinguish what it is better.
 

Michiel

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
May 22, 2006
Messages
3,478
Hi,

If you put up some clear shots of the carapace ("head") and chela ("claw") we might be able to make an educated guess based on the granulation patterns. Like said before, it is very difficult identifying these Heterometrus species..

Cheers, Michiel
 
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