Sunday, June 22, 2008
Field Guide to the Scorpions of Kenya
Things are starting to get very exciting and hectic with just a few days left before I leave for Kenya! Thanks to a lot of help from fellow Cornell entomology major and scorpion enthusiast Anthony Auletta I was able to finish a project I've been hoping to accomplish for a few months. Scorpions are a relatively unstudied group taxonomically and no good field guide exists for Kenya or any of the surrounding countries. We spent several hours scouring the internet and primary literature to complete a useful field guide to the known scorpion species of Kenya. This will be an invaluable tool for me in the field as I attempt to identify and photograph the majority of known Kenyan species. I'm making the guide available for download here for anyone that is interested. (Enter the three letter code in the upper right region of the screen to begin the free download: appx 45 mb)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
14 comments:
Hi Eric,
I am a norwegian currently living in Nairobi, and Ive been trying to find scorpions in Kenya for the three years ive been here. Only found four different so far. Your 45 mb guide is perhaps a little ambitious to download in an internet cafe.
Could you make a compressed version that i could download? Im also working on a guide, and Im sure we could share some ideas and pictures if you like. Contact me on ib att home dott no, or on ibsmail att ibsite dott com.
Anonymous, If you are looking for scorpions in Nairobi, you wont find many at all. Far too high and far too cold. Although, I wouldnt go digging through a wood-pile on a cold august evening without gloves...
Your best bet, without going too far afield, is the Magadi area and spcifically the banks of the Uaso Nyiro rear the Nguruman Escarpement.
The NFD (northern Kenya) though is where you will find more scorpions than you would ever wish to meet. I have worked the length and breadth of Northern Kenya for many years and have met more than I care to count. I cuurently reside in Samburu and just this morning have caught the largest scorpion I have ever seen (trying to identify it brought me to this blog). Dadaab is famous for its extremely large and agressive solifugids. Smaller desert species (scorpions) are prolific in the Korr, Kaisut, and Chalbi areas (just turn over any rock)...
hi eric,
love to see that you too are interested in spiders.i m also interested but not more than scorpions.@vivek k. chouhan
Your video was removed. I would love to see it. Any suggestions?
I am at present in UK but my wife in Kenya has today22 june 2010 had a scorpion in the house (brown) She is in UKUNDU DIANI BEACH (south coast of Mombasa.)Also they had a cobra which is less common and for them very disturbing
I am fascinated by scorpions since I had one when I was a kid, thanks for the information about the scorpions of Kenya, I didn't know so much about them
Hi Eric,
My sister live in Kiio Rock in Kituui (about 4 hours east of Nairobi) and on Monday last was stung by a scorpion hiding in a flour sack. Not sure what kind it was. He hadn swelled like a balloon and went black but then recovered...
How have I never found this site before!?
I'm in love with spiders in Kenya and constantly trying to find out more. And I've been looking for a scorpion guide to Kenya for AGES! Thank you for doing this, but..... it looks like your field guide has been taken down. Do you have it available elsewhere?
Not meaning to be pushy, but I have been asked to write a section in a local guiding syllabus about scorpions, and the only information i can find is for southern africa. I really really really would love to be able to download your guide (despite the fact that its 45mb!!!). unfortunately it looks like megaupload has been shut down. Please can you email me with another link zarekcockar at gmail dot com
thanks so much. I really appreciate it.
Hi Eric, Just made a trip to Rusinga Island in Lake Victoria, where I once upon a time lived catching and exporting cichlids. Encountered a huge black scorpion in the loo. Would love to identify it as well as a smaller one that long ago stung me in Samburu. Megaupload seems to have been terminated. Any other way of reading your field guide?
Bosse Lindquist
Producer
SVT Documentary
TH-T2
SE105 10 STOCKHOLM, Sweden
bl@bosselindquist.com
http://svt.se/dokumentar
Hi eric, can you please make it posssible to download that file?
I am in kenya in 5 days for 14 days.
Best regards alex from www.Hottentotta.com
Hi, im not an enthusiast but surely found a scorpion in my mums house. Gladly we saw it and no one was hurt.we live in Chokaa new njiru on kangundo road off the eastern bypass. we are still very surprised and actually scared to find more. we took a picture but not so clear. we couldnt identyfy what kind it was and if venomus as we were quick to kill it. If someone can inform us of which types are found in this area and if dangerous, we will appreciate.
Where can I find horn chameleon,?
Disappointing. Download does not work. nowhere other to find this fieldguide. how and where to get it (if it exists)???
Post a Comment