[Lokal]

Vaejovis carolinianus (Beavois, 1805)

*Note* I am sorry but there are no pictures with this SOTM. I no longer have any specimens that I can take pictures of. I do however plan on having some in the next couple of weeks, and will gladly post them here.

Introduction:
The Vaejovidae family is the largest family of scorpions in the United States. They have a huge distribution ranging from southern Canada to Mexico. Their area is greatest from the Pacific Ocean to the Rocky Mountains, as well as large groups in Texas. The biggest exception to this is of the Vaejovis carolinianus distribution. The only Vaejovid east of the Mississippi River, V. carolinianus is very prevalent in the Southern United States. They are sometimes referred to as Southern Devil Scorpion, Southern Stripeless Scorpion, and Plain Eastern Stripeless Scorpion.

Vaejovis carolinianus:
V. carolinianus was described by Beauvois in 1805 from a few specimens in South Carolina. He first added it to the genus Scorpio, and only later when Koch described V. mexicanus was it eventually transferred. V. carolinianus is very widespread in the Southern US. Their range consists of Southern West Virginia, Kentucky, Western Virginia, Western North and South Carolina, the eastern two-thirds of Tennessee, Georgia, Northern Alabama, as well as reports in Louisiana, Florida, and Mississippi. They are very commonly found in wood piles and fallen pine trees. They usually occur far apart, and only when they mate do you find them in close proximity. Since they occur in the Southern U.S., they thrive in hot, humid environments, and will occasionally intrude into houses in the winter. Vaejovis carolinianus is a very small scorpion, usually between 2cm-4cm. This species seems to increase in size the further south they are encountered.

Venom:
The venom of V. carolinianus is not medically significant. However, they are said to have a very painful sting and are nicknamed Georgia/Southern Scorchers due to the burning feeling experienced when getting stung.

Keeping In Captivity:
V. carolinianus are very easy to keep. They can be successfully kept in a variety of conditions. Ideally they should be kept with a high humidity at around 70-80%. Warm temperatures at around 80F should be provided. They can be provided with a brief cooling period of 1-2 months, but make sure the temperatures do not get too low.

Housing:
Coco-fiber or peat is perfectly fine for substrate. In the wild they inhabit small scrapes or small burrows, so they should be given rocks or small sticks to be used as a hide. I find the best method of décor is to use leaf litter in which they can have many hiding places. Dead leaves with pine needles and a few rocks, etc. give the enclosure a natural look while also providing sufficient cover for the scorpions. Please though if you choose to go this route, make sure to bake the leaf litter or you have a very high chance of a mite breakout due to high temps and humidity. A small enclosure is all that is necessary due to their small size, of course depending on how many are to be housed together. Four or five specimens can be kept in a medium Kritter Keeper. They are very communal and I have never had any problems keeping these together. Due make sure these are adults. Early instars are very bad about cannibalizing a smaller sibling. It is very possible to have success with 1-2 dozen in a normal 10-gallon tank if fed properly. Also if possible add a few vertical faces, such as rocks or sticks, as they seem to enjoy climbing.

*UPDATE* Luc brought this to my attention and I believed it was very important. Young are extremely cannibalistic. I tried an experiment with 7 2nd instars. Each day I decreased by one. About a week later I ended up with one from the batch and many a chela and metasoma. So it would be smart to separate these after they disperse.

Feeding:
I have never gotten V. carolinianus to feed on anything other than crickets. In the wild they probably feed on a variety of prey, but I have had no luck with meal worms, super worms, etc. An adult V. carolinianus is quite capable of taking down a medium to large cricket. They seem to share food well. I have seen, a number of times, where 3, 4, even five specimens shared the same adult cricket. They should have no problems with roaches, but I for one have not tried to use them.

Reproduction:
Sexing is not too difficult but can prove a hassle due to their small size. The females tend to be more robust. The males also have a more bulbous chela.
I have witnessed mating on two or three occasions. Each session lasted longer than expected, and I was not able to see the end result. This species will mature in May-June during the year, and usually mate in late summer, early autumn.
Gestation for V. carolinianus is fairly long, averaging 12-13 months. Females usually give birth in late summer, anywhere from late July – early October, this way they have the ability to give birth and are able to mate fairly soon afterwards. A normal sized female can give birth to anywhere from 9-50 babies, usually averaging somewhere in the low to mid 20’s. After they are born, it takes roughly a week to a week and a half for them to molt. They will stay on the mother’s back for another week or so. 2nd instar seems very long, possibly taking up to 6-7 months for the next molt. This species usually matures at 6th and 7th instar, but I have had specimens mature a molt earlier as well as a molt later.
I had four WC specimens give birth a week apart. Embryos were present up to two months before the birth actually occurred. The females gave birth to 26, 27, 21, 23 babies respectively. Humidity is a big issue when they are small. I had one female in a well circulated enclosure with about 50-60% humidity and all but 3 died, due to bad molts and dehydration.
This is a very slow growing species. For a female it can take up to three years to mature. Males can take two years or more.

Simplified Care
Size - 2cm - 4cm
Temperature – 24 – 32 Celsius
Humidity – 70-80%
Communal – Yes (very, as adults!!)
Venom – 1
Gestation – 12 – 13 months
Brood size – 9 – 36 first instars (According to G. Polis)
Lifespan – Up to 72 months
Time to maturity – +/- 2 - 3 years

Conclusion:
Vaejovis carolinianus is by far my favorite American species of scorpion. It is very exciting to watch, and long-lived and hardy. Although they are not a rare species, and are actually quite common, I see them being much overlooked in the hobby. It actually surprises me that a SOTM was not done on them already. In the future I plan on studying some of the differences between localities, and I will hopefully post anything I find here. I want to thank Brian again for letting me do another SOTM. This may be my last for awhile, since I was able to do two in a month :-), but I do hope to bring new knowledge with anything I can. Thanks. - Brandon


References:
References were very hard to find on this species, and most of which was found was not scientific and very amateur. The best information I have found on this species is in the Gary Polis book, The Biology of Scorpions.

Brandon Myers
brandontmyers@gmail.com
compsobuthus@gmail.com

This post has been edited by Lokal: 26 February 2008 - 04:04 PM

[butch4skin]

Great write up man, very thorough.

[Michiel]

Hi Brandon,

Very nice write up with solid information. :) Maybe they are overlooked because of their size and because they are not from tropical, foreign places. Too bad. They sound like interesting little critters.....but very slow growing! :rolleyes:

Cheers, Michiel

[LKR]

Brandon,

A very well written, insightful and informative write-up on this mexicanus group species.

Cheers,
Luc

[redknee]

Brandon, you have done an outstanding job on the rwrite up :rockon:

Michiel, on Feb 25 2008, 04:23 PM, said:

Hi Brandon,

Very nice write up with solid information. :) Maybe they are overlooked because of their size and because they are not from tropical, foreign places. Too bad. They sound like interesting little critters.....but very slow growing! :rolleyes:

Cheers, Michiel

i have to agree, these scorpions are just a great scorpion and very much overlooked
and is one of my favorite scorpion
cannot wait to get more of these

[MarkNewton]

Well done Brandon, that was a very well written account of the species, I learnt a great deal. I would like to know how you maintain the RH, you didnt mention if you use a water dish or you wet one area etc? I would like to know that. It's also interesting you say they are found quite a distance apart in the wild, is this because places of refuge are scant or for other reasons? What would you say is the average in your experience?

Good job on the SOTM, very good read.

Cheers

[Lokal]

MarkNewton, on Feb 26 2008, 12:33 AM, said:

Well done Brandon, that was a very well written account of the species, I learnt a great deal. I would like to know how you maintain the RH, you didnt mention if you use a water dish or you wet one area etc? I would like to know that. It's also interesting you say they are found quite a distance apart in the wild, is this because places of refuge are scant or for other reasons? What would you say is the average in your experience?

Good job on the SOTM, very good read.

Cheers

Thanks Mark, I should have included this, as this is a big part. I usually give a few good inches of substrate, and flood it every so often. I also mist the enclosures a few times a week. I do not let it get too dry. Although I am sure they would be ok, as here in the South we have been experiencing some serious droughts. To be honest i was quite surprised I could not find any close together. The first time I went hunting for them was in late May, so they had already mated. I was checking around a house of someone I know, and there were plenty of places to hide. There was a small pond with piles upon piles of rocks and wood, and still I was lucky to find one or two in each pile. Like I said it is very surprising because of how communal I have found them to be. When I did catch some they were a good 30 - 50 feet apart. That's not saying that there wasn't anymore closer that I did not find, but I looked long and hard, but saw no more. It also isn't for lack of food because it is abundant since of the fairly consistent temperatures and high humidity. I plan on doing some research about this, and when I get the time that's exactly what I am going to do. As well as compare the differences between localities which I am excited about. I hope this answers your questions.

Brandon

[Lokal]

butch4skin, on Feb 24 2008, 11:22 PM, said:

Great write up man, very thorough.

Thanks man. I know you know how great this species is.

Michiel, on Feb 25 2008, 12:23 PM, said:

Hi Brandon,

Very nice write up with solid information. :) Maybe they are overlooked because of their size and because they are not from tropical, foreign places. Too bad. They sound like interesting little critters.....but very slow growing! :rolleyes:

Cheers, Michiel

Thanks Michiel,

I do believe that sometimes people just put too much time and effort into more exotic species. I am no excpetion. But i have noticed that local faunas are just uninteresting to people. Even in the EU, I am surprised I haven't seen more Euscorpius sp around. But I guess people just feel that they are native, so they aren't as cool, haha.

LKR, on Feb 25 2008, 02:55 PM, said:

Brandon,

A very well written, insightful and informative write-up on this mexicanus group species.

Cheers,
Luc

Thanks Luc,

I would really like to see what other members of the mexicanus group are like. I know you have worked with these guys as well. So I am sure you are aware of their beauty.


Brandon

[MarkNewton]

Interesting Brandon. It seems they arent too mycosis sensitive if you pour water over some of the substrate and maintain relatively high RH. I have found absolutely enormous variation in levels of activity over time, its crazy really. The problem for me, and you too probably is the distance away from home. I can find scorpions at one location that are non existant 2 weeks later, very complex activity levels. One really needs to be on site over a 12 month period to get any picture of what might be going on. I guess this is how so many species manage to occur syntopically, as they are separated temporally, although this separation is most likely due to a number of factors, including time, temperature, wind, prey availability etc.

I hope you conduct some research, you'll answer x questions and create 100x more.

Cheers

[Skywalker]

Thank you for this nice read, Brandon!

[LKR]

Lokal, on Feb 26 2008, 01:34 AM, said:

butch4skin, on Feb 24 2008, 11:22 PM, said:

Great write up man, very thorough.

Thanks man. I know you know how great this species is.

Michiel, on Feb 25 2008, 12:23 PM, said:

Hi Brandon,

Very nice write up with solid information. :) Maybe they are overlooked because of their size and because they are not from tropical, foreign places. Too bad. They sound like interesting little critters.....but very slow growing! :rolleyes:

Cheers, Michiel

Thanks Michiel,

I do believe that sometimes people just put too much time and effort into more exotic species. I am no excpetion. But i have noticed that local faunas are just uninteresting to people. Even in the EU, I am surprised I haven't seen more Euscorpius sp around. But I guess people just feel that they are native, so they aren't as cool, haha.

LKR, on Feb 25 2008, 02:55 PM, said:

Brandon,

A very well written, insightful and informative write-up on this mexicanus group species.

Cheers,
Luc

Thanks Luc,

I would really like to see what other members of the mexicanus group are like. I know you have worked with these guys as well. So I am sure you are aware of their beauty.


Brandon

Mornin' Brandon,

I've kept quite a few over the years and they are an easy species to keep and breed. The only cautionary note that I would add is that cannibalism does sometimes occur in groups, especially among pre-adult specimens. Also, they are extremely fast-moving and are capable of impressive sprints of speed.

Luc

[jeroenkooijman]

Great write up Brandon. :rockon:

Waiting for some pics :)

[Plits]

Nice write up Brandon, thanks :rockon:

[Lokal]

Quote

Mornin' Brandon,

I've kept quite a few over the years and they are an easy species to keep and breed. The only cautionary note that I would add is that cannibalism does sometimes occur in groups, especially among pre-adult specimens. Also, they are extremely fast-moving and are capable of impressive sprints of speed.

Luc

Actually Luc, I am glad you pointed that out. I am updating as we speak. I have had quite a few run-ins with cannibalism as babies.

Brandon

This post has been edited by Lokal: 26 February 2008 - 04:01 PM

[telow]

brandon nice work bro.

these guys should be more around the hobby
they are smaller but they are neat little scorps

[Arne]

Very interesting. I love Vaejovids, too bad they're rarely available here. I don't think carolinianus has ever been imported here at all.

[Lokal]

Arne, on Feb 28 2008, 01:22 PM, said:

Very interesting. I love Vaejovids, too bad they're rarely available here. I don't think carolinianus has ever been imported here at all.

Thanks,
Actually I sent Jeroen some babies last year. I have no idea how they are doing, but it may have been the first of these to make it to the Netherlands.

Brandon

[mitcheroo]

Saw lots of these just west of Macon, Georgia, and in west central South Carolina (Greenwood, Abbeville).

But here in south Mississippi (Ellisville), have never in 23 years seen a single scorpion of any kind, even with blacklight searches.

Maybe I'll acquire some gravid females and establish a colony here? ;)

[Kejser]

Really nice write up mate :D
iam currently keeping 11 2instar of these, i love them too :D really cool scorp.. :D

[redknee]

mitcheroo, on Sep 14 2008, 12:21 AM, said:

Saw lots of these just west of Macon, Georgia, and in west central South Carolina (Greenwood, Abbeville).

But here in south Mississippi (Ellisville), have never in 23 years seen a single scorpion of any kind, even with blacklight searches.

Maybe I'll acquire some gravid females and establish a colony here? ;)

you might have the Centruroides vittatus native to your state somewhere.
Try looking by peeling back the bark of dead trees, make sure the bark is loose from the log and peel back gently.