Giant forest scorpion - Heterometrus spinifer

Heterometrus spinifer - giant forest scorpion

Heterometrus spinifer is a scorpion of the family Scorpionidae found in Malaysia and southern Thailand. It reaches a size of 100 to 135 mm and is predominantly black, although the claws and the poisonous stinger can be reddish-brown. Juvenile scorpions are reddish-brown in color with a yellow stinger. The scorpions have smooth surfaces with keels that form a web pattern. They also have spine-shaped projections on the patellae of their pedipalps. Their distribution is limited to Malaysia and southern Thailand. The first description was made in 1828 by Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg. The meaning of the name "spinifer" refers to the thorny hump on the patellae. The scorpion has been assigned to various genera, but in 2004 the assignment to the genus Heterometrus was confirmed.