Know Your Enemy
Accurate identification of pests is as important as choosing the best preventive pest management available on the market today. Preventive Pest Control has compiled a list of most common pests to help you identify the problem.
Fat-Tailed Scorpion
(Androctonus australis)
Characteristics
The fat-tailed scorpion is considered to be the most dangerous scorpion around because of its venom that can kill its human victim within seven to eight hours.
They are relatively large that has a size of about 4 inches in length. The male is longer than the females. They also have a large tail and small pincers. Their color can be light tan, yellow or black.
Habitat
This scorpion is a natural desert creature since it is commonly found in desert and semi-desert locations. 22 species of this species are widely distributed in North Africa, the Middle East and India. Just like any other scorpions, this scorpion does not burrow, but will hide under stones, under barks, steep slopes of drifting sand dunes, and in crevices. Unfortunately, the fat-tailed scorpion are commonly found near homes, especially in dry areas.
Behavior
The fat-tailed scorpion is a nocturnal creature that hunts insects and small vertebrates when the sun is already down. Just like any other scorpions, the fat-tailed scorpion prefers to live near people because of the variety of food that they can get and the right temperature that they can take advantage inside these premises. They prefer to live in dry places where they can take cover in dry rocks, trees, cactus hedges, and the likes.
Food
Scorpions can survive without food for at least six months because of their inactive lifestyle and low metabolic rate. When they do eat, they will eat a lot at one time. They will use their claws to catch their prey and give its venom to paralyze or instantly kill their prey. Their food mainly consists of roaches, crickets, beetles, mice, lizards, and any small invertebrates.
Life Cycle
The life cycle of the fat-tail scorpion is the same as other scorpion species. The male will search for a female, and once he finds one, he will begin to mate by placing his spermataphore. The male and the female will not mate entirely, but the female will move his spermataphore inside her, thus releasing it in the process, and fertilizing it after. Once the process is done, the male will move away from the female to avoid being eaten by her.
The female will then give birth to her scorplings one at a time. She can have around two to 100 or more babies. Once the young ones are born, they will stay with their mother for about 3 weeks, right after their first molt. They cannot survive without their mother before the first molt. After the first molt, they will still continue to molt until they are already grown. A fat-tail scorpion can live for four to twenty-five years, depending on their environment.
Other Information and Tips
The fat-tailed scorpion is considered to be the most lethal arachnid to date that is responsible for deaths from a scorpion sting in north Africa. Although this is not native to the United States, it is still necessary, NOT to approach this scorpion if they are within your premises.
Photo by HTO (Own work (own photo)) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons / resized from original
