It seems like airline travel is becoming more and more tedious with each passing year. Coach and economy class seating areas are becoming tighter and more compact, and not even first-class passengers are being spared this downsizing. If sitting at a ninety degree angle for several hours in between equally miserable passengers is not enough fun for frequent fliers, then there are always bed bugs. Bed bugs are being found in airplanes on a regular basis, and if you should happen to be on board an infested flight, you would be lucky to avoid contracting the bloodscuing insects on your skin and clothes, no matter where you sit. While there may be no insect threat on a plane more feared than bed bugs, there are always arachnids. More specifically, scorpions. It seems that the experience of long distance airline travel reached a remarkably horrific low a few days ago when an aggressive scorpion species that was alleged to be 12 inches in length was found on a flight to Jakarta, Indonesia.
Now, experts claim that no scorpion species can grow beyond seven inches, and the largest species rarely grow beyond 6.5 inches, but after looking at pictures of the scorpion hitchhiker taken by passengers, you will find that experts can also be wrong from time to time. Although the exact species of scorpion that was found on the plane cannot be determined with certainty, the specimen was most likely an Asian forest scorpion, which are known to be aggressive natives of Indonesia. Whatever the precise species name of the scorpion in question may be, the specimen was definitely a member of the Heterometrus family. Typically, the Asian forest scorpion species grows to a length measuring between 3.5 and five inches, but the one on the plane appeared much larger, but it was almost certainly not 12 inches. Not surprisingly, the longest scorpion ever discovered was a nine inch emperor scorpion, which is a similar looking specimen that is also a member of the Heterometrus family. Luckily, the scorpion was only noticed after it emerged from a woman’s suitcase a few minutes after the plane landed, but a panic broke out that saw frightened passengers scrambling to exit the plane. Unfortunately, the scorpion escaped in between a crevice in the floor, and it has not been seen since.
Have you ever spotted a scorpion that you believed exceeded six inches in length?
