# Is anyone able to identify this scorpion?



## Sdaji (Feb 21, 2010)

It's from western Victoria. Is anyone able to work out what species it is?


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## hornet (Feb 21, 2010)

how big? i'm thinking Urodacus armatus


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## Sdaji (Feb 21, 2010)

I'm very roughly guessing 5-6cm. Longer than Urodacus manicatus, but as you can, narrower. Is there an easy way to tell if they are final instar?


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## hornet (Feb 21, 2010)

going by the tail its a fianl instar male, 5-6cm is big for armatus so may be something different


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## dylan-rocks (Feb 21, 2010)

looks like a desert scorpion to me but i dont now much abt scorps


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## Sdaji (Feb 21, 2010)

hornet said:


> going by the tail its a fianl instar male, 5-6cm is big for armatus so may be something different



What do you look for on the metasoma which tells you it's an adult, and a male? I can only sex them from the pectins with a conspecific comparison.

From a picture with a size reference (on my hand) it's about 47mm from tip of chelicerae to base of telson, probably just over 50mm with an extended telson.


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## KRONYK94 (Feb 21, 2010)

it is a male i know that for sure. females are wider in the body.

but i cant tell you what species it is cas i don't know either.


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## Sdaji (Feb 21, 2010)

KRONYK94 said:


> it is a male i know that for sure. females are wider in the body.
> 
> but i cant tell you what species it is cas i don't know either.



Given that species vary more than sexes within species, can you be sure based on the body width without knowing the species?


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## KRONYK94 (Feb 21, 2010)

Sdaji said:


> Given that species vary more than sexes within species, can you be sure based on the body width without knowing the species?



from what i was tought 

females are wider for they carry there young. for a while before they leave.


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## Sdaji (Feb 21, 2010)

That's true, but the males of a heavy-bodied species are wider than the females of a narrow species. That said, it's pretty narrow and you're probably right, hornet agrees with you too


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## hornet (Feb 21, 2010)

the dull abdomen is a good indication its male, females are normaly quite shiny, also the segments on the telson seem to be a llittle elongated


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## Sdaji (Feb 21, 2010)

hornet said:


> the dull abdomen is a good indication its male, females are normaly quite shiny, also the segments on the telson seem to be a llittle elongated



I didn't know about the finish of the carapace being different between the sexes, very interesting. Do you mean the segments of the metasoma? The long metasoma was one of the first things I noticed about this fellow, but I thought it was a species thing rather than a gender thing, and thought it perhaps indicated a nastier venom. Either way I think the long, heavy metasoma makes him look quite handsome. Is the long metasoma segment length what you were basing your sex determination on? Or is there something else about the morphology which is telling? I have mainly used pectin size until now.


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## ParanoidPython (Feb 21, 2010)

maybe urodacus spinatus??


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## hornet (Feb 21, 2010)

pretty much all urodacus show that, males have the dull look to the metasoma where the fems are alot more shiny. No not spinatus, spinatus are a north qld sp and have long spines at the end of each segment of the telson


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## Sdaji (Feb 22, 2010)

Doesn't the telson only have one segment?

Interesting about the shiny girls  You learn something new every day


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## redbellybite (Feb 22, 2010)

sdaji,,,Is that a little drop of venom in the bottom pic ? or is it just a bit of water /moisture on the tip of the stinger?


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## azn4114 (Feb 22, 2010)

hornet said:


> going by the tail its a fianl instar male, 5-6cm is big for armatus so may be something different


i have owned a 60+mm male armatus,so they can get that size, 
RBB>yes that is venom


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## redbellybite (Feb 24, 2010)

azn4114 said:


> i have owned a 60+mm male armatus,so they can get that size,
> RBB>yes that is venom


 thanks azn, and I love seeing venom shots


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