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Sticker of Transvaal thick-tailed scorpion
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Transvaal thick-tailed scorpion

Parabuthus transvaalicus
Eats: Other bugs and small animalsScorpions, ticks and friendsDeserts and dry places8 legsNot an insect, but a bug cousin

This is a big dark brown or black scorpion with thin pincers and a very thick tail. It hides in a shallow burrow under rocks during the day and comes out at night. It is one of the scorpions to be very careful with.

Fun fact: this one is not an insect. It is an arachnid with eight legs, a cousin of the spiders.
Lives in
Dry parts of southern Africa, in deserts and scrubland
Length
9 to 11 cm (3.5 to 4.3 in)
Top speed
about 2.7 km/h (1.7 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Dangerous: look, do not touch

Watch out! Read all about it on Venom Wiki →

What does it eat?
Like other scorpions, it hunts insects and other small animals at night.
For real!Photo of Transvaal thick-tailed scorpion
Picture by RichardMcJimsey. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Transvaal thick-tailed scorpion about 11 cm long (4.3 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)A crayon about 9 cm (3.5 in)A banana about 18 cm (7.1 in)
as long as 3 toy building bricks in a rowabout as long as your handcould run across a dinner table in 1.3 seconds

How big is Transvaal thick-tailed scorpion compared to YOU?

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How fast is it?

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Most asked questions about Transvaal thick-tailed scorpion

?How big is the Transvaal thick-tailed scorpion?

It grows to about 9 to 11 centimetres long.

?Where does the Transvaal thick-tailed scorpion live?

In dry places in southern Africa, like Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and South Africa.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Parabuthus transvaalicus
Group
Scorpions, ticks and friends
Family
Buthidae
Classification
Arachnida > Scorpiones > Buthidae
Lives on
Africa
Also known as
South African thick tail, Giant deathstalker, Black thick-tailed scorpion

Where the facts come from

  1. Parabuthus transvaalicus (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by RichardMcJimsey. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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