Mozambique Scorpion

Hi,

I am new to this forum and not a hobby scorpionist. But can someone help me finding out, what kind of scorpion I just found on the cement floor of our beach front hotel room? See attached photo. The animal is approx. 1 inch long. The hotel is located in Mozambique, on the shores of lake Malawi, in a sandy area with Mangotrees and reeds nearby. I would be greatful to receive information about it, or how to find out, whether it is to worry about or not, or how we should treat it. Thank you very much!

Christoph

How are there not any comments on this spectacular scorpion!?

This thing is BEAUTIFUL!!

It looks like Uroplectes flavoviridis.

Maybe shadowfoot can shine light on this?

I don't think it's anything to worry too much about. If it is this species it probably has a painful sting, but is not considered to be dangerous.

Thank you smokehound and CallumB! You guys are great! Following your leads I have found some good pictures of Uroplectes flavoviridis online and I am quite sure, that it is this one. Thanks also for the warning, even though not dangerous we'll stay away and hope it does that too. We put it back outside under the mangotree and hope it enjoys that more than living on our concrete floor..

Just out of curiosity: do yo know of any other - maybe more to worry about - scorpions in Mozambique?

Here's a list of the scorpions found in Mozambique taken from http://scorpiones.pl/maps/#africa

Buthidae

Babycurus ornatus
Hottentotta trilineatus
Lychas asper
Lychas burdoi
Parabuthus mossambicensis
Parabuthus transvaalicus
Pseudolychas pegleri
Uroplectes chubbi
Uroplectes fischeri
Uroplectes flavoviridis
Uroplectes formosus
Uroplectes olivaceus
Uroplectes vittatus

Hormuridae

Cheloctonus jonesii
Hadogenes granulatus
Hadogenes paucidens
Hadogenes troglodytes
Iomachus politus
Opisthacanthus africanus
Opisthacanthus asper

Scorpionidae

Opistophthalmus boehmi
Opistophthalmus carinatus
Opistophthalmus glabrifrons
Pandinus viatoris


Of the species listed, there are two that definitely potentially pose a risk, Parabuthus transvaalicus and Parabuthus mossambiciensis.

The Buthidae family contains all known medically significant species (bar one or two species from Scorpionidae), so care should be taken around any scorpions in this family. Whilst I'm sure most are pretty harmless, many species are poorly studied so it's best to be cautious.

I'm very jealous that you've got the opportunity to find some very cool scorpions, though. If you spot any more, please post the pictures on here

@Collum B: Thanks for the list and info. Some mean looking ones among them.. I have to admit, this is my (our) first serious exposure to scorpions and we truly respect them a lot. We live temporarily on the shores of lake Malawi to manage a lodge, and we are not the kind pf people to go and exterminate them all around our terrain. But with all respect - how to prevent painful encounters, for us and our guests? Is it done with keeping house and garden clean (how clean?) and shaking out the shoes before putting them on ? Any more suggestions from an experienced scorpionist? The better we get to know the critters, the better neighbors we can be...
And, what will a normal house cat do when seeing a scorpion? Eat it or run ?

I live in England, so an encounter with a wild scorpion would be quite a surprise haha. I honestly don't know what measure people who live in areas with scorpions take to try to keep scorpions out of the house and garden.

One thing I would invest in is some ultraviolet torches. One because it's pretty cool seeing a scorpion glowing in the beam of the torch at night, and two, because it's an easy and effective way to find scorpions hiding in a dark room. They'll literally shine like a beacon under UV.

Here's a link to an American site on how to reduce the chance of scorpions entering your property http://arizonaoddities.com/2011/01/how-to-keep-scorpians-away-from-your-home/

Do I get a free all-inclusive 2 week stay at the lodge for all this info?

Sure you can stay with us - just need to bring such a UV-torch ;-). Problem is, we are so far away from everything, it is enormous. Nearest town is 130km on bad roads. And still no UV torches there..
Thanks anyway for the info and link. We will study it all and have a good look out!

Very late reply but Callum was correct, it is a Uroplectes flavoviridis.