A team of scientists from the University of Porto, in Portugal, has studied how scorpions use the stinger as a defense and attack weapon and more specifically the movement that describes this part of their anatomy. To do this, the team led by Arie van der Meijden has filmed with high-speed cameras the trajectory of the bite of seven different species of these arthropods related to spiders.
Among the species under study is the Palestinian yellow scorpion (Leiurus quinquestriatus), one of the most lethal in the world . Its neurotoxic venom can be deadly for children and people with heart problems. It is precisely this species that attacks the fastest, with a bite speed of 130 centimeters per second .
Another conclusion that emerges from the study published in the journal Functional Ecology is that the biting movement of each scorpion is adapted to the design of the stinger, which is different in each species. “We found that the different shapes of the ‘tail’ – thinner in some species and thicker in others – seem to facilitate different defense actions,” explains Arie van der Meijden.
The experiment was carried out by placing the scorpions on a platform surrounded by four mirrors and provoking them by touching their tweezers with a wire. The movements were recorded with a camera at 500 frames per second. Subsequently, the trajectory of each animal’s bite was modeled in 3D.
The scorpions studied use their sting mainly to defend themselves against predators such as snakes, lizards and bats, but also to attack other animals and fight with other conspecifics when they dispute the females during the mating period.
