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Scorpions in the Pacific Northwest!

This weekend, we were invited over to a barbecue at some of our friends house.  I had my camera along, as I had earlier photographed one of my wife’s listings, and their property was a bit wooded.  Of course, I could not resist taking out my camera to see what I could find.

While waiting near a fern where I had noticed some fly activity, a small bug caught my eye.  I decided to photograph it to see what it was and was quite surprised with the result.

What was this tiny thing that was aiming its pincers at me!?  It was obviously not a scorpion, as it lacked the stinger at the end.  However, otherwise it did share a striking similarity.

When I returned home I looked it up and was surprised to find out that it is a pseudoscorpion.  Pseudoscorpions, like scorpions and spiders, are arachnids.  In fact, pseudoscorpions also spin silk – but they do not use the silk for capturing prey.  Instead, they spin silk to build small ‘huts’ that they use for mating and for waiting out cold weather according to Wikipedia.

I was aware of pseudoscorpions but always thought that they only live in more arid climates like the Southwest.  In fact, they do live in the Pacific Northwest but they’re so small that few of us every notice them.  I was actually sitting next to it for some time before I noticed it out of the corner of my eye.  It just goes to show that often the most interesting things can be found when you sit still and pay attention to what is around you.

These little guys are actually quite beneficial.  They eat clothes moths and book lice and so aren’t bad to have in the home.  Within their claws they have poison glands they use to kill their prey, so despite their size they are fierce little buggers.

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Tags: insect, macro, pacific northwest, photography, pseudoscorpion