''Tityus stigmurus'' is a species of scorpion from the family Buthidae that can be found in Brazil. The species are in length and are either golden-tan or yellowish-brown coloured. It takes them a year to mature into an

adult An adult is a human or other animal that has reached full growth. In human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social and legal concepts. In contrast to a " minor", a legal adult is a person who has attained the age of major ...

, which makes them a fast-growing species. They also have a dark

stripe Stripe, striped, or stripes may refer to: Decorations * Stripe (pattern), a line or band that differs in colour or tone from an adjacent surface * Racing stripe, a vehicle decoration * Service stripe, a decoration of the U.S. military Entertainme ...

over the mesosoma with either yellowish or orange pedipalps.

Diet

In captivity this species is fed on cockroaches and crickets. It is suggested that ''

Shelfordella lateralis The Turkestan cockroach (''Shelfordella lateralis'', often referred to as ''Blatta lateralis''), also known as the rusty red cockroach, red runner cockroach or simply rusty red, red runner, or lat, is a primarily outdoor-dwelling cockroach nati ...

'' is a good species of cockroaches, that are abundant worldwide. Aside from being abundant they also are the easiest prey, since they don't hide, and the scorpion can easily eat them.Diet and pet housing
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Distribution

This species is predominantly found in the northeastern parts of Brazil, especially in the Caatinga region. The presence of this species has also been reported in a number of other Brazilian states.

As a pet

The species could be housed as pets, and they can live communally once into their 2nd instar. Mothers tend to eat the young on case-by-case basis. Another thing to consider if owning such species is that they need something to climb on. A cork bark is a nice climbing tool for such species. It's best to lean it against the side of the enclosure or layer it to provide ample climbing space. Artificial lights can be used too, since the same tool is used for

reptile Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, squamates (lizards and snakes) and rhynchocephalians ( ...

s and

aquarium An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...

s alike (a comparison for what is adequate for vertebrates versus arthropods versus planned flora should be considered). The container in which they need to live is supposed to be of deep and moistured. Peat moss must be provided, even though the species are not burrowers. Moss should be cleaned every two weeks. Scorpions of this species do not require water, since they acquire moisture from their prey. The temperature in the container must be at 75–90 °F or 24–32 °C for the species to survive and reproduce.

Reproduction

The species is facultatively parthenogenetic. The females give birth in 3 months, with the period being as long as 4–5 months. Various

gestation period In mammals, pregnancy is the period of reproduction during which a female carries one or more live offspring from implantation in the uterus through gestation. It begins when a fertilized zygote implants in the female's uterus, and ends once it ...

s are different, and can take maximum from 9–12 months. The gestation can be shortened if the temperature is warm enough. The brood size is from 2–16, with an average of 8.

Emergency sting procedures

The species is venomous, and therefore shouldn't be disturbed. ''T. stigmurus'' has a recorded LD50 of 0.575 mg/ kg in mice, which is significant. In the state of Bahia, Brazil, in a period from January 1982 to December 1995, 237 patients proven to be stung by Tityus stigmurus, of these 237, information on symptoms was obtained from only 90 patients, symptoms in another 147 patients were not published, the symptoms were classified as local (pain, numbness, erythema,

edema Edema, also spelled oedema, and also known as fluid retention, dropsy, hydropsy and swelling, is the build-up of fluid in the body's Tissue (biology), tissue. Most commonly, the legs or arms are affected. Symptoms may include skin which feels t ...

, paraesthesia, spot lesion, hyperemia,

anesthesia Anesthesia is a state of controlled, temporary loss of sensation or awareness that is induced for medical or veterinary purposes. It may include some or all of analgesia (relief from or prevention of pain), paralysis (muscle relaxation), ...

, itching, wheal, burning, flushing and cramping), general (

headache Headache is the symptom of pain in the face, head, or neck. It can occur as a migraine, tension-type headache, or cluster headache. There is an increased risk of depression in those with severe headaches. Headaches can occur as a result ...

sweating Perspiration, also known as sweating, is the production of fluids secreted by the sweat glands in the skin of mammals. Two types of sweat glands can be found in humans: eccrine glands and apocrine glands. The eccrine sweat glands are distr ...

, cold extremities, hypothermia, ocular congestion and

cyanosis Cyanosis is the change of body tissue color to a bluish-purple hue as a result of having decreased amounts of oxygen bound to the hemoglobin in the red blood cells of the capillary bed. Body tissues that show cyanosis are usually in locations ...

), digestive ( vomiting and nausea), neurological (tremors, agitation, difficulty moving, contractures and dizziness), cardiovascular ( hypotension) and respiratory ( dyspnea). Other systemic symptoms reported by this species include diaphoresis, somnolence, tachycardia, sialorrhea,

pallor Pallor is a pale color of the skin that can be caused by illness, emotional shock or stress, stimulant use, or anemia, and is the result of a reduced amount of oxyhaemoglobin and may also be visible as pallor of the conjunctivae of the eyes o ...

, convulsions, abdominal pain, tachypnea,

bradycardia Bradycardia (also sinus bradycardia) is a slow resting heart rate, commonly under 60 beats per minute (BPM) as determined by an electrocardiogram. It is considered to be a normal heart rate during sleep, in young and healthy or elderly adults, a ...

chills Chills is a feeling of coldness occurring during a high fever, but sometimes is also a common symptom which occurs alone in specific people. It occurs during fever due to the release of cytokines and prostaglandins as part of the inflammatory r ...

, fainting and hypotonia. However, if the person does get stung by them the person needs to: *Use an ice pack to cool the burn *Go to the hospital *Make sure to be assessed for common severe complications related to scorpion stings, such as acute kidney injury and pancreatitis. *Venom extraction kits were tested and proven to be ineffective in mitigating or preventing envenomation and causes more tissue trauma on the wound area due to the suction of the apparatus.

References

External links

Video with audio description of the species
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3019500 stigmurus Endemic arthropods of Brazil Scorpions described in 1876 Scorpions of South America