Ok, this is weird. I need some assistance.

Scorpion

A couple of years ago I received a donation of a small scorpion. It was caught in a living room in Minnesota. I don't remember the species anymore, but it ranged no further north than Nebraska.

We determined that it had arrived with a new set of furniture shipped from Texas. They had received it two days before capturing the scorpion. It probably found a nice dark crevice to crawl into and stayed there until it got hungry.

It happens.

… Chad Heins, 13 June, 2005 - 3:34pm

Tropical critters in Michigan

There are other routes that tropical exotics can follow into temperate zones. A couple of years ago, when I was a grad student at Western Michigan U. in Kalamazoo, my lab acquired a five-inch-long Scolopendra that had traveled from St. Lucia to a local resident's home after being trapped under the cellophane overwrap of a gift basket. The 'pede grew three inches longer on a diet of crickets before I graduated and had to give it away. It was fortunate that the inadvertent recipients of the centipede found it before unwrapping the basket. I love my big bugs as much as anyone else, but a Scolopendra is not something I'd like to have loose in my house!

… Julie Stahlhut, 8 June, 2005 - 3:10pm

I tend to favor the earwig id

I tend to favor the earwig idea myself. I used to live in Michigan and found some really large ones (but never a scorpion--that I didn't have in an aquarium). Any ideas how big this putative scorpion is? There are even weirder arachnids out there (e.g. Schizomids, Palpigrades, Pseudoscorpions) that it could be too.

… spider enthusiast, 7 June, 2005 - 7:05am

Rove beetle?

I'm inclined to think it might be a large rove beetle. Many species curl their abdomen over their back when aroused. Unless a scorpion hitched a ride on some kind of parcel, then they are mistaken. That said, people should be cautious in inspecting tropical produce and house plants. I had a friend who's mother brought home a plant with a Phoneutria spider on it. NOT a critter you want to mess with!

… Eric R. Eaton, 5 November, 2004 - 12:50pm

Could it be...

A scorpion? :-)

Seriously, why not just believe them? After my first house was built I encountered several scorpions in my home. My neighbors reported similar sightings and one neightbor even stepped on one barefoot and got zapped in the big toe.

Is it just unusual to see them in Michigan? I'm in the Southeast, so I don't know about that.

It is interesting that they mentioned the tail curled up over the back. The ones I saw normally inhabited tight spaces, like behind bark, and so held their tail out straight behind them when walking. I believe desert scorpions that roam about in the open are more apt to hold their tail over their back.

… Troy Bartlett, 2 November, 2004 - 9:40pm

I didn't NOT believe them, bu

I didn't NOT believe them, but no, I have never heard of any scorpions being found naturally in Michigan. I had one as a pet at an old job, but it was certainly not from the area.

I wondered about the tail curling also. I thought that was more of a defensive posture.

… Elisa T. Collins, 8 November, 2004 - 1:12pm

Scorpions

I lived in Ohio for ~25 years and never saw a scorpion there, so I can imagine they are at least rare in Michigan. I've seen several here in my house in SC over the years (never happened upon one outside yet). I've seen the curled-up tail posture on the ones I captured and released outside.

… Mike Boone, 3 November, 2004 - 5:01pm

Earwigs?

A few years ago a story hit the front page of one of the major Dutch newspapers. In our country, where no scorpions do occur, they had found a population in one of the larger nature reserves. STOP THE PRESSES! They even had a picture with it. Everyone with a little knowledge about insects had a laughing fit because the picture showed one of the larger Dutch species of earwigs. Indeed, when disturbed they curl up their abdomen and wave with their pincers. But that is where the similarity ends...

FYI: It was mid summer, there was preciously little domestic news and something had to sell the papers.

Paul

http://www.diptera.info

… Paul Beuk, 5 November, 2004 - 1:30am