Marbled Scorpion - SteemitPhotoChallenge Entry

People know Australia for its snakes and spiders but generally not for its scorpions ! I found this little critter in the bathroom of our property in the Hunter Valley in New South Wales, Australia. It's a Marbled Scorpion (Lychas marmoreus). Only a tiny species with a total body length including the tail of about 30 mm (or 1.2 inches ). It does pack a punch however when it bites; so you need to treat them with a healthy level of respect. Being tiny and a nocturnal hunter it is rarely seen.

The shot was taken on a Canon EOS 6D with a Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM at ISO 1600, 100.0 mm, f/16, and 10s exposure time. I could use a long 10s exposure time and a low f/stop just using natural light as while these guys can move frightfully quickly when they want to, they have a habit of freezing motionless if they feel threatened. This does however give you a false sense of security before they lunge at you for getting your camera too close ! I had encouraged him to crawl onto some brown recycled paper to provide a more even background texture. You can see the paper fibers around it which gives you an idea how small they are. One cool way to find them at night is that like most other scorpions they glow in the dark when placed under a UV light !

I thought of this shot when I saw the SteemitPhotoChallenge theme for this week was macro; but having a look at Derek's (@derekkind) amazing macro entries I am not sure I have much of a chance!

Rob Downie
Love Life, Love Photography

_{All images in this post were taken by and remain the Copyright of Robert Downie - http://www.robertdowniephotography.com}