got a killer V. spinigerus on my hands here...

[JSN]

so I found this guy a while back and put him in my communal setup along with all my other V. spinis...problem is that he's been going beserk and killing all of my specimens, the weird thing is he doesn't eat them, just kills them and leaves them there...I took him out yesterday after the last casualty...

fighting...

the end result...

many have tried, all have failed...

anyway, he's seperated becuase he can't get along, and believe me, these guys are far from being underfed, just one of those weirdies...

 

[SnakeManJohn]

It took you that many scorpions to finally decide to separate them?! You're crazy, so is the scorpion. Sorry for the other scorpions though. Nice scorpion? Haha.

 

[compnerd7]

jeez, survival of the strongest.. did he kill all 5 of them in one day? or was this over a months peroid or something.

 

[EAD063]

It took you that many scorpions to finally decide to separate them?! You're crazy, so is the scorpion. Sorry for the other scorpions though. Nice scorpion? Haha.

Note his location John.. thats why.

 

[Mark Newton]

I like a person that pushes observation to the extreme. So, in conclusion you can at least say that this one particular individual is not terribly sociable.... You'd go well in our jurisdiction system here in Oz. Six strikes and you're out.

 

[Aillith]

Thats an impressively nasty scorpion.

 

[SnakeManJohn]

Ahhhhh, is there a lot of scorpions in Arizona?

 

[JSN]

It took you that many scorpions to finally decide to separate them?! You're crazy, so is the scorpion. Sorry for the other scorpions though. Nice scorpion? Haha.

actually I couldnt figure out why they were dying, I've kept so many of these its not even funny, and finally I found this one fighting another and then I pieced it together...and yeah, there are definitely no shortages of these in my area, I've also had alot of gravid females over the years so there is definitely no shortages of V. spinigerus at my house...

 

[JSN]

jeez, survival of the strongest.. did he kill all 5 of them in one day? or was this over a months peroid or something.

bout a week...

 

[Mark Newton]

Ahhhhh, is there a lot of scorpions in Arizona?

There were.....

 

[JSN]

I like a person that pushes observation to the extreme. So, in conclusion you can at least say that this one particular individual is not terribly sociable.... You'd go well in our jurisdiction system here in Oz. Six strikes and you're out.

I'm not sure what your exactly your implying on that second part...

 

[arrowhd]

Wow. I'm suppose to have 3 of these coming in the mail tomorrow. Planned on keeping them together but now... Is this normal "communial" behavior? Unfortunately I don't have free access to these guys so I don't want this to happen. Mine are only 3/4 inch and are from the same "litter" (not sure of the correct term).

 

[slimtim454]

You'd go well in our jurisdiction system here in Oz. Six strikes and you're out.

I'm not sure what your exactly your implying on that second part...

I think he is implying that down in Australia you can kill six people before you go to jail.

 

[Aillith]

I think he is implying that down in Australia you can kill six people before you go to jail.

I've only ever had to kill 2, I can safely kill another 3 people without going to jail.

 

[JSN]

Wow. I'm suppose to have 3 of these coming in the mail tomorrow. Planned on keeping them together but now... Is this normal "communial" behavior? Unfortunately I don't have free access to these guys so I don't want this to happen. Mine are only 3/4 inch and are from the same "litter" (not sure of the correct term).

dont worry about, very atypical behavior of V. spinigerus, most of them do fine together...however there are always your 'oddballs''...

 

[Alakdan]

I've only ever had to kill 2, I can safely kill another 3 people without going to jail.

You're serious?

Here, you go to jail if you kill one. If you kill a hundred, then maybe you get elected in public office.

Now back to the topic.
Do you think the scorps are agressive towards each other if they were collected from different areas?

I observed my V. spinigerus seem to communicate by a variety of tail and pedipalp movements. Is it possible that you new scorp was speaking a different "language" or was emitting a different pheromone?

 

[polphot]

That is a good thought Alakdan. I observed from my V. spinigerus that they have a pose and tail movement when they face each other or accidentally bump into each other then they also face and do the wag.

Would you consider separation during early instars a criteria to loose communal behavior despite the fact that they are of the same brood?

On the other hand, am i/we treating them as other animals that communicate through a stance or gesture when i fact they mean nothing at all (this is debatable) and only the chemical stimuli they give is the only communicative faculty.

 

[Mark Newton]

Are they really communal?...ie., are they communal in the wild? Or is this a captive situation imposed on them that they tolerate reasonably well?

 

[Alakdan]

I've been keeping my V. spinigerus together. The mom and the kids are still together in one enclosure. I still see some 3I and 4I scorplings climbing on their mom's back. No cannibalism even during molts. I keep them well fed and with plenty of hides. I would really say they are communal.

Mark,

I was told that you can find several of these scorpions sharing the same hide in the wild. Let's see if any of our american friends can confirm this.

 

[Mark Newton]

I was told that you can find several of these scorpions sharing the same hide in the wild. Let's see if any of our american friends can confirm this.

Of course that doesnt mean they are communal. Many opportunistic species move about at certain times of the year and will be found together sporadically. But...does this mean they have young right next door to each other, mate next door to each other and compete for food next door to each other? The word 'communal' really means they derive some sort of benefit by living together. I have only ever found species in the wild that end up together under the one piece of cover or rock or bark etc when its movement time. And they can be in large numbers too which makes them appear communal whereas in reality they are far from communal.

Captivity is a bit different where food is adlib and mates are not too hard to find.

I would be interested to know of a truly communal species of scorpion.