Texas cave scorpion

Most people in Central Texas are well aware of striped bark scorpions as they can be found in the landscape and sometimes will venture indoors.  We have another scorpion that can be found in the area, the Texas cave scorpion.

Scorpions are arachnids with eight legs and two body regions.   Scorpions have two pincers or claws, called pedipalps, which help them hold their prey as they eat.  They also have a long tail with a stinger on the tip that can be used for defense or to paralyze their prey.  Cave scorpions are dark in color and have thicker pedipalps than the striped bark scorpions.

Texas cave scorpions do not live in the same locations as striped bark scorpions.  They live in....you guessed it!....CAVES!  They can also be found in grottos or other limestone features, so these will be in rockier areas of Central Texas.

So why am I rattling on about cave scorpions?  My cave scorpion had babies yesterday!!  They are so incredibly cute!  I was unaware that my scorpion was even pregnant.  Scorpions are viviparous, meaning they give birth to live young.  The gestation period can last for 2-18 months. Considering that I did not have a male, this female had to be pregnant when I got her.  Female scorpions exhibit maternal care and will carry the babies around on their bodies until the undergo the first molt.

I have included an image that I took of the momma and babies under a black light so you can see that the babies don't fluoresce or glow like the adults will.

Glowing Scorpions

Tuesday evening, I had the opportunity to attend KLRU's Next Nights.  Since it's October, they wanted some "spooky" things, so I headed over with the menagerie of arthropods.  Unknown to me until about half way through the event, the night was to showcase Strange Town, KLRU's show on paranormal adventures.  Apparently, the location of the event is haunted!  To fit in with the paranormal/ haunting theme, the event was
lighted appropriately, but fortunately we had flashlights to highlight things that were a bit difficult to see with the lights dimmed.  The lighting did help to highlight one of the specimens in a most excellent manner- my Emperor scorpion.  I had brought a black light with me to set over the tank and it was glowing beautifully!

When scorpions have the capability (as not all scorpions will glow) to fluoresce, both live and dead specimens glow under ultraviolet (black) light. The glow comes from chemicals that are found within the cuticle which is part of the exoskeleton. Fluorescence occurs as a result of sclerotization (hardening of the exoskeleton) and becomes more pronounced with each successive molt.  Scientists are unsure why scorpions glow.

Many scorpion collectors take advantage of this fact by utilizing a UV light at night to locate and find scorpions. Are you brave enough to shine a black light in your backyard to see what's lurking there?