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.

My travelling adventures and the TAMU tick app

I recently returned from a trip to Ohio.  The trip was a bit of an adventure...well, at least the getting there part.  We left here around 7:30AM and were supposed to get to Ohio at 12:35PM with a brief stop in St. Louis.  That did NOT happen.  On our way to St. Louis, there was an announcement about a mechanical issue with the plane, so they decided to land in Dallas to have things checked out.  I am totally fine with that as I would rather be on a plane that they are 100% sure is working properly.  After landing in Dallas, they decided to get us a new plane which meant that we had to wait for a new plane, we had to all get off the plane, and then to reboard the new plane.  Fortunately, this all went off without a hitch and we were soon back on our way to St. Louis.  Unfortunately, it was now about 10:45AM, so there was no way we were going to make our connecting flight.

Once we got to St. Louis, we got off the plane knowing that we had missed our flight to Ohio.  Since numerous other people were also having to figure out new ways to get to where they were going, we headed a couple of gates down to a counter that didn't have a huge line waiting to talk to someone about their flight information.  Ironically, the woman in front of us at the counter was going to the same place we were, so we kind-of heard through her as to what our options were.  The next flight to Ohio left at 2:30PM THE NEXT DAY.  The woman in front of us decided to rent a car and drive the rest of the way, but I wasn't in the mood to jump into a car for 8 hours with a kid who was already grumpy from plane issues.  We opted for the flight the following day and decided to make a mini vacation out of our time in St. Louis and went downtown to see the Arch.  The boy also wanted to visit a military museum that was nearby so we schlepped 15 blocks there, but it ended up being closed for renovations (a fact that their website DID NOT disclose).  We had a mini picnic dinner in the hotel room while watching Spongebob, went swimming the next morning, and headed back to the airport.

So why this long convoluted story?  I'm getting there, I promise.

We FINALLY make it to Ohio the following day.  We hit baggage claim and grab my hubby & the boy's luggage.  We wait for mine.  We still wait for mine.  We start to look around for mine as there is no more luggage coming around the baggage carousel.  I go to the office for lost luggage to check if they grabbed it. Nope.  No luggage for me.  I fill out paperwork with them a
nd they let me know that they will deliver my luggage the following day once it is located.

We drive to my parent's house to crash.  Fortunately, I had a set of comfy clothes in my carry on, so I had something to sleep in.  I get an email from the airline saying they had located my luggage (YAY!), but where I was staying was out of their delivery area, so they would FedEx my luggage instead of deliver it (BOO!).  To provide a timeline, we left Austin on Sunday, it is now Monday night and I was being informed that I would get my luggage on Wednesday "sometime between 10:30AM- 1:30PM".  I'm just rolling with the punches at this point because there really isn't anything I can do other than wait until Wednesday or drive 3 hour round trip the next day to get my luggage. 

The next morning I get up and looking really scruffy head to Wallyworld to get some necessities, you know, toothpaste, toothbrush, deodorant, and yeah....clothes.  As I'm trying to decide which Ohio State t-shirt to buy I feel something tickling my skin on my stomach.  I look and find a tick attached to me under the waistband of my jeans.  I had not even been there for 24 hours and I already had a TICK!  I hate ticks!  They are disgustingly gross.  I put down my basket of toiletries, pluck the tick from my skin, and head to the bathroom to flush it.  Of course, I had to take some photos first. (If you see any photos on a "People of Walmart" site of some strange woman taking photos of a tick in the ladies section it may be me.)

So the tick I found was an American dog tick.  I wasn't really surprised to find it because I usually see a tick or two each time I visit my parents, but how quickly it had found me was surprising.  If you want to know more about ticks, then you should check out the TAMU Tick App.  Also, there is a new tick that we are watching for in Texas, you can read more about that HERE.

2018 All Bugs Good and Bad Webinar Series- recordings

Have you been keeping up with the All Bugs Good and Bad Webinar series for 2018?  There have been 6 webinars so far this year and we still have 4 more to go.  Webinars are held the first Friday of each month at 1PM CDT.

If you missed any (or all) of the webinars from this year, you can still watch them!  Webinars are available for free online, so grab the beverage of your choice, throw on some comfy clothes, and sit down to enjoy.  Click on the link below for the topic you are interested in, then click on the "watch recording" button at the top right.
Webinar topics for 2018 (so far)

• Feral hogs, ecology & control
• Misidentified pests in the landscape
• Argentine ants and others
• Everything you must know about fleas
• Attracting pollinators to our yards
• Bees, wasps, and hornets, oh my!

Upcoming webinar topics:

• Winterizing your home to keep pests out- September 7, 2018
• Structural misidentified pests- October 5, 2018
• Lice, Scabies, and mites- November 2, 2018
• Pantry pests- December 1, 2018

The 2018 Webinars are brought to you by the Ant Pests and Urban IPM eXtension Communities of Practice; and by the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, the University of Georgia Extension, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension and Clemson Cooperative Extension.  Series Coordinator: Dani Carroll, Auburn University.  Marketing: Amanda Tedrow, University of Georgia Extension.  Webinar Text Chat Moderators: Tim Davis, University of Georgia Extension, and Vicky Bertagnolli-Heller, Clemson Cooperative Extension.

Looking for 2017 Webinars?  Click here
Looking for 2016 Webinars? Click here
Looking for 2015 Webinars? Click here
Looking for 2014 Webinars?  Click here!
Looking for 2013 Webinars?  Click here!