Say hello to Australia’s largest scorpion – Urodacus excellens! Growing up to 13cm long, these incredible creatures look much scarier than they actually are, and will do their best to keep out of your way.

All scorpions are venomous and have the ability to sting you – you can even see a small droplet of venom on this one’s stinger. However, there are no species in Australia that will cause you any lasting damage, and it’s actually some of our smallest scorpions (those in the Buthidae family) that have the most painful sting.

By far the stand-out fact about scorpions is that they glow under ultraviolet light! In fact, if you’re ever wanting to try and find some scorpions, heading out at night with a UV torch is the way to go. Certain molecules in the scorpion’s exoskeleton are able to absorb ultraviolet wavelengths and then re-emit them in the visible spectrum – giving them the characteristic blue glow.

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Darwin Giant Scorpion (Urodacus excellens) in ultraviolet light, Berry Springs, Australia