Why Are Scorpions Fluorescent?

2021-09-03

[public] 560K views, 99.5K likes, 382 dislikes audio only

4K

Under UV light, almost all species of scorpions glow a bright green color, but why? Thanks to Capital One Shopping for sponsoring a portion of this video! Avoid Paying Full Price. Get Capital One Shopping for free using this link: https://capitaloneshopping.com/veritasium

A huge thanks to Prof. Carl Kloock for the interview and taking us scorpion hunting at the Panorama Vista Preserve. https://panoramavista.org/

▀▀▀

References:

Zwicky, K. T. (1968). A light response in the tail of Urodacus, a scorpion. Life Sciences, 7(6), 257-262. --https://ve42.co/Zwicky1968

Kloock, C. T. (2005). Aerial insects avoid fluorescing scorpions. Euscorpius, 2005(21), 1-7. -- https://ve42.co/Kloock2005

Gaffin, D. D., Bumm, L. A., Taylor, M. S., Popokina, N. V., & Mann, S. (2012). Scorpion fluorescence and reaction to light. Animal Behaviour, 83(2), 429-436. -- https://ve42.co/Gaffin2012

Kloock, C. T., Kubli, A., & Reynolds, R. (2010). Ultraviolet light detection: a function of scorpion fluorescence. The Journal of Arachnology, 38(3), 441-445. -- https://ve42.co/Kloock2012

Kloock, C. T. (2009). Reducing scorpion fluorescence via prolonged exposure to ultraviolet light. The Journal of Arachnology, 37(3), 368-370. -- https://ve42.co/Kloock2009

▀▀▀

Written by Derek Muller, Emily Zhang, Petr Lebedev

Animation by Ivy Tello

Filmed by Derek Muller and Emily Zhang

Edited by Brian Kim

Additional video supplied by Getty Images

Music from Epidemic Sound https://epidemicsound.com

And "Sneaky Snitch" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b…

Produced by Derek Muller, Emily Zhang and Petr Lebedev