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Black rock scorpion Opisthacanthus capensis if my ID is correct. This one was covered in these tiny little mites which I presume keep them clean.<br />
Thin-tailed scorpions such as this one are not so venomous as their thick-tailed cousins and are prolific in my area often entering the house, but we have discovered that they hate lavender, so we have it planted everywhere.  Geotagged,Opisthacanthus capensis,Scorpions,South Africa Click/tap to enlarge PromotedSpecies introCountry intro

Black rock scorpion

Opisthacanthus capensis if my ID is correct. This one was covered in these tiny little mites which I presume keep them clean.
Thin-tailed scorpions such as this one are not so venomous as their thick-tailed cousins and are prolific in my area often entering the house, but we have discovered that they hate lavender, so we have it planted everywhere.

    comments (9)

  1. Scary scorpion. Awesome shot. Posted 10 years ago
    1. Thanks Bagerathan, its not actually that scary,their sting is no worse than a mild bee sting...or so I am told! Posted 10 years ago
  2. Wow Clarie, How did you manage to get so closeup shot of this scorpion.? Very clear, This is Promoted !! Posted 10 years ago
    1. Very carefully! It was sleeping under a branch in the garden, poor thing was not too happy with me disturbing it and sticking a camera in its face that is for sure. But I covered it up again. Posted 10 years ago
  3. Wow Claire, this is exactly the kind of composition to bring out a scorpion's character. Very well done, really an amazing macro!

    Regarding the mites, I wonder whether they are beneficial or a parasite. Here's an example of a parasite mite:
    Rilaena triangularis harvestman on bark of tree I spotted it by its bright red egg sack (?) moving in the corner of my eye. This one is hard to get entirely in focus with a macro lens so I took a bit of a distance.<br />
The identification as Opilio parietinus (corrected now to Rilaena triangularis) was an educated guess. Wikipedia mentions 2 species being extremely common in Western Europe, and this one seems to match the most out of the two. I could be entirely wrong though. Heeswijk,Macro,Opiliones,Phalangiidae,Rilaena,Rilaena triangularis
    Posted 10 years ago
    1. Fascinating, thanks Ferdy! Posted 10 years ago
  4. Great shot Claire, I was indeed wondering about those colourful spots it hosted, mites, I did not know. Posted 10 years ago
    1. Thanks Ludo Posted 10 years ago

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''Opisthacanthus capensis'' is a Cape Province and Zimbabwean species of scorpion with robust chelae, dark brown to black in colour, turning green when under cover for some time.

Similar species: Scorpions
Species identified by Claire Hamilton
View Claire Hamilton's profile

By Claire Hamilton

All rights reserved
Uploaded Jan 21, 2014. Captured Jan 20, 2014 14:24 in N2, South Africa.
  • Canon EOS 7D
  • f/10.0
  • 1/41s
  • ISO1000
  • 100mm