Documenting Namibia’s Scorpions: Compiling a Comprehensive Field Guide

Documenting Namibia’s Scorpions: Compiling a Comprehensive Field Guide

South African scorpion expert Dr Ian Engelbrecht is currently working on a field guide to the scorpions of Namibia, a project involving extensive fieldwork across the country to photograph and document Namibia’s remarkable scorpion diversity.

In this talk, he will introduce the fascinating world of scorpions, discuss their biology and importance, and share some of the aims, experiences and discoveries behind the Namibian field guide project.

“Whether out of fear or ignorance, many people regard scorpions as frightening, repulsive or dangerous. While scorpions do sting when hunting or defending themselves, only a small proportion of species, less than 5%, is dangerously venomous, potentially causing deaths in humans,” writes Dr Engelbrecht in the introduction of his book “Field Guide Scorpions of South Africa”

 

About the speaker: Dr Ian Engelbrecht is a South African arachnologist specialising in scorpions and mygalomorph spiders. He holds an MSc in Conservation Biology from Wits University and a PhD in Zoology from the University of Pretoria. Having discovered numerous new arachnid species - with one spider named in his honour - he has authored extensive scientific research and published the Field Guide to Scorpions of South Africa.

📅 Date: Thursday, 26 November 2026
🕖 Time: 19:00
📍 Location: Namibia Scientific Society, Windhoek

Join the presentation via Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/8023841980