A Lifelong Fascination with Scorpions

One evening when I was a child, I had an unexpected encounter with a black rock scorpion began a fascination that has lasted for decades and eventually led to university research, keeping scorpions of my own, and a lifelong appreciation for these remarkable arachnids

The black rock scorpion (Urodacus manicatus) is the first scorpion I ever saw in real life, I was fascinated by it then and am still fascinated by scorpions now.  They are a small and relatively calm scorpion that is native to the east coast of Australia.  

Back then I had seen plenty of scorpions in encyclopedias and other books, and on documentaries, but nothing really prepared me for what it was like in real life.  These small creatures are amazing to watch, I still find it hard to stop watching them.

This article contains affiliate links.  If you purchase through these links, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.  As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Scorpions glow under UV light

The first scorpion I saw in real life 

I was watching TV one evening as a child and a scorpion ran across the living room floor.  I caught it and put it in a plastic ‘bug catcher’.  From there I kept it for a while, having no concept of how to look after it properly, marvelling at this amazing creature while it ate flies and other insects that I fed to it.  I eventually released this scorpion into the garden, which is a good thing because I can’t imagine it would have survived terribly long in a bug catcher. 

Now when I keep scorpions, even for a few days, I don't use 'bug catchers'.  I now use a small plastic aquarium because it is easy to clean, provides good ventilation, and makes observing the scorpion much easier.  These have a secure lid with ample ventilation.  

I also really like the look of the tiny aquariums that look like a lego block, they should work as they also have a secure lid.  I'll tell you why the lid is super important later in this post.  (Spoiler alert: I had a scorpion escape!)

Back then I was never confident to pick up the scorpion, and I am glad I didn’t because I could have hurt it.  

I was fascinated that they were arachnids, yet I counted ten legs.  It wasn’t until years later that I discovered that the pinchers at the front are not legs, but are pedipalps (pedipalps are almost like enlarged mouth parts).  If you don’t count the pinchers then the number of legs is eight, which makes me more comfortable as it fits in with my understanding of arachnids. 

Urodacus manicatus glows under UV light

My Scorpion Research at University

When I was a university student I got to see more of these delightful arachnids.  As part of "Behavioural and Physiological Ecology" I did an experiment involving scorpions.  A friend took me out to a hill where the scorpions lived, and we collected a few.  

For the experiment we got a light on a timer, put some scorpions in a tank with a thermogradient, attached a thermocouple to the back of each scorpion, and logged how changing light patterns altered their circadian rhythm.  

I forget how long that experiment ran, it was at least a few weeks, if not a few months.  I handled those scorpions every day and grew really attached to them.  At the end of the experiment we released them back on the hill where we collected them.  I was surprisingly sad to see them go. 

Black rock scorpion exploring the aquarium

Baby scorpions as pets

During that time I also kept two baby scorpions that I had also collected from the same spot.  These had nothing to do with the experiment, I thought they were cute and I kept them at home in a small container.  

They were both the same age, and much the same size, one was very shy and the other far more outgoing and interactive.  I used to catch small insects to feed them.  I tried to always keep some tiny insect in there for them to eat, but they couldn’t always find it.  I knew if they were hungry because they would walk around with their tail twitching slightly, so I would catch the insect with tweezers and hold it until a scorpion grabbed it.  I use long feeding tweezers for handling insects safely, I find feeding tweezers to be ideal for feeding scorpions.

One night I left the lid off the container the baby scorpions lived in, and the outgoing one escaped and was never seen by me again.  I missed it, but I still had one.  The one that didn’t escape eventually moulted, which was utterly fascinating.  They get very hungry for a while before moulting, and then stop eating completely.  To shed they squeeze their entire body out of a tiny hole near the mouth.  They have tiny wrists and big pinchers, so to squeeze out of here they are very soft.  

After moulting they need time to harden so must be left alone.  After a few days their exoskeleton hardens and they are ready to eat again. 

I had a bottle cap of water in the container and one day my tiny scorpion fell in and I had to rescue it.  I didn’t know how to pick it up without being stung, I panicked and put my finger in and it grabbed hold of me.  I then carefully lifted it out and let it walk off my finger back into the container.  It didn't sting me.  

After that I kept a damp cotton wool ball in there for water because I was scared it would fall in again when I wasn’t there to save it.  I can’t remember exactly what eventually happened to this little one, it was a lot of years ago, I have a feeling that I released it where I got it from before moving house.  

One really cool thing about all scorpions is that they fluoresce brightly under ultraviolet light.  The exact mechanism behind fluorescing in ultraviolet light is still under debate.  Their exoskeleton contains hyaline, which makes the exoskeleton strong, and is thought to be the part that glows under UV light.  The babies and ones that recently shed their skin don’t really glow, but once the skin hardens they all glow.  Even more remarkably, some fossilised scorpions even fluoresce under ultraviolet light.

I still keep its first exoskeleton safely in a little jar in my drawer.  Even though it has been over twenty years, the exoskeleton still fluoresces under ultraviolet light. 

Why do scorpions glow under UV light? 

Scientists are still debating the exact purpose and mechanism behind this, but compounds in the exoskeleton fluoresce brightly when exposed to ultraviolet light.  This makes scorpions easy to find at night using a cheap UV torch.

If you'd like to find scorpions yourself, a small UV torch can make them much easier to spot because many species fluoresce under ultraviolet light.

I like to use a small UV torch to make scorpions glow, these ultraviolet torches are ideal.  Going out on a warm night with an ultraviolet torch is one of the easiest ways to find scorpions.

While I rarely put the UV torch on my scorpions, some people have a UV torch to use when displaying them.  Prolonged exposure to ultraviolet light reduces fluorescence over time, although the exact reasons behind this are not fully understood.  They will not glow as bright over time if you keep the light on them too much, but every once in a while does not appear to have any adverse effects.  

Scorpions aren't the only natural thing that glows under UV light.  I wrote an earlier post on glowing lichen, while my pictures don't do it justice, some of these lichens glowed bright orange.  I also wrote another post on using these same ultraviolet torches to make various things such as honey, spider webs, and corn stalks glow.  

Baby scorpion exoskeleton under normal light

The same baby scorpion exoskeleton under UV light

Black Rock Scorpion Conservation and Breeding

My fascination with these creatures eventually led me to consider keeping and even breeding them.  I have read that it takes about two or three years for a baby black rock scorpion to reach maturity, which is a long time.  From there it can be difficult getting them to mate and not harm each other.  

Scorpions give birth to live young, after mating the gestation period is about sixteen months, which is a very long time for such a tiny animal.  Sometimes the mother will eat the babies, other times she won’t, sometimes the babies will eat each other, and other times they don’t.  

All of this means it takes several years from a baby scorpion birth until it has a baby scorpion of its own.  This also means most scorpions for sale have been taken from the wild as breeding them sustainably takes a long time and a lot of effort. 

I am told that the black rock scorpion can live up to a dozen years, with eight to ten being pretty common in the wild.  Given how long they live, and how long they take to reach maturity, and how long their gestation is, and that collectors sometimes take every single mature specimen they can find in an area, these scorpions really do need to be raised sustainably rather than taken from the wild. 

I still find black rock scorpions fascinating

A Lifelong Fascination

It has been decades since that first black rock scorpion crossed the living room floor, yet I still stop to watch them whenever I get the chance.  What began as childhood curiosity grew into scientific study and a deep respect for these remarkable arachnids.  Every time I see one scurrying after some prey insect, or glowing under ultraviolet light, I am reminded of the fascination that started all those years ago.

Despite their fearsome reputation, black rock scorpions are calm, fascinating creatures that have taught me a great deal about observing and appreciating the natural world.  Even today, I still keep that tiny exoskeleton in a jar, a small reminder of an animal that sparked a fascination which never really faded.

At some stage I may sell scorpion kits, and possibly captive bred individuals.  If I do, they will appear on my for sale page.  Live animals would likely be offered for local pickup only rather than postage. 

Why Does Lichen Glow Under UV Light? The Hidden Fluorescent World of Lichens

Lichen has always fascinated me. Ever since I was a small child there was something intriguing about lichen, I just couldn’t put my finger on what it was. It comes in a variety of colours and shapes, some look like tiny delicate flowers (they are not flowers), others look like bizarre coral (they are not coral), and others look like an unsightly mess. 

Lichen seems to grow in some of the most inhospitable, unlikely, and sometimes unbelievable places. Lichens are a pioneer species, often colonising a barren rock somewhere, paving the way for moss and eventually higher vascular plants to start growing. 

Different lichens 

When I was younger there were a few hills that were covered in old abandoned mines. Very little grew in these places as the top soil was gone and they were just rocks and sub soil that had been dug up by hand a hundred or so years ago in gold rush times. Some of these places were covered in thick beds of lichen. I used to scrape some of this off and take it home to bury in the vegetable garden. I figured it had probably liberated some of the rock minerals that may be useful for my vegetables. Now I am older I think I was onto something, on the other hand it may have contained high concentrations of heavy metals and other toxins, I will never know either way.

Lichen often slowly dissolves the rock they are growing on and releases minerals that were locked up and other organisms can use them. Some types can also absorb heavy metals and other toxins and can be used in bioremediation. Different types of lichen grow on the trunks of different trees. For years there has been debate among horticulturists whether or not lichen is harmless to apple trees or if after the lichen reaches a certain density that it can cause any issues.

Some types of lichen are extremely slow growing, while others seem to almost grow while you are watching them. Some can take extreme heat and dry, others can be frozen solid for months with no ill effects. Some lichens are simple to grow, some people might say they are almost impossible to kill. They can be hot glued onto surfaces or even mashed up and painted on to colonise a larger area quickly. Some people paint them onto gates and artworks to give a new creation an aged and distinguished look. I have seen some growing in interesting low maintenance terrariums. Yet you won’t often find lichen for sale in garden shops or online.

Another fascinating thing about lichen is that they aren’t one organism, they are two or more. Lichen is a combination of fungi and algae living in symbiosis, with each organism benefitting from the other. The way they reproduce and disperse can be rather bizarre and intricate, but I am not going to talk about any of that in this post.

As I said, lichen is fascinating, but it gets better. So much better, and that is what I want to talk about in this post.

Lichen glows in the dark but it isn't bioluminescent. 

If you turn out the lights lichen won't glow, they are dark just like everything else. Nothing to see here, move on, they are boring, go do something else. Put lichen under an ultraviolet light and it is an entirely different story.

Most lichens will fluoresce under ultra violet light, different types will be different colours and different intensities. Some are pretty uninteresting, they kind of glow a little. 

Others glow bright orange, or bright green, or any number of other incredible intense colours. Some lichens have one part that is one colour and other parts that glow another colour, others will have one part that glows and other parts that do not glow.

Unfortunately the camera didn't capture it properly; this lichen glowed bright orange under UV light

 
Some types glow very bright under UV light and are incredible to see. These lichens tend to fluoresce under UV light alive or dead. This means you can plant out a terrarium with these more impressive lichens and even if the conditions are not to their liking and they all die they will still look unbelievable under a black light. 

The lichen on the right fluoresced orange under UV light, although the camera failed to capture the effect

Another fun thing that can be done is to set up an enclosure for something else that glows under UV light, and include different lichens.

Scorpions fluoresce under UV light, they look amazing and I am unable to capture this in a photo. I would not leave a UV light on them the all the time as over time they lose some of their glow and they aren’t really fond of UV light. Putting the UV light on every now and again when you really want to show them off is fine.

If there are lichens that fluoresce bright yellow or orange or green, as well as a scorpion, the enclosure can take on a look that is impossible to describe but is a sight to behold. 

All scorpions have a sting, but none of the Australian scorpions are deadly to people. Some species are certainly grumpier than others, some are more laid back while others are very fast, and some species are far easier to raise than others, so not all are suitable for beginners.

Scorpions are a fascinating animal, they give birth to live young and the female carries the young on her back for some time. Another interesting thing is that adults and young of many species fluoresce different colours under ultra violet light. 

Scorpions shed their skin to grow. I have an exoskeleton from a baby scorpion I had that shed its skin in the year 1999 or 2000, this will still fluoresce when I shine a black light on it. I think that is absolutely remarkable after all this time. If I kept a black light on it all the time it would eventually grow dim and lose its glow, but still glowing after more than twenty years is just incredible.

Baby scorpion exoskeleton 

The same scorpion exoskeleton under UV light 

The more I learn about lichen, the more fascinating they become.  They help create soil from bare rock, survive in places where few other organisms can live, and under ultraviolet light they reveal a hidden world of colour that most people never notice.  Next time you walk past a patch of lichen on a fence post, rock, or tree trunk, take a closer look.  There may be far more going on than first meets the eye.

Ultra Violet torch

Recently I bought a small UV torch.  Mostly because I want to look for scorpions, but also because a lot of things look incredible under ultra violet light.  

While I have no way to measure or confirm this for myself (and have to go off what it said on the order spec sheet) this torch emits light in the range of 365nm 395nm.  

Anything below 400nm is often referred to as invisible, but that isn’t strictly true.  In small torches like this there is always a trailing off of light to the edge of the visible spectrum.  The 365 emits a dull bluish light that is almost invisible to the human eye.  The 395 emits a blue purple light that is more easily seen by the human eye.  

If it only emitted invisible light I would not know if my torch was ever working, so I find that the little visible light they produce is a good thing.  This little torch runs off three AAA batteries and can make things glow intensely even from a reasonable distance.

Parts of corn stalks fluoresce under UV light 

There are a bunch of things around the house that glow under UV light.  Some plastics glow, while others do not.  I can't work out by looking at them which will and which won't.  Interestingly some white paper glows intensely, and other white paper does not.  Some fabrics glow, while others do not.  Under UV light my daughters' room looks somewhat like what I imagine a fairy princess rave party would look like.

Some clear plastics glow, some white ones glow, and some of the dark colours glow.  Below are some photos of things under UV light as well as under normal light for comparison.  

I can't take photos that really look the same as the UV light looks, my phone alters some of the photos and makes them less bright, but this gives you a decent idea of what we are seeing.

A plastic jewel

Some plastics glow, but not others

The plastic container on the lower shelf looks the same but did not glow

My little pony under UV light

My little pony under normal light

This glows a lot more in real life

The same bottle 

Some foods also glow under UV light.  Some things I would have guessed, such as milk, while others took me by surprise.

Honey under UV light looks cloudy

The same jar of honey under normal light

Peanut butter under UV light

Peanut butter under normal light

Ripe bananas under UV light - not a great photo

The same bananas under normal light

White sprinkles glow

I took the kids for a quick walk around the yard to see what would glow under UV light.  We found something under a log that glowed which I think was eggs of something.    

One thing I found interesting is that some spider webs glowed.  No other spider webs glowed, so I think this one had an egg sack under it.  Once the weather warms up and more things are active I would like to see if all spider egg sacks glow, or if it just some species.  I have a feeling that most do not glow.

This spider web glowed, most others do not

As we were walking past the guinea pig hutch something glowed brightly.  

I had a closer look and it was part of a corn stalk.  I wasn't sure if it was due to guinea pig urine, or if corn stalks normally glow under ultra violet light.  

I noticed something in the guinea pig house glowed brightly

This photo does not show the colour, but the corn stalk was bright yellow/green

Glowing corn stalk under ultraviolet light

I still have some corn in the garden that is standing from last season, so we went to have a look at it.  To my surprise, parts of the corn stalks glowed green/yellow, other parts glowed bright blue.  Some of the corn stalks glow intensely under UV light.  I looked on the internet and have not been able to find any other mention of corn stalks glowing under UV light.

To be honest, I thought the corn looked a bit creepy under UV light.  Blair witch style creepy...

I am interested to see if corn stalks glow when they are alive and growing, or if it is only once they are dead.  It may be that there is some fungus or something breaking down the dead stalks that makes them glow.  I don't know yet but I plan to find out in Summer when I have new corn plants growing.  

Corn glowing under ultraviolet light

My photos don't do it justice

I need to look around and see what else glows under ultraviolet light and take some photos.  I really should also put up a blog post of scorpions under ultra violet light because they look incredible.