Gail, lover of all animals as she is, has brought some scorpions into the How2 studio.

Here’s one of them. Scorpions have been around since dinosaurs roamed the Earth. Not Scotty himself here, of course (he’s not even as old as Fred) but as as a genera – a group – of species.

They’re best-known for the sting in their tail – a nasty spike that delivers a dose of poison. In some species, the venom is so powerful it can kill a human.

The thing is, Scotty here wasn’t the only scorpion Gail brought with her. There were more.

Fred’s not too happy about this. How are they going to find the others?

Well, scorpions like dark, gloomy areas – they’re nocturnal. So their dark colouring makes them quite hard to spot. even with a torch…

…they’re quite hard to pick out. But look what happens under ultraviolet light:

The scorpions fluoresce! The glow brightly against the dark background.

Nobody’s quiet sure why they do this. Perhaps it’s to attract insects for them to eat, or maybe it’s just a consequence of the material they’re made from. But nevertheless – if you want to spot a scorpion, use ultraviolet light. That’s How!