Selected to survive and kill: Tityus serrulatus, the Brazilian yellow scorpion

PLoS One. 2019 Apr 3;14(4):e0214075. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0214075. eCollection 2019.

Abstract

Annually, more than 1.2 million scorpion stings and more than 3,000 deaths occur worldwide. Tityus serrulatus Lutz and Mello, 1922 (Scorpiones, Buthidae) is the most medically relevant species in Brazil where it is spreading rapidly and causing over 90,000 cases of envenomation yearly. We monitored T. serrulatus longevity and ability to reproduce under conditions of food and/or water deprivation. We found that T. serrulatus is highly tolerant to food deprivation, with individuals enduring up to 400 days without food. On the other hand, access to water played a pivotal role in T. serrulatus survival. Food and water deprived scorpions showed weight reduction. Reproduction occurred throughout the year for food-deprived scorpions and controls, but not in the water-deprived groups. Remarkably, food-deprived animals were able to give birth after 209 days of starvation. Tityus serrulatus resistance to food and water deprivation is likely to be an additional factor underlying this species' geographic expansion and the difficulties encountered in controlling it.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Brazil
  • Food Deprivation / physiology*
  • Reproduction / physiology*
  • Scorpion Stings
  • Scorpion Venoms
  • Scorpions / physiology*
  • Water Deprivation / physiology*

Substances

  • Scorpion Venoms

Grants and funding

This study was supported by Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nıvel Superior – CAPES (Edital Toxinologia 63/2010), by Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais – FAPEMIG, Processo APQ-02826-15 (Obtained by EK) and by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnologico – CNPq, Processo 456505/2014-8 (Edital Universal MCTI/CNPq No. 14/ 2014) (Obtained by CCO); CAPES: capes.gov.br, CNPq: cnpq.br, FAPEMIG: fapemig.br/pt/. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.