"Nick Maclaren" wrote after
"Phil L" writes:
| Ben wrote:
| :: Pulling down some old fence panels to replace them today, I
| :: disturbed a large number of insects with crab-like pincers on
| :: their rear end. They looked like scorpions, but I wasn't aware we
| :: had any in the UK. What could they have been?
|
| Scorpions! - we do have them in the UK but they are rare...BTW, if the
| pincers were at their back end, it's unlikely they were scorpions -
| scorpions look a bit like lobsters, with their pincers at the front, on
| their 'arms' ...earwigs have pincers on their rear end?

Earwigs, almost certainly. Complete harmless, and not even much
of a nuisance in the garden.

There aren't any wild scorpions in the UK, though they might JUST
have established themselves in a few places (almost certainly in
buildings only). The furthest north they get naturally is southern
Europe. They have a sting (NOT pincers) as a tail, that curls up
over their back. Other than that, yes, they look a bit like
miniature lobsters.

There are some alive and well and living in parts of the London Underground,
been there for a long time.
Luckily they aren't the really nasty ones.

--
Regards
Bob
in Runnymede, 17miles west of London, UK