About

Scorpions are an important part of Namibian biodiversity and the daily lives of residents and visitors. Most species are only mildly venomous, with painful but localized stings, but there are also medically important species whose stings can be serious or even fatal.

The goal of this project is to produce a comprehensive identification guide to all the known scorpion species from Namibia. A book like this will be of value to citizens, tourists, the hospitality industry, conservationists, researchers, medical practitioners and educators alike.

The most important part of a field guide is the photographs. All species need to be photographed, including both sexes, colour varieties, and their habitats. This involves finding these scorpions in the wild, often in remote and difficult to reach places, and hoping that conditions are right for the species to be active when you get there. Repeat visits are often needed.

Important areas to visit are:

• The Brandberg mountain with the endemic, Brandbergia haringtoni
• The Hauchab mountain in the central Namib sand sea, for a rare rock scorpion
• The remote northeastern Koakoveld
• The Sperrgebiet
• The Namib gravel plains
• The Karasberg mountains

A sophisticated algorithm will be used to identify potential areas to visit to obtain the necessary photographs in minimum time and cost using known distribution records from museum collections and citizen science platforms such as iNaturalist and the ADU Virtual Museum. The manuscript will be prepared at the same time. Any new species discovered in the course of working on this book will be described and named in the scientific literature.

If the sponsorship drive is successful the book will be published by Struik Nature, planned for late 2027. It will be widely available in book stores, curio shops, airports, and other outlets in Namibia and South Africa, as well as available online. The format will follow that of Scorpions of South Africa, which has sold over 2000 copies since its release in 2023. The story of the first book is told in this video on YouTube.

Author Ian Engelbrecht is an expert on scorpions and mygalomorph spiders in southern Africa. Prior to authoring the first complete identification guide to South African scorpions he obtained a PhD in Zoology from the University of Pretoria for his work on trapdoor spiders. He coordinates the Baboon Spider Atlas project and has worked for several biodiversity and conservation organisations, including the South African National Biodiversity Institute, provincial Nature Conservation in Gauteng Province, and the Agricultural Research Council. He is currently a research associate of the Department of Zoology and Entomology at the University of Pretoria. He has described several species new to science and has a spider species, Lepthercus engelbrechti, named after him.