The European Scorpion Euscorpius flavicaudis (DeGeer, 1778) in Essex
The subsequent report of the discovery in a national newspaper (Highfield 1995) led to a number of
alleged further sightings in north-east Essex (Hawkins 1982). These include one at Harwich and
another at an undetermined site; neither record can be substantiated and both are almost certainly
incorrect. Alleged sightings were also reported from other areas of Britain, one of which is the
"greenhouses across north London" record referred to above. Again, the record cannot be
substantiated, and nothing seems to have appeared about it in the arachnological literature nor in
The London Naturalist -the most appropriate and likely journal covering London area observations.
Unless evidence emerges to suggest the contrary, this record, too, is probably best consigned to the
waste-paper basket.
A colony of scorpions at Ongar Underground Station persisted for several years, though nothing
seems to have appeared in print. It is known for certain to have been sourced originally by accidental
escapes from the animal house at a nearby pharmaceutical company, but exactly when this happened
is not recorded. Certainly it was prior to 1970, when I first learned about it as a student and met the
person who was largely responsible. There does not appear to be any record of scorpions at Ongar
since the early 1980s (Tim Benton, personal communication), and it would be helpful if field work
could be carried out there to ascertain whether or not this colony truly has died out. This is a relatively
simple matter of shining an ultra-violet light source into potentially suitable crevices, since scorpions
fluoresce green in ultra-violet light and in conditions of darkness this can be seen with the naked eye.
Observations on breeding, feeding and use of the 'sting'
The sting in this species is widely reported to be completely harmless to humans (e.g. Wanless 1974;
Chincry 1986). Benton (1992) spent over 500 hours studying the colony at Sheerness during 1988
and 1989 and noted that the sting was rarely used to subdue prey, which was immobilised with the
claws. Once the prey is subdued, the scorpion retreats into its crevice to eat. Prey is consumed head
first.
My own observations on the Chelmsford example support those made by Benton at Sheerness. The
animal was kept in a transparent plastic box, lined with dry sand and furnished with a few pieces of
dry natural timber from the garden. The box was kept in a dull, badly lit part of my study, behind a
pile of boxes; thus as the light faded outside and the electric light was turned on, dusk was effectively
simulated. During daylight, the scorpion rested between two pieces of wood, either dorsum upwards,
upside down or on its side — the position did not seem to matter. As dusk approached it came out of
its hiding place either partially, with the claws protruding, or totally, when it would rest stationary on
the surface of the wood. Prey (small noctuid moths) was readily grasped by the claws, but in thirty
observations of feeding the sting was used only once. Prey was manoeuvred using the claws and
positioned so that it could be eaten head first; presumably, since the sting was not used, this stops the
prey from wriggling!
At Sheerness, Benton (1992) noted that the Woodlouse Porcellio scaber formed the principal prey.
Woodlice were readily taken in my captive example, along with spiders and small, soft-bodied
beetles, but centipedes (Lithobius spp.) were ignored and ladybirds always escaped because the
claws were unable to purchase on the rounded elytra. Even in this situation, the sting was not used.
It came as a total shock on returning from a fortnight abroad to discover that my new 'pet' apparently
had a white fungal growth on its back. However, as I opened the box to make a closer examination,
this 'growth' scattered to the far corners of the box, proving beyond doubt that my pet was female!
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Essex Naturalist (New Series) 18 (2001)