The venom of a deathstalker scorpion is highly dangerous for adults, and potentially lethal for children, but has been a valuable avenue for drug research. It has a no-nonsense trajectory, moving straight towards its target before flicking upward (stock)
The world's most lethal scorpion, the
deathstalker, has been caught on high-speed camera for the first time
lashing out with its stinger, according to scientists.
A comparison of half-a-dozen scorpion species shown in ultra-slow motion revealed an unsuspected variety of strike modes.
The
deathstalker had the fastest lunge of all, with its venomous stinger
snapping over its head like a whip at 130 centimetres (51 inches) per
second.
It has a no-nonsense trajectory, moving
straight towards its target before flicking upward. The emperor scorpion
- the world's largest - has a similar open strike.
Other
species, such as the black spitting scorpion, which can squirt venom at
a distance, and various members of the hottentotta genus, strike with a
more circular motion, forming an 'O'.
'We
found that different 'tail' shapes' - some slim, some fatter - 'appear
to permit different strike performances,' said senior author Arie van
der Meijden, a professor at the University of Porto in Portugal, who
they reported the results in the journal Functional Ecology.
To
record and analyse the lightning-fast strikes, van der Meijden and his
team built a small platform surrounded by mirrors on all four sides.
Scorpions use their defensive arsenal against bats, snakes, lizards and other predators.
They also use their stinger to catch prey, and during mating.
A 2008 study in the journal Acta Tropica estimated that more than 3,000 people die every year from scorpion bites.
Measuring
up to 110 millimetres (4.3 inches) in length, deathstalkers (Leiurus
quinquestriatus) are found in dry regions of North Africa and the Middle
East, where they live under rocks.
Their
venom is highly dangerous for adults, and potentially lethal for
children, but has been a valuable avenue for drug research.
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