Lychas mucronatus communal

[Longimanus]

I've been keeping this species for quite sometime and I've been hoping to raise a reasonably good-sized colony of them for a Communal Enclosure. Of my 1st captive bred batch only one breeding pair remained.

This is the enclosure they were housed in until the female eventually gave birth

The brooding female was relocated to a brooding enclosure so that the scorplings did not to disperse in the adult vivarium.

As with most bark scorpions, these had to be raised individually to avoid molt-cannibalism.

Feeding them is no small task when pinheads are difficult to acquire here.

As they grew, each individual was transferred to a larger vial/deli.

Around 170-180 days after birth the males begin to mature at 6th instar. The females took longer; reaching maturity at 7th instar rougly 190-200 days after birth.

Alas I finally manage to raise a workable ratio of males and females to be inducted into this communal enclosure.

The current population of adults here is 9.5.0, though a few more have yet to mature before they are added to the colony. As adults this species is very communal, and to some extent seem to enjoy each other's company.

Cheers & Best regards

 

[inverts]

Very nice photo sequence and growth rate information. Thank you for sharing it.

 

[GS]

I've always been a fan of your work Alex.
These are one of my favorites scorps due to their exquisite markings
Pse keep up with the awesome work you are doing in this hobby.

Regards,
GS

 

[AzJohn]

Great pictures. I'd love to see this species in US collections.

 

[Xanthopus]

Omg that is beautiful! Both the scorps and enclosure, really very nice :drool:.

 

[Longimanus]

Thanks guys, you are all very kind... GS was also kind enough to PM me some questions that I feel some people out there might have regarding this species... I'm aware that Fransistek Kovarik conducted the seminal groundwork on their captive care... so this is mostly from there and my own personal experience...

1) How do i accurately differentiate male from female?

From the pic above you can see the evident sexual dimorphism of the male's chela, though in some specimens, this can be indicatively subtle... the female's chela are unmistakably parallel between the tibia and the tarsus.

2) Are the sexual dimorphism only visible when they are full adults? e.g. 6i male and 7i female?
3) females only mature at 7i or can go up to 8i?
4) males only mature at 6i or they can mature as early as 5i or go up to 7i?

Firstly, Yes... sexual dimorphism is only visible in mature males. From my current batch all males matured at 6i while females mature at 7i; and clearly without the sexual dimorphism present in males. Some males may mature at 7i but I have no conclusive evidence of this. Based in Kovarik's documents, some females mature at 6i. I would think this variance might have something to do with differences between regional populations, i.e. from Southern China to South East Asia

4) Will the number of pectinal teeth help to sex them?
Well according to the species taxanomical description, both sexes bear between 16-25 pectinal teeth invariably, so No, pectinal teeth count will not sex them accurately.

5) Lastly a photographic size reference? which I can't provide in the meantime because my camera is not with me. I'll try and follow up on this at some point, but in any case, I took measurements of dead specimens at each instar level except for the last since I haven't had any adult females die on me yet... touch wood.

Size Measurements at Each Stage of Development
Average Length from Chelicerae to Telson (mm)
1st Instar -
2nd Instar 11.5mm
3rd Instar 13.1mm
4th Instar 21.3mm
5th Instar 30.2mm
6th Instar 33.4mm
7th Instar

Cheers and best regards

 

[GS]

Excellent!!
I almost couldn't recall how many times i have read your write-up on them (over & over again).
And the data you provided above is just the affirmation i need!

Thanks! my friend

Regards,
GS

 

[Longimanus]

Lychas mucronatus F2 Update 07072011

Here are two of them out in the open munching away.

...and more feast for mini-beast backstage

Of many attempts I finally managed a viable UV capture of two lurkers

Here's the size comparison pic you requested GS... the currency is a Malaysian 10c coin.

 

[Rellok1]

Very nice pictures. Compliment

Max

 

[gromgrom]

this is your second topic where I am quite impressed! They remind me alot of tityus, with their apparent size and, especially, coloration.

:worship:

 

[2nscorpx]

Beautiful pictures. I am glad you are having so much success with them.

 

[GS]

Here's the size comparison pic you requested GS... the currency is a Malaysian 10c coin.

Thanks my friend! for the effort to take this "size comparison" shot :clap:

1. Is this a 7th instar male or female specimen?

2. Is there a significant size difference between male/female of 7i ?

Regards,
GS

 

[Longimanus]

Thanks my friend! for the effort to take this "size comparison" shot :clap:

1. Is this a 7th instar male or female specimen?

2. Is there a significant size difference between male/female of 7i ?

Regards,
GS

1. This is a 7th instar female specimen

2. Difficult to say, since all my females matured at 7i while all my males matured at 6i. Among them there seems to be some variables in size despite the consistency of instars at which the two genders mature.

Cheers and best regards

 

[leiurusSaleen]

Awesome pics bro and very informative.
I need some of those for my collection they're gorgeous, love the markings:drool:

 

[GS]

1. This is a 7th instar female specimen

2. Difficult to say, since all my females matured at 7i while all my males matured at 6i. Among them there seems to be some variables in size despite the consistency of instars at which the two genders mature.

Cheers and best regards

Noted. You've always been helpful Alex.
E.g. the H.spinifer advices you gave the helped me to breed them successfully.
Thanks for your reply my friend

Best Regards,
GS

 

[GS]

Here's the size comparison pic you requested GS... the currency is a Malaysian 10c coin.

Hey Alex Bro
I took two of my L.mucronatus specimens and a coin from my pocket for a quick comparison shot.
Do they look 7i? I might need to find time for some macro shots on their chelas for sexing purposes.

Specimen 1:

Specimen 2 (slightly larger then 1, not sure if it's one instar higher or just the fatter one from the same batch.. lolz)

- GS

 

[Longimanus]

those look like 4i to me... keep them well fed... avoid feeding during the pre-molt stages and bump up the humidity slightly to encourage molting...

Cheers

 

[RodG]

Great photos and set ups!!! Love this genus.