I WILL NOT HARM YOU!!

Somewhere around 8 o’clock at night, me and my other two friends were coming back from the field nearby. It was a bit dark path and the light coming from the faraway lamp post faded beyond that point. While we walked, we could realize something was crawling by the side of the path . One of my friend turned on his torch to check whether it was a snake or some lizard, but to our amaze it was a Scorpion.

These scorpions are commonly known as giant forest scorpion (Heterometrus sp.) .  They are widely distributed in Southeast Asia. They generally grow in big size,and some of them can even grow up to 200 mm in size. Due to their large size most people in India fear them , but Heterometrus have very mild venom and no human fatality reported yet. The sting can cause local pain and swelling.

Another aspect of the scorpions are they can glow in blue-green color when exposed to certain wavelength  of UV light.

The picture above was taken above a glass table . It was completely dark and only a UV torch was lightened up just above the scorpion. They glow because of the presence of fluorescent component on their exoskeleton known as beta-carboline.

The scorpion in the picture had incidentally  entered into the washroom and later taking the picture it was released into the forest patch nearby.

Some of the scorpions poses hairs on their telson. Below image shows a telson of an Heterometrus sp.

 

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