Centruroides bicolor

[Mr. Mordax]

That's right. I got three second-instars that arrived today (one's a third-instar now; he decided to molt during unpacking).

For reference, the jars are ~3/4 of an inch across.

The fatty:

The not-so-fatty: (second pic clickable for zoom)

And the molter. 5:57 PM

6:03 PM

6:34 PM

6:50 PM

As of 7:45 PM, the last one has its body out and is flipped over, and is just working the metasoma out.

 

[Mr. Mordax]

Update: 7:58 and the metasoma is out!

 

[cjm1991]

Very nice Scorps! The not-so fatty is a beaut!

 

[radicaldementia]

hahaha I also have 3 of those arriving tomorrow, after seeing your pictures ahhhhh I can't wait :drool:

They are a beautiful species, I can't wait for them grow up (and hopefully breed )

 

[skinheaddave]

It will be nice to see what these grow up to be like. Do you know what the parents looked like and/or what part of the range they originally came from?

Cheers,
Dave

 

[~Abyss~]

IF they got them from Raul he posted a picture of the adults. I dont know if these are the parents.

 

[Mr. Mordax]

^I believe that is one of the parents. I have no idea what part of the range they came from (although I found out they're from the same part of Costa Rica I visited in '04).

I have every ambition to breed these as well -- fingers crossed I have at least one male and female in the three!

 

[radicaldementia]

Mine just arrived, looks like one of them molted on the way

The molter, ready for action!

For now, I'm not keeping them in very extravagant setups, just the container they came in with some coco-fiber and a little cardboard hide. But I'm working on making some nice little containers that are more deserving for such a beautiful species.

Well we each have a 75% chance of getting at least one male and one female, and combined we have a 94% chance, so I think those are pretty good odds

 

[inverts]

Congratulations on the new additions. Best of luck with future breeding.

 

[talljosh003]

geeze i've never seen a scorp that small, beautiful none the less

 

[Raan_Jodus]

that adult looks disturbingly like my Margaritatus Morenoi. Upon googling some info and finding a thread on the Venom List, I'm not the only one that has seen the close similarities.

One day I'll need to get some new pictures, I don't see my remaining one very often, he has his log he likes to hide under alot. I doubt I'll have much luck finding him a woman before he bites it too.

Anyway, you can see the similarities I'm sure. The tail on mine is a little darker, but damn I never noticed how similar C.M.M was to C.B.

 

[EAD063]

Hey Raan,

Yes, it seems that you are correct. IheatM and myself were talking a few days ago, I've sent him many pictures of the specimens I have and we have basically confirmed it. No C bicolor, just really pretty C. marg like this.

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p9/ead063/Centruroides/100_0967.jpg

But anyways, it is still a great species. I have adults, sub adults and slings.... very pretty as you can see from my link.

 

[skinheaddave]

Check your pectine counts and denticle rows on the fixed finger.

I'm not going to check any other papers -- unfortunately I just don't have the time right now. Quick glance at Franke and Stockwell gives you:

C.bicolor: pectines (27-28M/23-28F), nine primary rows of denticles on fixed finger.
C.margaritatus: pectines (26-34M/24-33F), eight primary rows of denticles on fixed finger.

Take the usual disclaimer with this genus that it is poorly sorted and the literature is not complete -- add on that I have only looked at one document and I have about a half dozen more that may be of some use in this issue. That being said, if you have 8 primary denticle rows and a pectine count of 33/34 then you can be pretty sure it isn't bicolor.

As stated, I have more stuff that may help. Give me a shout via email/PM/facebook if you haven't gotten it sorted by this upcomming Saturday. I will be back from NY by then.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[Raan_Jodus]

still beautiful species. You won't be too disappointed with em regardless. I wish I could get more, one day I might try. I've found they aren't quite as social as some other bark scorps, the two i had tended to stick to a side of the tank on their own. Pretty sure I've never seen them share a hide, but they weren't hostile at all.

if yours come out with colours like those other pictures, damn i'll be jealous.

I'm somewhat curious if i were to breed these Morenoi with a regular C. Marg...would it be more of a hybrid or would some carry the Morenoi genes as dominant? I've always been a little afraid to try to breed them with a common C. Marg.

 

[Mr. Mordax]

Thanks for the comments, everyone. Yes, I'd heard that I may have wound up with some expensive C. margaritatus, and as beautiful as they are, the only new scorpion I was very interested in getting was C. bicolor. SHD, thanks as always for your insight -- I'll see if I can't get one of these guys under the scope at work.

 

[Mr. Mordax]

I managed to get some shots of the denticles on the moveable finger -- do you know anything about the counts regarding that, Dave?

Scaled 70%:

Cropped to show denticles, original size:

I count eight rows.

If this turns out to be the wrong species, what do you (the people reading this thread) suggest? The sale went great and the dealer has many positive reviews, so I'm not really sure what to make of this.

 

[skinheaddave]

Mike,

Read Wagner 197x re: Centruroides from Yucatan for the dangers of using moveable finger counts. I'd suggest sticking to fixed finger even though the two do mesh to some degree.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[Mr. Mordax]

Luckily for me, the one I photographed earlier molted as soon as it arrived. After some careful manipulation of my camera and a hand lens (I really need to get a good macro lens):

I think I can count seven rows -- does that mean I'm missing some and the count is eight?

 

[skinheaddave]

Most likely you are missing a short apical row or the two basal rows are partially fused. Anyhow, it definitely won't be 9 rows so you can count out C.bicolor -- at least according to Franke/Stockwell.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[EAD063]

Most likely you are missing a short apical row or the two basal rows are partially fused. Anyhow, it definitely won't be 9 rows so you can count out C.bicolor -- at least according to Franke/Stockwell.

Cheers,
Dave

Good info on the denticle count Dave. It was pretty evident they were C marg. from the start and that confirms it. I've kept many of these as some of their identifying traits are the males chela being as large as the chela patella and the elongated telson. Out of all of the C bicolor pictures I have saved, it seems they posses this too, which made it a hard comparison until you provided that information.

Take care,
Ed