Our I-Spy game of things-we-don’t really-want-to-spot continues with a scorpion, the first either of us have seen in the wild (London Zoo, aged seven, doesn’t count). It was dead but in perfect condition.
It’s about 7cm long, quite pale with a darker, striped body. We’re pretty good at naming different types of curry dishes – or 70s rock bands (including Scorpions) – but these things, no. We think it’s a Common Yellow Scorpion (Buthus occitanus) although it also looks like a Buthus Ibericus.
As this website states: ‘The Buthidae family [of scorpions] are usually found in hot and dry wasteland with sparse vegetation, where they hide in natural burrows under stones etc during daytime. The venom is quite strong and sting is very painful. The European species seem not to pose any great threat to healthy humans.’
We have read elsewhere that the level of toxicity of the Buthus occitanus varies greatly across its range and that a sting from one found in Africa – which isn’t exactly a million miles away – can be fatal.
Here’s our little fella(?) – what do they say? check your boots before putting them on.
Click on image for higher-res.
Related posts:
Spiders – look away now if you don’t like them
© con jamón spain
con jamón spain 
Hmmmm …. that’s the second time I heard about scorpions recently. Looks like they are moving in!
Posted by Marianne | August 21, 2014, 9:33 amI realised I was showering with one once. In Provence.
Posted by C in Ohio | August 20, 2014, 9:09 pmFine rosé, fine scorpions…
Posted by con jamón spain | August 20, 2014, 9:21 pmMaybe wear flip-flops! Good to see one out in the wild, but from a distance
Posted by alisonsye | August 20, 2014, 8:15 pmThat’ll do the trick! They are beautiful, aren’t they?
Posted by con jamón spain | August 20, 2014, 8:18 pmYes 🙂
Posted by alisonsye | August 20, 2014, 9:34 pmYou dropped that Euro on his head from a great height, didn’t you?!
Posted by ladyofthecakes | August 20, 2014, 6:59 pmNo – we would never kill anything! Anyway, it takes great skill to kill things from 10+ metres with a coin – a skill we don’t possess. Having said that, if it was in the bed it would get a good old telling off (and maybe a baseball bat).
Posted by con jamón spain | August 20, 2014, 7:15 pmEeeek, a scorpion in bed, perish the thought!
Posted by ladyofthecakes | August 20, 2014, 7:41 pmHad worse…
Posted by con jamón spain | August 20, 2014, 8:03 pmSpill…!
Posted by ladyofthecakes | August 20, 2014, 8:06 pmEw, ew, ew!
Posted by Expat Eye | August 20, 2014, 6:49 pmTasty fried
Posted by con jamón spain | August 20, 2014, 7:15 pmI repeat ‘EW!’
Posted by Expat Eye | August 20, 2014, 7:17 pmNoooo, don’t want to see one here….
Posted by Wendy Kate | August 20, 2014, 6:41 pm