''Parabuthus villosus'', the black hairy thick-tailed scorpion, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

scorpion Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the Order (biology), order Scorpiones. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by a pair of Chela (organ), grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward cur ...

from

southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost region of Africa. No definition is agreed upon, but some groupings include the United Nations geoscheme for Africa, United Nations geoscheme, the intergovernmental Southern African Development Community, and ...

, where it ranges from the

Northern Cape The Northern Cape ( ; ; ) is the largest and most sparsely populated Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley, South Africa, Kimberley. It includes ...

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

. It is the largest species of the

Buthidae The Buthidae are the largest family of scorpions, containing about 100 genera and 1339 species as of 2022. A few very large genera ('' Ananteris'', '' Centruroides'', '' Compsobuthus'', or '' Tityus'') are known, but a high number of species-poor ...

, measuring up to 18 cm, and its diet may include

lizard Lizard is the common name used for all Squamata, squamate reptiles other than snakes (and to a lesser extent amphisbaenians), encompassing over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most Island#Oceanic isla ...

s and

mice A mouse (: mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...

. The species is often active at dawn and dusk, but takes refuge by day in a variety of shelters. It resembles ''

Parabuthus transvaalicus ''Parabuthus transvaalicus'' (known as the Transvaalicus thick-tailed scorpion, South African thick tail, or giant deathstalker) is a species of venomous scorpion from semi-arid parts of southern Africa. Description ''Parabuthus transvaalicus'' ...

'', which is more strictly nocturnal, less hairy and with a more easterly distribution.

References

villosus Arachnids of Africa Animals described in 1862 Taxa named by Wilhelm Peters {{Scorpion-stub