Scorpions of Western Australia
Scorpions of Western Australia
Class Arachnida
|
Photographed at Mt Dale Perth Hills in December. This was a large scorpion.
|
Scorpions are in the arachnid class like spiders, ticks and mites with 4 pairs of true legs. There are 6 genera and 29 species in Australia. Scorpions are mostly nocturnal. They have an exoskeleton. Scorpions breathe through four pairs of book lungs on the underside of the abdomen. Females are usually bigger than the males with shorter tails. Most scorpions are 4-12cm in length. |
|
How long have scorpions been in Australia According to "Ancient Australia" Sea scorpions were common in the oceans 420 million years ago. They hunted fish and other sea creatures. Some were giants nearly 3 metres in length but some were only 30cm long (today 15cm would be a big scorpion). Sea scorpions hunted on land and in the sea. Fossil sea scorpion tracks can be seen in flat rock surfaces near Kalbarri, WA. Go here to our pages on ancient marine creatures.
|
|
|
|
Photographed at Tutanning Nature Reserve in the wheatbelt in November. Scorpions have 6-12 eyes but don't have good eye sight but have good low light sensitivity. They sense their way around by sensory hairs on their bodies, scent and vibrations. They also have organs on the underside of their body called pectines which pick up ground textures and scents
|
|
Marbled Scorpion
http://www.ub.ntnu.no/scorpion-files/l_marmoreus.php Photographed at the Western Australian Museum |
Marbled Scorpion
Photographed at the Western Australian Museum |
|
What do they eat? Scorpions are hunters either ambushing or foraging for their prey of arthropods such as beetles, spiders, centipedes and millipedes. The pinches or pedipalps hold the prey while the tail stings the prey. Some scorpions may crush their prey. The scorpion digests its prey by pouring digestive juices onto the prey and breaking it up with its jaws. The hard outer body casings are discarded.
|
|
|
|
|
Photographed at Mt. Observation in Perth in February. The long pinches are called pedipalps just like spiders. These photos below were photographed at the Western Australian Museum under Perspex and poor lighting. |
|
Darling Range Scorpion
|
Giant Sand Scorpion
|
Hartmeyer's Scorpion
|
|
Southern Scorpion
|
Sand Scorpion
|
Spider Hunting Scorpion
|
|
Yellow Sand Scorpion
|
Photographed at the Wandoo Conservation Park in Perth Hills in March. |
Scorpions also fluoresce under ultraviolet light because of a chemical in their exoskeleton. The fluorescence is thought to serve as an ultraviolet sensitivity mechanism. |
|
The main predators of scorpions in the arid regions are carnivorous marsupials. Some of these marsupials arent much bigger than the scorpion such as the Mulgara of Western and Central Australia.
Photographed at Perth Zoo |
Other predators include night birds such as owls, lizards, rodents and other scorpions.
Go here to our Threatened and Endangered pages to learn more about this animal. |
|
Habitat Some species such as the large Desert scorpions make spiral burrows and spend a lot of their time in the burrow, whereas other species don't burrow. Some species can cope with the heat and others dont like it over 25C. Some species like the sandy beaches and others like the rainforests (in the eastern states), caves, salt lakes or deserts, some may live in your back yard in the wood pile or under tin sheets.
|
|
Photographed at the Bungle Bungles in the Kimberley in August.
|
|
Other Places I have seen scorpions Rottnest Island off Perth
|
|
Text and websites we used: http://www.museum.wa.gov.au/collections/natscience/invertebrates/species/scorpiones.asp Species list of Scorpions by the Western Australian Museum
http://www.amonline.net.au/factsheets/scorpions.htm
|
|
|
All Content, written
and graphical Copyright © Wildlife Education Services 2003. |
