tailless whipscorpian from Chacala, Mexico
I visited Chacala Mexico (in the state of Najarit). The week that I was there, a strange creature would reappear in the bathroom every night. She freaked me out, but was too larget for me to kill without a seriously guilty conscious. I just left her alone everynight, keeping an eye on her while I used the bathroom, and got out of there as quickly as I could. I assumed she was simply a giant spider, until someone suggested she may be a scorpian. Once I got home, a friend tracked down your website and we were able to conclude this bizarre creature was a tailless whipscorpian, and thankfully not harmful! I though you might be interested in this photo of her. Thanks for providing this info! One more question: are these common, and in what parts of the world?
Thanks,
Anna

Hi Anna,
According to our Audubon Guide, there are about 60 species worldwide and three in North America. They are found in warm climates. Being nocturnal, they are often overlooked.

This Creature Gives Me The Creeps
Hi Bug Man
I’m trying to get some info on my co-habitants. Whenever I go to the shed, I always find one wandering around a corner. Can you give me more information about this creature?
Thanx in advance,
Qiniso Mdletshe

Hi Qiniso,
Even though they look creepy, Tailless Whipscorpions are perfectly harmless.

mexican tailless whipscorpion – possible undescribed species
hey
I came accross your site while looking for information on a bug my friend found at his house. I found a pic that is the same on your site, and your description said that you had never seen one before. It was found north of manzanillo, in mexico in the one on your site. The one my friend found was here where we live right in manzanillo. It’s called a cancle by the locals, and most of them have never actually seen one, but for the ones that have they seem pretty scared of it. They say it’s more deadly then their deadliest scorpian here. They say the red clawlike things in the front can sting u and kill u in less than 5 mins. I would really like to know if this is true or not, but there just is nothing anywhere about this species! do you know anymore about it? i’m attaching a pic of a dead one that my friend found.
thanks
janet

Hi Janet,
Someone named Scootro also sent this image in to us for identification today, and he described it as a “crab-scorpion-lobster-spider” which is somewhat accurate. Tailless Whipscorpions do not have venom and are not poisonous. Despite the fierce appearance, they are harmless to people, but predators to other arthropods.

Scorpion in South Africa
Hi
I have found a scorpion in my lounge, just sitting there looking at my foot. I Live in South Africa and was wondering how dangerous this scorpion is ? Any info on it would be greatly appreciated.
Kind Regards
Neel Sahdeo

Hi Neel,
We don’t really know much about South African scorpions, but we did locate a site that discusses medically important species with serious stings. Your specimen does not seem to match those pictured. Perhaps someone who knows more will write in with a positive identification.

Update: For the south african scorpion.
(02/20/2006)
Hey guys,
No clear identification on that scorpion, although for quick “Is-it-dangerous-or-not?” Big pinchers small tail, not fatal, cause it kills bugs with the pinchers. Small pinchers big tail, DO NOT TOUCH IT, kills bugs with poison. Sorry ’bout the late reply, timezones and everything. Yes, those in the picture would be small pinchers, if you have two specimens of each next to each other, then you can clearly see the difference. Here is a link that helps! http://www.scorpions.co.za/rothumb.asp On identification matters I think that one could be a Pseudolychas pegleri, Not certain though, but I queried it with Jonathan Leeming, an expert on the field of scorpions. The above link is to his site as well. Hope it all helps!
Hardus Swanepoel

Update: Hardus then forwarded the following identification.
Hi Hardus Yep! It’s Pseudolychas pegleri. I bet it was found in your house…
Kind regards
Jonathan Leeming
scorpions of southern Africa

Tail-less whip scorpion from the Fl. keys.
Dear bugman,
I live in the Florida keys, Key Largo to be exact, and I found what a bug loving friend identified ans a tail-less whip scorpion. We found them in our old wood pile. Me and my sister named it CrabSpidions because they had a mouth like a crab, a plating like a scorpion, and legs like a spider. You’d be glad to hear we avoided killing them because we only kill things that are in our immediate way and seem like a risk. I prefer to keep spiders alive so they can kill pests. We have a collection of what we call air spiders that are similar to daddy long-legs, who eat our ants that invade. Our CrabSpidions varied from half inch bodies, and 2 inch legs, to that one that was a large 1 inch body, and 3 inch long legs. Those are the pics we took. When taking the pictures I did not know that they weren’t poisonous, so I was afraid to get too close. Enjoy, because my bug loving friend was tickled to find me linking the pictures when she woke up over things she really loves.

Thanks for sending in the images.

mystery scorpion
I found this little guy under a rock near Death Valley last march, about the size of a grain of rice. I took him home and he’s doing great, with quite the appetite, but I don’t know what species he his or how big he will get. Thanks for the help Bugman and for making an awesome site!
Cheers,
Brandon

Hi Brandon,
This looks like a Desert Scorpion in the genus Vaejovis.