


Lesser Brown Scorpions (Isometrus maculatus) are small, shy, and mostly active at night. This is why I’d only seen two here before. One was dead in a box, flattened by the items I was unpacking. The other was alive, but not well. It looked like it had been stepped on.
These photos are of my third encounter, which happened recently. I was getting rid of accumulated odds and ends in the office at work, when I opened up a large, yellow bag that had been stowed there for a year or so. When I looked in, I saw this very much alive and active scorpion.
I took the bag outside, grabbing my camera on the way, and then tried getting some photos, with the help of others in the crew. It was hard to get anything decent because the scorpion scurried around seeking cover. We decided to tip it out onto the tiles. This made the process a bit easier, though not because the scorpion settled down any. It was just as active and every time I looked in the viewfinder it seemed to be making a beeline for me!
After a while I ushered it off the tiles and it scurried away, under the lanai. And while it looks imposing in these photos, it was less than two inches long overall. I’ve read that the sting of these scorpions is similar to a bee sting and not dangerous unless a person is allergic to the toxins. I didn’t feel a need to find out for myself.
I would not like to get a surprise like this!
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Not too bad a surprise. It was in a large folded bag and I saw it as soon as I opened the bag, so no danger there.
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That’s good rhen.
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Yikes! I think our scorpions have a stronger sting, either way, I want no part. But they are cool to look at!
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They’re very cool. I was glad to get the one good view of the stinger!
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That was an encounter
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I’m sort of surprised one of us didn’t get stung, especially when we were trying to get it out of the bag!
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Would have been a blokey thing to happen.
Definitely a “hold my beer’ thing 😂
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I wouldn’t want to find out ether
And any sting is not fun
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I was pretty happy to finally see one of these in good shape. That was enough.
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☀️😊
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Uh-oh! Didn’t know they lived in Hawaii!
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Yes, but your chances of seeing one, much less being stung by one, are very slim indeed.
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