Mosquito the Scorpion and Behind the Scenes

in photography •  5 years ago 

Long time no see this is what I usually say to people when I haven't seen them in a while. Recently I've picked up an online SACE course so have been a bit overwhelmed by that.

With my dad up in Mount Gambier for work, he's been out camping until he's got a rental. This weekend, just gone, he brought back a scorpion that had been pestering him. Not sure why he brought it back, but it's been named and now is a pet in the few days we've had it. Feeding wise my mum, @minismallholding, has been bringing it bugs that are eating our garden (she might be doing a post on Mosquito from her perspective make sure to check it out ☺). We set him up in a little habitat to mimic where it's from, in an old tub to make Mosquito happy.

DSC_0424.JPG

DSC_0434.JPG

Behind the scenes

The goal was to get a clear photo, good enough to use for identification purposes. It's hard to see a scorpion in its natural environment, so we wanted a contrasting background to help it stand out.

Photo taking was a bit spooky as it is a scorpion, so yeah! We transferred it to a white bowl so it couldn't run loose and we had a nice clean white background. Unfortunately, the bowl had a few marks from wear. To get a close-up view I used an 18-55mm Nikon lens with some macro filters.

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Don't mind the weird jump from 2-4 it's been bothering me a bit, but it's because 1 and 2 makes the 3 so they made no +3.

I found using all 3 filters had quite a bit of blur around the edge which gave me blurring around the pincers as seen below and a bit in the first photo. So I decided to use just one, which got me close enough.

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I also switched my camera so I could have the view from the viewfinder on my screen and keep my face away from the Scorpion.

Iso: 6400
Shutter speed: 1/50
Aperture: F/25

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@tipu curate

Upvoted 👌 (Mana: 20/25 - need recharge?)

When I was 7 years old I was bitten by this type of scorpion, and it is a female with a lot of baby on its back. It was painful but only for an hour.

Have a good day!

Something like that would terrify me!

Looks poisonous!

They are venomous and will hurt quite a bit, but luckily there are no deadly ones in Australia :)

It's funny. Imagine it without the pincers and tail, and it looks like a lice/tick.

It's a weaponized tick... :)

Lice / ticks are in the arachnid family, so it makes sense.

Looks like a Woods Scorpion from Southern Oregon. Not that venomous, but ubiquitous thereabouts, and damn creepy to find in your bedding when you're camping.

Thanks!

We were wondering what species it might be and concluded with that. I definitely would be terrified if I found that in my bed personally! I honestly did not realise there were scorpions in Australia before the encounter with Mosquito.

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I don't know anything about Australian Scorpions, and can't help you there. A general rule of thumb regarding scorpions is that the larger they are, the less venomous they are.

Awesome photos.

Thanks! :)

You're welcome! :D


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