Many creatures, like this scorpion, glow in the dark. Why?
Learning Objective: Students will read a short nonfiction article, then practice using a grammar skill featured in the text.
It’s nighttime in the desert. The sun has set, and the air has cooled down. You walk around with a special tool in your hand. It shines a type of light called black light. You point the light to the ground. Suddenly, a scorpion creeps out from under a rock. The creature has sharp claws and a poison-tipped tail. And . . . it glows in the dark!
You see this glow thanks to your black light. But many other animals can see it with their own eyes.
Andrea Battisti/Alamy Stock Photo
A scorpion in Spain glows at night.
Reasons to Glow
Why do scorpions glow? Scientists aren’t sure. But they have some ideas. One is that scorpions light up to find other scorpions in the dark.
Another idea is that scorpions glow to scare away their enemies. The light might warn the mice and owls that want to eat the scorpions that the creatures are dangerous. Stay away!
Shine On
Benjamin Alldridge Photography
A quoll
Scorpions aren’t the only creatures that glow. More than 3,000 types of animals light up! Some, like scorpions, we can see using black light. Others, like fireflies, we can see without any special tools.
Scientists keep finding that more and more animals give off light. An example is this cute furry creature that lives in Australia. It’s called a quoll. Shine on, little quoll!
This story was originally published in the October/November 2026 issue.
