With its hefty size, mild venom, and docile manner, the emperor scorpion is one of the go-to invertebrates for zoos looking for educational ambassador animals or exhibits. Besides their imposing claws and scary-looking stinger, however, scorpions have another trick that makes them uniquely exciting from an exhibit perspective.
They glow in the dark.
Well, not all on their own they don't. When illuminated by a blacklight, however, scorpions flow an eerie bluish-green color. I've never gotten a clear explanation for why they do this, which is even assuming that there is a "why" instead of it being a quirk of evolution. Do other animals seem them in this light? Does it help them find each other in the dark? Does it confuse or attract their prey? The scorpions themselves don't register that they are under light, so won't scurry to avoid it. It certainly poses a problem for scorpions living in the age of people - anyone armed with a blacklight can easily find any scorpion in their path on a dark night, living the creepy-crawlies vulnerable to being captured or killed.
But, no matter what the purpose behind it (assuming there is one). it does make for a really cool exhibit in a zoo or museum setting. If your facility is within the natural range of scorpions, as much of the American southwest is, it can also be a fun activity to take folks on a night hike armed with blacklights to see if you can spot any.
One note of consideration, however - as far as blacklights go, a little is fine, a lot is bad. There is a reason that zoos don't keep their scorpions under perpetual blacklighting so that they are always glowing. The UV exposure from the blacklights can cause the scorpion to eventually suffer from blindness (yes, they do have eyes - they just aren't that great to begin with), dehydration, anorexia, and even shedding problems as their exoskeleton melts to their bodies. Again, this is in response to excessive lighting - passing a blacklight over one now and then won't cause any harm
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