General Description

Body wide, dark brown to black. Tail shorter than body length. Body up to 6 cm long.

Biology

Black Rock Scorpions live in cleared areas beneath rocks or logs in burrows. They are "sit and wait" predators. They ambush other invertebrates, waiting at their burrow to feel vibrations in the ground that signal an approaching prey item. The Black Rock Scorpion survives on a diet of other invertebrates, such as cockroaches, beetles, millipedes, centipedes, spiders and occasionally earthworms. Cannibalism has been observed amongst scorpions. Females may take two to three years to reach maturity and survive for a further eight years making it a relatively long-lived species. The female will carry the young internally and birth live young. She then carries her young on her back for up to several weeks before they become independent. Under UV light they glow a blue-green unless they have newly moulted. It is one of three species of scorpions that can be found in the greater Melbourne region.

Distribution

Eastern mainland Australia.

Habitat

Under rocks and logs.

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