El Centro Field Office

 

Take it Outside OHV!Paw prints.

Scorpion...

Changing little since it crawled out of the ocean over 350 million years ago, the scorpion still looks like it should be playing in the dinosaurs' back yard.  A cousin to the spider, the scorpion is an arthropod, which means it has an external (outside) skeleton, or exoskeleton.  This will make all the difference when it comes to shining a light on the matter...

day-time

Scorpion eating dragonfly. Photo: BLM/Erin Dreyfuss

Pale yellow in color and reaching up to 6" in length, the scorpion pictured here eats a dragonfly.  The pincers that hold the insect also act like antennae, sensing approaching objects. 

night-time

Scorpion glows a bright blue under blacklight. Photo: BLM/Erin Dreyfuss

 Take a blacklight out on a warm, moonless night, and be surprised at how many scorpions you will see.  A substance in the exoskeleton causes it to glow blue under ultra-violet light.

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