‘I’ve got one!’ Hunting neon scorpions in the Arizona desert

As setting sun left a yellow tinge on dirt-colored cactuses as far as eye could see, park ranger Anna Roberts gave us a lesson on what we were about to hunt.

“Scorpions kw y will t kill us because we are much larger,” said Roberts, explaining that animals’ first instinct would be to escape, t sting, and that fatalities from bites in U.S. were rare. “So, you don’t have worry about that.”

light-hearted preparatory chat also came with a serious mess: Don’t be dumb with scorpions, which move quickly on eight legs and are equipped with pincer claws and curved tails that lash enemies and deposit vem.

Closed-toed shoes were a must, critters should only be picked up with tongs, and y should t be played with — a mess I me sure my oldest children, boys s 8 and 9, heard.

Having just moved with my family to Arizona, excursion struck me as a uniquely desert-life thing to do. However, my wife, who rightly said taking our 3-year-old would have been a b idea, thought I was nuts.

For whatever reason, I’ve always found scorpions intriguing, if t a little terrifying. A glance at popular culture tells me I’m t alone. In movies, on skin of many tattoo lovers and in one of 12 astrological signs, scorpions’ distinct shape and supposed attributes are often on display. y are portrayed as sav, lethal, true warriors — t far off from what we were about to see on hunt.

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As we walked into desert under moonlight, we carried flashlights to see where we were stepping. terrain was rocky, dusty and uneven, mixed with rough underbrush. Crucial to hunt, however, were black lights: Scorpions glow under ultraviolent lights for reasons that scientists don’t kw.

“Why y fluoresce is million-dollar question,” said Lauren Esposito, curator of arachlogy at California Acemy of Sciences. Some orize that light scares off would-be predators, while ors think it might attract pollinators, potential prey.

A few minutes into hike, neon green shapes began appearing. y ranged in length from a small grasshopper to a human finger. Upon our approach, scorpions would sometimes scurry away, sometimes duck into a hole and, just as often, raise ir pincers and arch ir tails in preparation for battle. re is a reason y are apex predators in invertebrate food chain.

“I’ve got one! I’ve got one!” people began shouting, capturing m with tongs from behind. “I need a box over here!”

A handful of people carrying plastic containers, including my sons, would come over, opening cap so a writhing scorpion could be placed inside. Everybody around would stop, shine black lights and stare as scorpion began moving from one side of box to or.

“This is awesome!” said James Brine, a 37-year-old machinist from Tempe, a Phoenix suburb, who wore a black T-shirt with a neon scorpion on front. “I love it.”

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Brine, who came out with two friends, said it was fun to see scorpions in a different way. When he was growing up, his family considered m pests.

hearty arthropods, which have roamed earth for millions of years, can indeed be unwanted guests. Dozens of Phoenix companies offer to spray, kill and seal scorpions out of homes. Online s include pictures of smiling and unsuspecting little children, and warnings that scorpions could even show up in your bed.

While scorpion stings hurt — experts say y are like a bee sting — y are rarely lethal, especially in United States. A 2008 study, “Epidemiology of scorpionism: A global appraisal,” found that of about 1.2 million stings annually, 3,250, or 0.27%, resulted in death.

highest risk areas are in parts of Africa, Middle East, South India, Mexico and sourn Latin America, and fatalities were often a result of a lack of anti-vem treatments, according to study.

Esposito said that of about 2,500 species of scorpions worldwide, only 25 or so are truly dangerous. most hazardous in United States is found in Southwestern states: Arizona bark scorpion, which is light brown and blends into desert landscape.

While scorpions get a “b rap,” y are an important indicator of overall health of ecosystems where y are found, said Esposito.

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“If something is going wrong in an area, scorpions are a place to look” to understand what is going on, she said.

After an hour, our group h gared about 25 scorpions. All were placed in a large plastic box, around size of a home aquarium. Roberts, ranger, identified three kinds we h captured: straight tail, yellow ground and giant hairy scorpions.

Watching m interact, I was awed by ir ferocity. Several attacked each or, pinching and whipping ir tails, while ors tried in vain to climb out, slipping on side of box only to charge and continue trying.

My 8-year-old, Lucas, and a few or kids captured some moths and put m in box. A few of bigger scorpions, thrusting smaller ones aside, circled moths in preparation for consumption. And n something happened that me group go silent: One of larger scorpions devoured a small scorpion, thrusting its entire body into its mouth.

“Why didn’t he go for moths?” shouted Lucas.

“Why go for moths,” Roberts joked, “when y can eat each or?”

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