30 June, 2023

New records of scorpion stowaways discovered in United Kingdom

 


It is well known that scorpions occasionally are discovered in areas and countries where they do not belong. These are usually accidental introductions from holiday luggage and shipments of goods. In most cases these scorpions will not be established in their new country. 

Daniella Sherwood and Luis de Armas have recently published an article presenting old and new records of scorpions detected as stowaways in the United Kingdom.

Abstract:
Previous and new records of scorpions detected as stowaways in the United Kingdom are presented and discussed. Five taxa are recorded in the scientific literature for the first time: Centruroides insulanus (Thorell, 1876, Centruroides sp. (nigrovariatus species group), Hottentotta cf. tamulus (Fabricius, 1798), Mesobuthus sp. and Cercophonius squama (Gervais, 1844). Also, we discuss a sixth undeterminable scorpion of which only a single photograph was available.

Reference:
Sherwood D, de Armas LF. Scorpions (Arachnida: Scorpiones) as stowaways accidently imported into The United Kingdom. Revista Iberica de Arachnologia. 2023(42):209-13. [Full text supplied by author]

Thanks to Daniella for sending me this article!

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