What scorpion had the deadliest sting?

[StingBoy]

In this thread we will be speculating which scorpion who has the deadliest sting. Its not a thread about which scorpion who has the most potent toxins or which scorpion kills the most people annually. Its more about which scorpion sting a person is least likely to survive if its not a dry sting.

Ill start by nominating Centruroides noxius this little critter from mexico was thought to have a poison acting like a nerve gas due to the fast acting effects of its toxins. If one is stung by one of these you risk getting incapacitated before you can get help and choke to death due to muscle paralysis. With this scorpion one does not have to wait to drown in one owns fluid that is often the case with the Indian Red and the Deathstalker.

Feel free to nominate a scorpion.

Pic related:

 

[Jason Brantley]

Any scorpion has the potential to do damage, some more than others.

 

[ArachnoDrew]

I get what you meant by the post... this scorpion sounds like it has a pretty brutal effect on people but as far as "deadliest" respectfully LQ has to be top 3 along with Androctonus Australis and Androctonus crassicauda. due to the size of the metosoma and the amount it puts off.... + scorpion venom will effect people as individuals much differently... age & health play a huge factor.. i also heard Tityus surrulatus has a real nasty sting

 

[StingBoy]

I get what you meant by the post... this scorpion sounds like it has a pretty brutal effect on people but as far as "deadliest" respectfully LQ has to be top 3 along with Androctonus Australis and Androctonus crassicauda. due to the size of the metosoma and the amount it puts off.... + scorpion venom will effect people as individuals much differently... age & health play a huge factor.. i also heard Tityus surrulatus has a real nasty sting

LQ, the legendary deathstalker seems to get it's reputation from its name and not the other way around. It's reported that it normally doesn't kill healthy adults, even though it has an high envenoment rate.A study from Israel shows that only localized reactions occur in 97% of the victims, but the venom can be potentially letal in children because the severity of the symptoms is weight-dependent.

Now the Androctonuses epesially crassicauda appear to have a low envenoment rate, but still have a high fatality rate. Now that means that when an A. Crassicauda actually gives someone a wet sting they are in big trouble. That one is a safe top 3.

Now I've heard about a scorpion that allegedly blows all other scorpions of the charts in toxicity and fatality. H.lepturus has an untreatable and extremely potent venom that causes hemolysis of the blood cells. It claims the 95% of scorpions fatalites in Iran while only being responsible for 12% of the total stings. The other 5% fatalities is mostly caused by androctonus crasscaudia. Getting stung by that one is almost a certain death sentence regardless of medical care available.

 

[Oroborus]

Fascinating discussion. I feared it was another tiresome "coolest" scorpion thread. I've always been interested in venom toxicology. Unfortunately, published texts are prohibitively expensive. Great examination of a complex topic.

 

[Jason Brantley]

Pretty interesting. Deathstalker is still number one until multiple resources says it's not. It has the lowest LD50. I wonder if anything out there is deadlier...

 

[brolloks]

Surely not the deadliest, but Hemiscorpius lepturus has some really nasty venom.
"The venom from H. lepturus is primarily a cytotoxic agent and has hemolytic, nephrotoxic, and to some extent, hepatotoxic activities.(Valavi, Ansari, 2008)"

 

[pannaking22]

The buthid that just stung you a couple hundred miles away from the nearest hospital That said, it's interesting to think about the actual effects of the venom as opposed to purely who has the lowest LD50 value. How does amount of venom injected play into this? You would expect a smaller species to inject significantly less venom than the larger species (think Tityus vs Androctonus or Parabuthus). I know that's a super generalized way to look at in this case, but it could still play an important factor.

 

[USMuscle9403]

I'd love to see lepturus become more available. They're cool little scorps.

 

[RTTB]

This is an interesting topic for sure. The debate continues.

 

[Stenodactylus]

Glad some people brought Hemiscorpius lepturus up. I was going to nominate them.

 

[Mila]

Androctunus crassicauda is probably the last scorpion I'd want to get stung by. Even if you don't die seizures and strokes doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun. Plus they inject a lot more venom than some of the smaller lethal scorpions

 

[LeFanDesBugs]

Big adult female P.transvaalicus. Pretty bad

 

[StingBoy]

Surely not the deadliest, but Hemiscorpius lepturus has some really nasty venom.
"The venom from H. lepturus is primarily a cytotoxic agent and has hemolytic, nephrotoxic, and to some extent, hepatotoxic activities.(Valavi, Ansari, 2008)"

Well I wasn't expecting anyone to mention hemiscorpis lepturus. It is in a class of it own having the most potent venom aswell as the deadliest sting.
It might not kill as fast as the others, but there is no antivenom. If you're stung by one of those no doctor in the world can save you. Its has almost a 100% fatality rate and is responsible for 95% of the fatal scorpion stings in Iran while only responsible for 12% of the total amount of reported stings.

Pretty interesting. Deathstalker is still number one until multiple resources says it's not. It has the lowest LD50. I wonder if anything out there is deadlier...

The deathstalker isn't even close the being number one deadliest. It's barely deadly according to an Israeli study
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11291737

 

[Buthoscorpio]

Well I wasn't expecting anyone to mention hemiscorpis lepturus. It is in a class of it own having the most potent venom aswell as the deadliest sting.
It might not kill as fast as the others, but there is no antivenom. If you're stung by one of those no doctor in the world can save you. Its has almost a 100% fatality rate and is responsible for 95% of the fatal scorpion stings in Iran while only responsible for 12% of the total amount of reported stings.

Not the most potent venom, not the deadliest sting and defnitly no 100% fatality rate. And there is an antivenom. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4177636/

 

[Stugy]

Can anyone explain to me what LD50 and other terms that are commonly used for venom mean? When I say "other terms" I'm saying "terms that can and will probably will be used".

 

[Jason Brantley]

Yeah Stugy. LD50 is how much venom, in I think micrograms per kilogram or whatever, you need to kill 50% of a population. So if you had 100 mice how much venom do you need to kill half of them.

 

[Jason Brantley]

Yeah Stugy. LD50 is how much venom, in I think micrograms per kilogram or whatever, you need to kill 50% of a population. So if you had 100 mice how much venom do you need to kill half of them. LD means "Lethal Dose".

 

[Jason Brantley]

Damn, I double posted...once again...

 

[Buthoscorpio]

LD50 is the dose of a venom you need to kill a specific species with 50% probability.