African Wildlife & Environment Issue 84 2023

GOOD READS

Book reviews by Dr John Ledger GOOD READS

REMEMBER... CHRISTMAS IS COMING SOON

A Masterpiece - Field Guide to Scorpions

Engelbrecht, Ian (2023) . Field Guide to Scorpions of South Africa Soft cover, 15 x 21 cm, 292 pp, illustrated in colour throughout with photographs and maps. ISBN 978-1-77584-574 -4. Struik Nature, an imprint of Penguin Random House South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Cape Town. RRP R400. Scorpions have been around for 420 million years and are among the world’s most remarkable living fossils. South Africa is home to an astonishing variety, with 108 species in three families, spanning the country’s biomes, from desert and grassland to

worked on this book for ten years, to produce something very special. His interest began when the late Martin Filmer, Chairman of the Spider Club of Southern Africa, showed young Ian (then 14) his copy of Lamoral’s Scorpions of Namibia. “As I flipped it open to page 712, the photograph of an adult male Giant Burrowing Scorpion left me awestruck and cemented my fascination. It has been a privilege to work so deeply with these wondrous animals.” The first eighteen years of my own eclectic career were spent in the Department of Medical Entomology at the

South African Institute for Medical Research. Scorpions and spiders were on our agenda because of their potential threats to human well being and lives. Our in-house expert was Gerry Newlands, and once he imported cutting-edge technology in the form of a portable ultra violet lamp prior to departing on a field trip into the remote depths of South West Africa (later Namibia). Proudly showing off his new toy in the tea room, he told us that it had been discovered that scorpions glow brightly under UV light and this would help him collect specimens in the arid wastes he was going to visit. During a debriefing after his return, Gerry told us that he would NEVER, EVER sleep on the ground again on his field trips. After setting up camp and enjoying a few sundowners, he and his companions waited until dark before switching on the new UV lamp. They were shocked to find that they were surrounded by hordes of large scorpions, moving over the ground, in cracks in the rocks and climbing all over the scrubby bushes around their camp site!

fynbos, forest and savanna. Scorpions are even found in urban gardens and (sometimes) in urban homes (small ones!). This book is the first comprehensive guide to describe and illustrate all the species in the country. The clear and detailed species accounts cover appearance, habitat and behaviour, and discuss the variation within species according to region. Distribution maps are included for all species, and exceptional photographs, carefully worked to show astounding detail, bring to life the intricate patterning and colours of the different species. Illustrations of both males and females are provided, as well as a variety of colour forms, facilitating accurate identification in the field. The Introduction deals with classification, anatomy, biology, behaviour and habitats, as well as venom potency and the treatment of stings. Tips on where to find scorpions and how to contribute to their conservation as citizen scientists are also included. One has to marvel at the scholarship, skills, knowledge and tenacity of Ian Englebrecht who

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