A scorpion bit me

I woke up early this morning with a sharp, burning pain on my lower left chin. Soon, I began to feel a sharp spasm on the back of my neck. I suspected that a scorpion had attacked me, as my sister in law had been bitten in my house last year with similar symptoms.

We went to the hospital. Typically, we are told that there are two types of scorpions in Jordan: the black ones and the blond/brown ones. As is usually the case, this is a gross oversimplification. It turns out that there are about ten genera of scorpions in Jordan. Information about them can be found here.

My son found and killed the culprit while I was in the hospital. It was small (about 2-3 cm), black in color with tan extremities. Here he is.

As far as I can tell (I am not a biologist, this specimen is Buthotus judaicus), which seems to be indigenous to northern Jordan. In addition to its small size, it has about six oval lobes on its tail, and it lives in northern Jordan.

Anyway, the hospital was quite nonchalant about the whole thing. The said since it was black, and thus the antidote is not needed. They gave me two shots of allorphine and hydrocortisone to prevent swelling and any allergic reaction and monitored me for about half an hour.

Anyway, it seems that the doctors are right. Few cases have been reported of any serious affects for Buthotus judaicus bites. One case of cardiac arrhythmia has been reported from this bite. My odds are good, but I have not been particularly lucky thus far today.