I've seen a tiny species barely 10mm in a tree once, but never seen ones as large as those you saw Stephen. Like too many Oz invertebrates, I bet no-one has undertaken sufficient study to answer your question.
Manning Point is east of Taree in case anyone was wondering. |
We've just returned from a 2-week holiday near Manning Point on the Mid-north Coast, where it rained heavily most of the time. Interestingly, one night (3 January) there was a swarm of small scorpions (100s, perhaps 1000s, of individuals) across the entire lawned area surrounding our holiday cabin. We first noticed them about 1 a.m (when letting the dog out for a toilet break!), but they were probably there much earlier in the night. This was after about five days/nights of heavy rain, even though it was not raining that night. All scorpions were moving in all directions over the lawn (and perhaps beyond?), clicking their pincer-like palps. I don't know the identity of the scorpion species, but most individuals were 50-75 mm mm in length. The lawned area borders littoral rainforest and wetland areas.
We looked out for them on subsequent nights and, although some were present on the lawn, they were far fewer in number. So I wondering if we were observing a scorpion mating frenzy on 3 Jan as a result of the heavy rains. Thoughts anyone? Are there any scorpion experts out there who could assist with the identification (sorry, no photos available)? |
