Posted by Beth Elliott on August 10, 2005

Q: Found an insect 2" long with pinchers. body is 1/2" wide and skinny 1" long stinger on a bettle like lower body. Thought it was a scorpion look alike. It does kill prey with tail.

Habitat: forest/open woods

State: Florida

Habitat: forest/open woods

A: I'm trying to put together your description but can't come up with an animal that fits. I don't know of any insects that have pincers and a long stinger. You might want to look at a picture of a Vinegaroon (very scorpion-like but no stinger and not an insect) and the Tailless Whipscorpion (also no stinger and not an insect) but doesn't sound like these are what you saw. There are at least two scorpions that I know of (Hentz's Centuroides and Brown Centuroides) that live in Florida. Both of these are rather dark brown with a light stripe down their back. If you're sure it had a tail stinger and pincers then you've probably seen a scorpion. I know they're kind of scary but they do eat lots of insects and rarely interact with people. Thanks for sharing.

John Wiessinger ( August 10, 2005)