Introduction to the World of Scorpions and Their Intriguing Life Cycles
Scorpions are timid and easily frightened, a little unusual noise, will immediately hide, still; scorpions like to live in groups, wild scorpions are often settled in fixed nests, the number of each nest depends on the size of its nest, as few as 2-3, as many as 5-7 or more. Each nest has both male and female, big and small, and they get along well with each other, rarely killing each other.
Scorpions, predatory arachnid arthropods with eight legs, are widely distributed throughout the world (except for the North and South Poles and other frigid regions), with about 1,750 species, mainly in the tropics and temperate zones. The earliest scorpions appeared in the Silurian period 430 million years ago.
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The scorpion life cycle happens in three basic stages: the egg (where they live inside the mother), the nymph (where they look like small versions of their parents), and the adult. During the nymph stage, they molt, or shed their outer later, up to six times before they become a full adult.
Life Cycle Stages
The scorpion life cycle varies depending upon the species. Despite this, it always begins when the male and female mate in the fall or early spring. Most, but not all species, begin the cycle by reproducing sexually in a series of actions that involves an interesting ritual.
Life Cycle
Scorpions have only two life stages in their life cycle: nymphand adult. Females give birth (they do not lay eggs) to liveyoung (nymphs), which climb up her legs and onto her back.They remain there for one to two days, then climb off andhunt for food, never to return to their mother. As the nymphseat and mature, they outgrow their skin, grow a new skinlayer, and shed the old one, a process called molting. Theyundergo multiple growth-molts until after their final molt andbecome adults. Depending on food availability, temperature,and other environmental factors, they reach adulthood in 3 to7 years. Adults are known to live for 8 to 25 years.
Reproduction
To convey their interest in a female scorpion, males employ chemical attractants called pheromones. They also give off focused bodily vibrations.
When a female is found, the male uses his pedipalps (the scorpion legs that look like claws or pincers) to grab onto the female’s pedipalps. While holding onto each other, they conduct a “dance”. The male then leads them to a place where he deposits his sperm.
The sperm is contained within a structure called a spermatophore. While in contact with it, the female draws sperm into her genital pore, fertilizing the eggs. For some species, the mating process may last over 24 hours.
Sexual cannibalism, while rare among scorpions, can sometimes occur. For this reason, the male quickly leaves the female when mating is finished.
How Do Scorpions Reproduce?
The scorpion mating pattern is quite interesting. After attracting each other through pheromones and body vibrations, the male and female scorpions will lock claws and do a synchronized “dance.” They will then engage in the fertilization process, which can take hours or sometimes days. The female carries eggs from that point on, eventually birthing live scorplings that emerge and sit under her care until they’ve developed strong enough exoskeletons to survive on their own.
How Long Do Scorpions Live?
After birth, scorplings will stay with the mother until the first molt, which happens a few weeks later. Once they’ve developed a strong enough body to hunt and defend themselves, they will go off on their own, reaching full maturity in one to three years. Most scorpions live about two to six years, but some species can survive for over a decade.
Eggs
The fertilized eggs develop within the female’s body. Depending on the species, gestation may take a few months to as long as one year.
Nymphs
When the young are born, they look like a small version of the parents. Shortly after birth, the nymphal-stage scorpions climb up onto their mother’s back. They will remain there until their first molt.
Development
After the first molt, which occurs about two weeks after birth, the nymphs climb down and scatter. During their life cycle, scorpions typically molt five or six times until they reach maturity.
While scorpions develop slowly, they have long lives compared to spiders and insects. Typically, scorpions live for three to five years, but some can live as long as ten to fifteen years.
All living things go through some sort of life cycle. You’re probably familiar with the basic life cycle of mammals, like humans or cats: being born, growing into young mammals that resemble their parents, then becoming adult mammals.
Insects, like butterflies, go through metamorphosis: they start as an egg, then change to larva, pupa, and then adult.
The life cycles of mammals and insects are quite different because mammals always look like their parents, just smaller, while insects look nothing like their parents until they are in the adult stage.
