Asian Forest: Heterometrus ???

Hi all,

My wife surprised me yesterday and bought me an Asian Forest scorpion as a gift. He's getting settled in and everything and appears to be doing great. However, I know that there are several scorpingions belonging to the Heterometrus genus and the label only said the common name Asian Forrest. Is there any way to tell the specific genus?

I've never owned an Asian Forest before. I keep Emps so the environment was easy to get ready but I would like to know for sure if this is spinifer or something different.

Here is a pic.

That's a great wife you have haha!

The genus is right, the species name that comes after that is the tricky part lol.

You may be surprised that most 'he' usually turns up as a 'she'

Wikipedia has a listing of a bunch of H. species. I've been going through these one at a time and the closest image I can find is a spinifer. So until i find evidence otherwise, I'm calling it H. Spinifer.

I still welcome any info and facts that would help with care and ID.

Nice lookin scorpion. Do you have a picture of its enclosure you could post?

Make sure it has enough substrate to burrow and a hide to relax under. Humidity should ne kept moderate to high and warm

This warm and humid combination creates problems with mould and mites so clean any leftover food items when your scorp finishes eating.

Good luck!

Just read you keep emps so sorry if what i posted was too basic

If you want to go a bit more in detail for the ID, check here: http://www.science.marshall.edu/fet/euscorpius/p2004_15.pdf
It's a review on the Heterometrus genus.

It's probably not a spinifer, as they usually have red telsons, not black.

It's most likely either a H. petersii or a H. laoticus. If you can get clear pics of the carapace I can ID it for you.

Definitely take a look at the link shadowfoot posted.

No worries, shaneshac, thanks!
@shadowfoot ill definitely give that PDF a read it looks like it'll be very informative.
@scorpion19981000 I'll get an overhead pic as soon as I can.
I'm currently writing from my wife's iPad and don't have my laptop with me (at a friends house) so Im a little handicapped at the moment. Stretched out its close to 5" long.

Thanks again, more pics soon!

Here's another pic I have on hand. I'm going to try to get a better pic still. I think this might give you a better look at the carapace.

I will also say that in this picture, the telson does has a red quality about it compared to the fifth metasomal segment. But I'm no expert.

I gave the PDF a read. It is an excellent source of information, although a lot of the terms used were above me. Loved it.  

Also got a good pic of genital operculum, basil piece and pectins.

I looks to be an H. petersii. I'm pretty sure I can make out some granulation on the carapace, but a clearer pic would help me be certain. Your scorp also has a small internal tubercle on the patella, but it isn't pronounced. So, that, combined with the dark telson makes me inclined to say it's an H. petersii.
Your scorp is also a male from the looks of it.

Thanks for helping me out on this guys. I've been using my local pet shop to get my scorps. Is it possible that my local PS is getting these Asian Forest scorps from a breeder/person that can't tell the difference between the various asian species? I ask because my wife said that when she picked this guy up, it was with two slightly smaller specimens which looked like their black exoskeleton was flaking off leaving brown areas. I say exoskeleton, but it was more like paint rubbing off. I wasn't much sure what she was talking about so I'm not going to diss this guy, but it makes me wonder.

Here is another pic I took last night, maybe it'll be easier to see.

Hi guys, I came across an article on venomlist. It gives some side by side images showing the differences in granulation in the H. genus. I'm inclined to say, with much certainty that this is indeed an H. petersii specimen.

Here's the article:
http://venomlist.com/forums/index.php?/topic/23373-sotm-heterometrus-spinifer/