kelso scorpion - Smeringurus mesaensis

Is this the same species? [th

Is this the same species?

Thanks for your help, I'm not clear on what features to look at in scorpion ID.

… Noah Charney, 2 February, 2009 - 12:24am

Just a guess...

Now, I'm not quite an expert on Scorpion ID's, but it looks alot like a Giant Dune Scorpion (Smeringurus mesaensis). Their range extends throughout the deserts of southern California and, as their name implies, they prefer to live among sand dunes. BugGuide has a few images of Smeringurus mesaensis if you would like to compare for yourself:
http://bugguide.net/node/view/163794/bgimage

… Brett Tyler, 29 January, 2009 - 5:45pm

Brett...You ID'd a scorpion (Smeringurus Mesaensis)

I saw that you ID'd a scorpion as Smeringurus Mesaensis. I posted a similar looking scorpion, though it was not in a dune habitat. The area historically contained wind blown sands, but now it is mostly coarse sand, with occassional hummocks. Could you take a look at my post and give me an idea as well? Thank you.

http://bugguide.net/node/view/251084

… James, 3 February, 2009 - 3:32pm

Brett is correct, this scorpion is S. mesaensis. The other candidate for the dune system in which you caught this is Paruroctonus arenicola nudipes. In which you where pretty much in the type locality for. Did you find this by blacklight?

… Zach Valois, 1 February, 2009 - 8:26pm

How can you tell the differen

How can you tell the difference between those two species? We were using black lights, though i don't remember if this one was found that way. There were many of these out that night (at least, they all seemed like the same species to me). Several had burrows dug into the sand, do both of the species you mentioned dig burrows?

… Noah Charney, 1 February, 2009 - 10:05pm