Scorpions of Southern Africa

A short course on scorpions, conducted by Jonathan Leeming, one of South Africa’s leading authorities in this field, was held at Tanda Tula. Guides from both Tanda Tula and Kings Camp participated in the two day course and were given a wonderful insight into these tiny creature’s lives. The course was a mixture of both practical and theoretical application.

All the guides had a basic knowledge of scorpions, such as burrowing scorpions verses bark scorpions and venomous verses non venomous. Jonathan, with his wealth of knowledge and experience, opened our eyes to so much more.

The highlight was definitely looking for scorpions at night with the use of our UV torches. Scorpions illuminate a wonderful green under this light and are easy to pick out in the dark. So off we went, all excitedly chatting away and eager to show Jonathan what we were made of. We picked up scorpions as we went (using a pair of tongs), carefully placing them in plastic containers for viewing back in the lodge.

Before we knew it we were a long way from the lodge, in the pitch dark with loads of scorpions in hand, and the slightly uneasy feeling we were being watched by some of the larger animals in the bush. We beat a hasty retreat to the lodge to inspect our collection. What a fantastic array of scorpions; all together we identified seven different species, all differing in size and colour.

These included the Joneses burrowing scorpion, Mozambique thick tail scorpion and the most venomous in our region, the Transvaal thick tailed scorpion to mention a few. All these species varied in habitat and behaviour; the non lethal Opistacanthus Asper, a bark dwelling scorpion, was very easy to handle as Foreman proved in the photo above, although the smile was a nervous one to start. We learned a great deal from the course and look forward to sharing our newly acquired knowledge with you, hopefully dispelling any fears you may have of these fascinating arachnids. Hope to see you all soon.