CATDOLL : CATDOLL: What does a rainforest scorpion look like when in heat?

What does a rainforest scorpion look like when in heat?

The tail trembles slightly, but it is usually invisible.

How many times a year does a female scorpion give birth? How many cubs does it give birth to each time?

A mature female scorpion can give birth to offspring up to three times a year, and five times in two years, but generally it will begin to age after giving birth to offspring 4 to 5 times.

When the environment is suitable, a strong female scorpion will give birth to 4 to 5 pups, and then give birth to the second and third batches about 30 minutes apart. It takes about 1 to 5 minutes to give birth to each pup. If the temperature is above 37°C, it only takes 20 to 30 minutes to give birth to a litter. Generally, a litter can produce 15 to 35 pups, with an average of about 25 pups. Some high-yield scorpions can produce 40 to 60 pups.

Additional information:

Scorpions are arachnids, the same class as spiders. Their typical features include an elongated body, sting, and a curved, segmented tail with a venomous sting. The first scorpions on land appeared about 430 million years ago during the Silurian Period.

There are more than 800 species of scorpions in the world, and 15 species in my country. The East Asian scorpion is often used as medicine, which has a good therapeutic effect on rheumatic diseases. It is also called the Ma's scorpion and belongs to the Scorpionidae family of the Scorpio order. The East Asian scorpion has the largest number and the widest distribution, covering more than 10 provinces in my country.

Scorpions are national key protected animals. One scorpion can kill more than 10,000 harmful insects such as locusts in a year. If scorpions are caught in large numbers to reduce their numbers, harmful insects will reproduce in large numbers, seriously disrupting the ecological balance and causing damage to crops. According to experts, scorpions have one generation every three years and only reproduce once a year. The breeding period is from June to September. If scorpions are caught on a large scale during this period, it is very likely to cause the extinction of local wild scorpions.

The average life span of a scorpion is about 8 years, and the breeding and giving birth period is about 5 years. According to the growth and development stage, they are divided into 1-7 years old scorpions and pregnant scorpions. The age of 1-7 years old scorpions is not calculated by year, but by the number of times they shed their cloaks. Under greenhouse conditions, a young scorpion can grow to 1-2 years old in about 4 days; 2-3 years old in about 50 days; 3-4 years old in about 105 days; 4-5 years old in about 160 days; 5-6 years old in about 215 days; and 6-7 years old in about 280 days.

Male scorpions have only two spermatophores in their bodies and can only mate twice in their lifetime. Female scorpions mate once and can reproduce continuously for 4 years until the end of their lifespan. The lifespan of scorpions is 5 to 8 years.

After the female scorpion is fertilized, the sperm can be stored in the body of the female scorpion for a long time, and she can give birth to offspring continuously for 3 to 5 years. Generally, she gives birth after a gestation period of 40 to 50 days. A female scorpion gives birth to 20 to 40 offspring at a time, and up to 70.

(1) Individual growth Scorpions reproduce by ovoviviparity (also known as pseudoviviparity). Although the baby scorpion does not undergo metamorphosis from birth to adulthood, it does undergo six molts. In northern my country, it takes about three years for a wild East Asian scorpion to complete this growth and development cycle.

The growth and development of young scorpions is closely linked to the phenomenon of molting. With each molt, the young scorpions grow rapidly in length, weight and volume, and their body color changes accordingly. Female scorpions in the wild or raised under natural conditions generally reproduce and give birth from mid-July to early August. The birth of young scorpions from the mother marks the beginning of the life history of a new generation.

A newly born young scorpion is called a 1st-year scorpion. After each molt, it increases by one year. After 6 molts, it becomes a 7th-year scorpion, which is an adult scorpion. The young scorpion is very small when it is born, about 1 cm long and weighing about 0.02 grams. It is soft, slightly fat, and milky white. The appendages and the posterior abdomen (tail) are folded on the ventral surface of the body, and then they are unfolded one after another, showing the shape of a scorpion. Generally, when the temperature is between 25 and 28 ℃, it takes about 5 days for a young scorpion to go from birth to the first molt; when the temperature reaches above 30 ℃, it only takes about 3 days to go from the 1st age to the 2nd age.

The body shape and color of the second-year scorpion are significantly different from those of the first-year scorpion. First, the body color becomes darker, gradually changing from the original milky white to light yellow to light brown; at the same time, the body shape becomes slender, the body length increases to about 1.5 cm, and the weight reaches about 0.025 grams. The second-year stage lasts for about 2 months, until the second molting begins around late September. During the entire second-year period, the scorpion's body does not change much, except that the body thickness and weight increase, the body color deepens, and the characteristics of various parts of the body become more obvious. After the body color changes to brown, after another 5 to 7 days, the young scorpion will leave the back of the mother scorpion and live independently. At this time, the young scorpion's mobility is enhanced, the tail stinger can sting, and can discharge a small amount of venom. It has the ability to prey on small insects and can move around at night to capture food.

The time from the 2nd age to the 3rd age is in late September, when the body length increases from 1.5 cm to about 2 cm, and the weight also increases to about 0.5 grams. Since the 3rd age scorpion becomes more active, its predation ability is enhanced, and its food intake increases, its body size grows rapidly, and its weight also increases significantly. The 3rd age scorpion eats fat in about 40 days, and stores enough nutrition to prepare for the winter. It enters hibernation in late October, and wakes up around Qingming Festival the following year. After May, as the temperature rises, the feeding of the scorpion reaches a peak again. In June or July of the following year, its weight reaches its peak, and it is ready for the third molt. After the third molt, it enters the 4th age stage. At this time, the body color changes to gray-brown, the body length is 2.7 to 3 cm, and the weight is 0.8 to 1 gram. In August or September of the same year, it undergoes the fourth molt, grows into a 5th age crab, and its body length increases to about 3.5 cm, and its weight also increases further, and then enters hibernation.

In the third year, the 5-year-old crabs shed their skin once in June and July, becoming 6-year-old crabs, with a body length of 44.5 cm; they shed their skin for the last time around September, becoming 7-year-old crabs, that is, adult crabs, with a body length of about 5 cm. Adult crabs no longer shed their skin, so their body length no longer increases, but their body shape can become thicker and their weight can also increase slightly. Generally, they reach sexual maturity at the end of the third year and begin to reproduce in the summer of the following year.

Unlike other animals, the body length of scorpions increases in leaps as they molt, while their weight increases gradually (Table 2). Based on this, we can more accurately determine the age of the crab.

(2) Molting Molting is an important biological phenomenon closely related to the growth of scorpions during their development and is also a growth behavior. When individual growth ends, molting also stops.

Like other arthropods (such as insects, etc.), although scorpions' molting is inevitable, they must also have appropriate prerequisites for normal molting to occur. First, there must be adequate nutrition, which is the key to ensuring the normal growth and development of the crab body, storing energy, accumulating nutrients and increasing volume. If the nutrition is improper, the growth and development of the young crabs will become slow, and the molting time will be postponed accordingly. Secondly, there must be suitable environmental conditions. When the average daily temperature is 25-35℃ and the soil is 10%-15% wet, it is most beneficial for scorpions to molt. High temperature and high humidity are not conducive to molting and may even cause death. Third, the density should be moderate. When the density of scorpion mouths is too high, the molting time will often be not concentrated, and the greater the density, the greater the difference in molting time, and even cannibalism within the group. Therefore, in artificial breeding, special attention should be paid to density management.

Scorpions generally have obvious signs before molting. In most cases, they stop feeding about a week before molting, their activity is significantly reduced, their skin becomes rough, their body segments are obvious, their abdomen becomes enlarged, and they enter a semi-dormant state. However, since the first-year-old scorpion has not yet left the mother's body, its molting activity is quite special. When the first-year-old scorpion molts, it hooks the gap between the mother's body segments with its tail stinger, hangs upside down with its head facing downward, and as its body twists continuously, it forces the old epidermis of the head and thorax to break first, and then, with the continued twisting of the body and the action of gravity, the entire scorpion gradually sheds out, falls from the mother to the ground, and climbs onto the mother's back in an instant. The subsequent molting is mainly carried out with the help of external objects. When molting, scorpions often use their legs to grab stones, bricks, tiles, soil, etc. as a fixation point, and use muscle contraction to produce body twisting, so that the old epidermis first cracks from the back of the head and thorax, and the head and thorax are shed first, followed by the front thorax and the back abdomen. The body of a newly-in-year scorpion that has just shed its skin becomes noticeably larger, its body becomes soft and shiny, its muscles are delicate, its resistance to adversity is poor, and it is extremely vulnerable to attack and cannibalism by natural enemies or other scorpions.

Scorpions shed their skin over a long period of time, usually more than 3 hours. The first molt of young scorpions is relatively regular; the subsequent molts are often uneven due to differences in living conditions and extremely inconsistent growth and development between individuals, with some even differing by more than 3 months.

However, constant temperature scorpion breeding and normal temperature scorpion breeding are essentially different from wild scorpions, which basically changes the growth time and reproduction cycle of scorpions. In constant temperature breeding, the life span of scorpions is generally 3 to 4 years. It takes about 70 days for the fertilized eggs to mature in the ovaries. The mature eggs will go through an embryonic development period of about 40 days before giving birth in the form of young scorpions. The delivery time generally varies from 50 to 120 minutes, and the young scorpions basically complete the first molting in 45 to 80 hours. The first molting time is particularly regular, and the second molting begins 36 days later, entering the 3-year-old scorpion. However, this molting can clearly distinguish the speed of the young scorpions' development, and some even differ by more than 10 days. After that, the young scorpions molt every 2 months or so. The growth period from newborn scorpions to adult scorpions is generally about 8 to 10 months. Due to the different physiological conditions of each scorpion, coupled with management reasons, the growth period can differ by up to 2 to 3 months, which is also a prerequisite for selecting the quality of varieties. A mature female scorpion can give birth up to three times a year, and five times in two years, but generally it will begin to age after giving birth 4 to 5 times.

(3) Behavioral development The behavioral development of scorpions is synchronized with individual growth, so it is also an integral part of individual development. After being born from the mother, the one-year-old scorpion does not live on the ground, nor does it have the ability to hunt. Instead, it lies on the back of the mother scorpion and survives by continuing to consume the remaining yolk nutrients from its own embryonic development. The young scorpions often lie on the back of the mother with their heads facing outwards, neatly arranged on both sides. The one-year-old scorpion is weak and weakly active, sometimes only slightly wriggling without obvious crawling movements. If it falls off the mother at this time, it will often die quickly.

After molting, the 2-year-old scorpions quickly climb back onto the mother's back because they have fallen off the mother's back during the molting process. After their body color turns brown, they leave the mother's body and live independently after about a week. At this time, the 2-year-old scorpions have greatly enhanced their mobility. They can go out at night to find a suitable living environment and settle down independently. They can also use their tail stings to sting prey or defend themselves. 2-year-old scorpions have a strong appetite and can eat all day. In the case of food shortage, they often kill each other.

The peak feeding period for 3-year-old scorpions. In the wild, from late September to early October, 3-year-old scorpions have a strong appetite and eat more to accumulate nutrients in preparation for wintering.

It can be seen that from the first-year-old scorpion to the second-year-old scorpion after molting, from lying on its back to moving on the ground, from being unable to eat to being able to actively hunt, the scorpion has completed its basic behavioral development. In addition, the reproductive behavior of the scorpion will not be fully developed until the 7th year (adult scorpion).

(4) The birthing process Pregnant scorpions that are about to give birth usually do not eat or move for 3 to 5 days before giving birth. Mature eggs and fetuses can be seen through the full front abdomen. Pregnant scorpions appear very uneasy before giving birth. They usually give birth in a relatively humid place in the cave under stones or tiles. When giving birth, the third and fourth walking legs of the pregnant scorpion are straightened, the first and second pairs of walking legs are clasped inward, the head and chest and front abdomen are tilted forward, close to the ground, the comb plates are drooping, and the genital operculum is open. The young scorpions are born one by one in the embrace of the two walking legs, usually without touching the ground. There are about 4 to 5 young scorpions in a batch, and they are arranged regularly in a fan shape. When the pregnant scorpion is disturbed by the outside world, the small scorpions it gives birth to are sometimes not arranged regularly. When the baby scorpion is just born, its appendages and tail are folded on the ventral surface, forming an oval shape, like a grain of rice, covered with a white liquid membrane. When the liquid on the surface of the baby scorpion dries, it can stretch and move, crawling along the pedipalps and head and chest of the mother scorpion to the back of the mother scorpion, with its head facing outward. Some mother scorpions often eat weak scorpions and egg masses that cannot climb up. At this time, the mother scorpion has completely recovered to normal, with its posterior abdomen bent upward, always protecting the baby scorpion on its back (Figure 8).

When the environment is suitable, a strong female scorpion will give birth to 4 to 5 pups, and then give birth to the second and third batches about 30 minutes apart... It takes about 1 to 5 minutes to give birth to one pup. If the temperature is above 37 ℃, it only takes 20 to 30 minutes to give birth to one pup. Generally, one pup can give birth to 15 to 35 pups, with an average of about 25 pups, and some high-yield ones can give birth to 40 to 60 pups. If several pups give birth at the same time and are disturbed, some female scorpions will abandon the pups on their backs. These abandoned pups will often gather on the back of one female scorpion, and sometimes there can be as many as 70 to 80 pups on the back of one female scorpion. Sometimes, after giving birth to pups, pregnant scorpions will also give birth to a few yellow-brown grains the size of sorghum rice, which are dead fetuses. There may be many reasons for stillbirth, but the main ones are due to long-term dry environment and aging of the mother scorpion. Under natural conditions, wild scorpions may also experience this phenomenon. Sometimes the baby scorpions born are inactive for a long time, which is also dead scorpions. Most of them may be caused by mechanical damage or other physical and chemical harmful substances to the mother scorpion before giving birth.

During the period of carrying her young, the mother scorpion does not eat or move, but guards her young attentively to prevent them from being accidentally hurt. If she encounters or sees other animals invading her habitat, she will immediately react to protect her young. If a young scorpion leaves her back, she will use her powerful pedipalps to gently clamp the young scorpion and induce it to return to her back. When encountering natural enemies or bad weather, the mother scorpion will carry the young scorpion on her back and migrate to a safer place. If she encounters a serious situation, such as encountering other insects or other external enemies, the mother scorpion will try her best to break free and throw the young scorpion off her back. After calming down, the young scorpion will return to her back. Some young scorpions that are unable to return to the mother's back will sometimes be eaten by the mother scorpion. It can be seen that the scorpion's unique habit of protecting its young is the result of long-term adaptation to nature. If there is a long-term lack of food before reproduction, or if the soil is too dry during reproduction, the mother scorpion will eat the young scorpions. Therefore, you should be careful when breeding scorpions artificially.

(5) Separation of mother and offspring After the first-born scorpions (1-year-old scorpions) crawl onto the back of the mother scorpion, they will densely surround her back, not eating or moving, and rely on the yolk brought from the mother to maintain their life, development and growth. After 5 days, they will shed the first layer of epidermis and become 2-year-old scorpions. At this time, the body length of the offspring increases to more than 1.5 cm. After about 7 to 10 days, they will successively separate from the mother and live independently. After the offspring leave the mother and go to the ground, they will enter the independent living stage. At this time, the offspring and the mother scorpion must be raised separately. If they are not raised separately, the following situations will occur: First, the offspring that have just left the mother's back are small, tender and weak, and have poor mobility. If they are not raised separately from the mother scorpion, they are easily trampled to death by the old scorpion; second, the mother scorpion does not eat during the period of carrying the offspring, and the body consumes a lot of nutrients. Generally, it is in a state of hunger. If the offspring are not raised separately, they will often be eaten by the mother scorpion; third, the offspring and the mother scorpion have different requirements for bait. If they are not raised separately, it will be difficult to manage. Therefore, after the young scorpions leave their mother's back, they must be separated and raised in time.

Here are some methods for separating mothers and cubs:

① Picking and separation method. After the young scorpions are separated from the mother scorpion, the female scorpions that go out at night are picked out with chopsticks or clamps, and the remaining young scorpions are kept in the original scorpion pond. This separation method is suitable for adobe delivery rooms, cement board delivery rooms and wooden nest delivery rooms.

② Glass plate separation method. When separating, first use tweezers to take out the female scorpion and place it in another pond for breeding. Then, gently pour the young scorpions and the breeding soil in the delivery room onto the glass plate in the breeding basin (with a glass bottle underneath). The young scorpions will slowly crawl to the edge of the glass plate and fall into the basin. Then, pour out the soil on the glass plate. This method is suitable for wide-mouthed glass bottle delivery rooms.

③ Automatic separation slide separation method. The construction method of the "automatic separation slide": build a temporary small pool in the scorpion pool, the bottom of which is 10 cm higher than the original pool, and the edges of the four sides form a 60-degree slope with the original pool ground, and lay glass plates on the slope (scorpions can only slide down but not climb up). The four walls of the small pool are made of four glass plates, and a 0.3 cm gap is left between the four walls and the bottom of the pool (only small scorpions can pass through). When separating, pour the mother and baby scorpions in the delivery room into the small pool together, and the small scorpions will slide into the large pool through the gap, while the adult scorpions and the culture soil will remain in the small pool. This method is suitable for delivery rooms with wide-mouthed glass bottles.