An escaped PseudoScorpion..

Mar 15, 2015 • 1:13 PM UTC

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Manu Prakash

I am a faculty at Stanford and run the Prakash Lab at Department of Bioengineering at Stanford University. Foldscope community is at the heart of our Frugal Science movement - and I can not tell you how proud I am of this community and grassroots movement. Find our work here: http://prakashlab.stanford.edu

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On the island of Viques, PR – I was walking at mid-night close to tidal pools. I was looking for something exciting and saw this tiny tiny insect in the tidal rocks. I was amazed I could actually spot it; hiding in the cracks. It was so small and so perfect to fit right under my Foldscope (which I had with me handy, and ready to use). And then I noticed these tiny pincers on the insect. I really tried hard to catch it but with the rough rocks, very high tides and the ocean beating on the rocks every few seconds, I just could not catch the same. But I was so surprised to see the Scorpion look (thinking I have spotted a baby Scorpion), I did not forget our encounter. I went back three days in a row at the same time (mid-night) but never saw it again. From my memory, I drew a picture and left the island sad that I did not meet this tiny thing again.
I was just flipping through my pictures; and saw my drawing I made right at the time of encounter. It turns out – just from my drawing; I was able to identify it – it is a PseudoScorpion .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudoscorpion
What an appropriate name. And it’s not an insect (an arachnid) – clearly I did not count the legs in the dark. It was very dark. But I am happy to share what I drew. Seemingly, they can be found anywhere and are as small as 2mm; with poison gland on pincers. They also spit acid on prey – I want to see this prey encounter inside my Foldscope. So I will keep my eyes open for these little buys; and so should you.
cheers
manu