Scorpion venom scale

harleyquinn

Arachnopeon
Joined
May 19, 2013
Messages
6
Hey im trying to make a list of familys of scorpions so far i have this-
(This is how i scale venom )
1- bee sting 2- hornet sting 3- very painful 4- doctors or ill for few days 5- deadly could kill
1-3
Babycurus - 3
Bothriurus
Brachistosternus
Buthidae - 3
Caraboctonus
Chaerilus - 0
Euscorpius - 0
Hadogenes - 0
Hadrurus
Heterometrus
Liocheles - 0
Ophistothalmus
Opistacanthus
Pandinus - 1
Scorpio
Smeringurus - 2
Vaejovis - around a 2-3


4-5
Androtonus
Buthus
Centruroides
Hottentotta
Leiurus
Mesobuthus
Odonturus
Parabuthus
Tityus
Feel free to change my list or add comments :)
 
Last edited:

Tarantula155

Arachnobaron
Joined
Dec 1, 2012
Messages
494
Hey im trying to make a list of familys of scorpions so far i have this-
(This is how i scale venom )
1- bee sting 2- hornet sting 3- very painful 4- doctors or ill for few days 5- death
1-2 unless stated
Babycurus
Bothriurus
Brachistosternus
Caraboctonus
Euscorpius
Hadogenes
Hadrurus
Heterometrus
Ophistothalmus
Opistacanthus
Pandinus
Scorpio
Smeringurus
Vaejovis - around a 2-3


4-5
Androtonus
Buthus
Centruroides
Hottentotta
Leiurus
Mesobuthus
Parabuthus
Tityus
Feel free to change my list or add comments :)
Very helpful.
 

harleyquinn

Arachnopeon
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May 19, 2013
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6
Cheers its just what ive worked out from books and research just asking for more opinions or other familys to add :)
 

G. Carnell

Arachnoemperor
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Oct 27, 2003
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Hey

I would put Babycurus as 3+ (and all Buthidae as 3+ to be honest!)
Its also hard to ID them compared to Odonturus dentatus- which to my knowledge has caused rare deaths in children


you could put a 0 number for those scorps like Euscorpius/Hadogenes/Liocheles which are even less than a beesting! :D

Nice idea though :)
 

harleyquinn

Arachnopeon
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May 19, 2013
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Will add this now :) im trying to put what it would do on to a healthy adult but ill add all what you said thanks for the imput :)!
 

aznative86

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May 10, 2013
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67
Centruroides been stung a couple times by AZ barks, along with people I know and we are all fine just a bad bee sting :) nice list!
 

~Abyss~

Arachnoking
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Centruroides been stung a couple times by AZ barks, along with people I know and we are all fine just a bad bee sting :) nice list!
I got tagged and it the pain shot up to my shoulder...lasted 2 weeks. Those c.sculpts are no joke. But I would put all centruroides on the same scale. In fact I dont really much agree with the scale at all.
 

G. Carnell

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I think it's a good scale, especially for beginners looking for this kind of stuff, and "venom potency" questions are very often asked here

the only alternative is the table in Manny Rubeo's scorpion keeping book I believe

couple more to add

Chaerilus you can add to 0


Think your list pretty much sums up the easily available species to beginners
 

harleyquinn

Arachnopeon
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May 19, 2013
Messages
6
Its only really for begginers nothing too advanced the 1-3 are the main point as there good for 1st 2nd 3rd scorpion etc :)
 

aznative86

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May 10, 2013
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I did notice that being stung closer to our valley by one found in my yard the pain was nothing compared to when I got hit in the middle of no where, it was x10 worse than the one I found in my backyard, I think the population of people spraying chemicals and lack of all surrounding vegetation and insects has affected the role a lot over the years, along with the fact I am near a 200+ acre hay farm and the crop dusting they do I think has lowered their potency. All in all any opinion from reading to experience is worth listening to it with this hobby :)
 

Greenjewls

Arachnobaron
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Sep 10, 2008
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388
I have to disagree a bit, but it's a good general chart. everyone experiences venoms differently. Plus it's up to the individual scorpion how much venom it gives you. IMO bee stings are 2 and hornet stings a 1. Vaejovis is less than that. centroides is worse than a bee sting at worst but usually not as bad. Bee stings are consistant because it is the same amount of venom every time. Scorpions may poke you, give you a drop, or give you an injection. my grandma got stung on the face by C. sculpturatus and shes 83 years old, she got some swelling and pain but shes fine. sucks that they like to get in bed with ppl in AZ.
 

harleyquinn

Arachnopeon
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May 19, 2013
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Its just a rough idea the 1-3 are grouped like that because people experience it differently but 4-5 is serperate because its a big jump really
 

AzJohn

Arachnoking
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Most of this is just hobbyist "what ever". If you are really interested in venom potency you should research LD 50 data. LD 50 is the lethal dose of venom required to kill your test population, usually mice 50% of the time. For instance the LD 50 of Leiurus quinquestriatus is .25 mg/kg, and Hadogenes species is around 2000mg/kg.
 

Dry Desert

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Old thread I know but interests me... What about Nebos?
Venom Potency depends on how pissed off the animal is at the time and how fit physically the person is. Venomous snakes will give dry bites sometimes, the same with scorpions. It was reported that the British troops serving in Iraq where stung many times by some of the most venomous scorpions,but because of their excellent physical fitness suffered no long term effects. It's all relative really. I've been keeping all manner of scorpions for many, many years and have never been stung because they all get treated with the same respect as I may have a very bad reaction to a mildly venomous scorpion, so they all are treated as highly venomous, one never knows and why risk it.
 

Butterbean83

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Venom Potency depends on how pissed off the animal is at the time and how fit physically the person is. Venomous snakes will give dry bites sometimes, the same with scorpions. It was reported that the British troops serving in Iraq where stung many times by some of the most venomous scorpions,but because of their excellent physical fitness suffered no long term effects. It's all relative really. I've been keeping all manner of scorpions for many, many years and have never been stung because they all get treated with the same respect as I may have a very bad reaction to a mildly venomous scorpion, so they all are treated as highly venomous, one never knows and why risk it.
Good point, but anaphylaxis can be relatively common with venom, except with Ts in which it seems to be rare, yeah those guys in the military are in excellent physical condition. The stories of Solifugids over there make me laugh though, I imagine at 10mph at such a small size compared to humans, we they must frighten people though. I see some people keep Solifugids on here, must be a nightmare to stop escaping lol
 

pannaking22

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For instance the LD 50 of Leiurus quinquestriatus is .25 mg/kg, and Hadogenes species is around 2000mg/kg.
I didn't realize there was an LD50 for Hadogenes. I just had a lot of fun trying to calculate how much venom would be needed if one was trying to off me. It would definitely take a while lol.
 

Falsielove13

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Mar 5, 2019
Messages
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Centruroides been stung a couple times by AZ barks, along with people I know and we are all fine just a bad bee sting :) nice list!
I have been stung a couple of times by Sculpturatus and twice was a mild pain and one gave me a seizure and full systemic reaction. Plus all of the known fatalities from the species is why I disagree. C Gracilis is rated a 3 and in my opinion from young and sub adult stings, I'll take a poke from an adult gracilis over even my Hottentotta Hottentotta sub adults. And all I keep are Hott, Andro, Para, Tityus, Leiurus, Buthus, and Centruroides species and a couple other buthidae
 

Falsielove13

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Mar 5, 2019
Messages
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I didn't realize there was an LD50 for Hadogenes. I just had a lot of fun trying to calculate how much venom would be needed if one was trying to off me. It would definitely take a while lol.
I thought it was interesting that H arizonensis is roughly a 198mg/kg LD50 but I've got a Parabuthus Granulatus that's bigger than my adult desert hairy with an LD50 of 1.58mg/kg
 
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