Amami Superman Photography

A Place to Share My Photos

May 25, 2010

Whip Scorpion

Posted by Amami Superman

Nikon D60, Nikkkor 55-200mm f/4.0-5.6 @ 200mm, 1/50 sec, f/5.6, ISO 400 -- EXIF
Sasori Modoki

This is one of the insects they have here on the island. Every once in a while when your out in the woods or doing something outside around your house, you'll flip something over and find one of these creatures. At first glance you will notice the pincers and the scorpion like body and think it is a scorpion when in fact it is not and isn't even venomous.

The whip scorpion is in fact a spider apart of the arachnid family. Although it only walks on 6 legs, the front two legs have been modified to act like antennae. As I said, it also has pincers which makes it look so much like a scorpion. The actual Japanese name, sasori modoki, means mock scorpion. Sasori is scorpion and modoki means mock or impersonate. I've heard this called one other name for good reason, a puheri mushi. Short and simple, a farting bug. When disturbed, it will secrete/spray a liquid that has a tart, sour smell sort of like vinegar. It's an unmistakable odor if you do come across an agitated one.

This was a pretty bad photo. I took around 10 shots and this one turned out the best. I think my 55-200mm lens' autofocus maybe a bit off. I've been noticing this more and more. One example is when I was taking photos of Jade skateboarding. I was using continual focus with dynamic area mode on one single person and I couldn't get an in focus shot. Looking further at the photos I took of the skateboarder, I noticed that the asphalt just before the skater was in focus. I'm thinking about sending it in for cleaning and calibration, if it doesn't cost too much.

So this is one of the more scarier looking bugs they have here in Amami, but is harmless. There's another one here that I've only seen twice in the 13 years living here that just gives me the heebie jeebies. If I every come across 0ne again and I have my camera, I'll try to photograph it. But let me tell you, I'm a wussy when it comes to insects. They just creep me out too much.

2 comments:

parv said...

Thanks Earnest for the spider image.

Do you have access to a separate flash? From afar & unmodified, a plain shoe mount flash sure would produce harsh shadows. When moved closer and/or used indirectly, would produce softer light.

Amami Superman said...

You know, I don't use flashes at all. Just learning how to use a camera is enough for me at the moment. I eventually will buy a flash and learn how to use them, but for the time being, I try to stay away from them.

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Keep the language clean please. I have family that see this. Tell us what part of the world you're in.