''Centruroides noxius'' is a species of scorpion native to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Description and behavior

This species grows from 3.5 to 5 cm in length, its body is dark in color, usually black or brown, and its legs and pedipalps are generally light, this species does not have a specific color pattern since it can be found with other colors. Since most scorpions are nocturnal, they usually hide in litter and debris, or in loose barks of trees and bushes, it is mostly terrestrial, but it has also been reported to rise on rough surfaces.

Distribution and habitat

This species is native to Mexico, in the states of Nayarit, but also in Jalisco and Sinaloa. it is also found in other Latin American countries, such as

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

, but it is not known how it got there. It is mainly found in dry arid places, areas of limited vegetation, in sandy and rocky soil and sometimes in human dwellings, it has been reported close to sea level, with 500 m elevation.

Reproduction

Mating lasts about 10 minutes, with the male controlling the female with his tweezers to avoid being bitten by her, they reach sexual maturity between 8–11 months of age, reproduction is ovoviviparous, with a gestation period of 4–5 months, the female of the aluz between 30 and 60 pups. the puppies become independent at two or three weeks of age, as they can be eaten by the mother.

Diet

It feeds mainly on small invertebrates, such as

crickets Crickets are orthopteran insects which are related to bush crickets, and, more distantly, to grasshoppers. In older literature, such as Imms,Imms AD, rev. Richards OW & Davies RG (1970) ''A General Textbook of Entomology'' 9th Ed. Methuen 8 ...

spiders Spiders (order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species di ...

and beetles. juveniles usually feed on micro-crickets and small flies.

Venom

It is one of the most venomous scorpions in Mexico and one of the most dangerous in

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

, it has highly lethal neurotoxins for mammals, which attacks the sodium and potassium channels, the venom changes the functioning of nerves and muscles, to the point of the respiratory system and the heart stop working. This species has a median lethal dose of 5 micrograms for 20-gram mouse. Two

peptide Peptides (, ) are short chains of amino acids linked by peptide bonds. Long chains of amino acids are called proteins. Chains of fewer than twenty amino acids are called oligopeptides, and include dipeptides, tripeptides, and tetrapeptides. ...

toxins have been identified in the venom: noxiustoxin, which targets

voltage-gated calcium channel Voltage-gated calcium channels (VGCCs), also known as voltage-dependent calcium channels (VDCCs), are a group of voltage-gated ion channels found in the membrane of excitable cells (''e.g.'', muscle, glial cells, neurons, etc.) with a permeabili ...

s and

calcium-activated potassium channel Calcium-activated potassium channels are potassium channels gated by calcium, or that are structurally or phylogenetically related to calcium gated channels. They were first discovered in 1958 by Gardos who saw that calcium levels inside of a cell ...

s, and Cn2 toxin, which targets the mammalian

voltage-gated sodium channel Sodium channels are integral membrane proteins that form ion channels, conducting sodium ions (Na+) through a cell's membrane. They belong to the superfamily of cation channels and can be classified according to the trigger that opens the channel ...

(VGSC) Nav1.6.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2946267 Scorpions of North America Centruroides Scorpions of South America Animals described in 1863