Micro-scorpions in Denmark

If you look under a stone or a piece of wood, and see a strange, little animal with long arms and pincers, which tends to walk backwards most of the time, then you have found a pseudoscorpion.

Before we move on, we should mention that these creatures aren’t related to true scorpions, and they are, therefore, only dangerous to animals that are smaller than themselves. Pseudoscorpions are just a few mm long, and even though they have venom glands in their pincers, they pose only a danger to the small critters they have chosen for their dinner.

Pseudoscorpions don’t have wings, so they aren’t very good at dispersing in nature on their own steam, so they take the bus instead! Or, actually, they get a lift with a fly that’s passing by, or with another large insect. If a fly lands near a pseudoscorpion, it will quickly crawl onboard and get a free ride to the next place the fly lands, where it then jumps off.

If you take a couple of pseudoscorpions home with you, in a small box with some soil and dead leaves, you might be able to see them dance a mating dance with each other.