Death of a scorpion

I found my C.vittatus like this today. Im trying to figure out what happend. from the looks it appears to of had some kind of beetle larva inside it since i bought it. The thing is i got this scorp in Aug. i figured if something was going to happen it would of happend sooner. The tank has a snug lid and the holes are coverd with screening so nothing could get in. I have some pics of the beetle i hope someone has an idea of what happend.

the beetle

one more

Sorry about your C.vittatus i know how you feel

Steve-

The creature in the picture is a cockroach, not a beetle. It looks like it may be one of the ones often called "wood roaches" because they feed, at least partially, on rotten wood. It may have come in on a terrarium decoration. Or it could be a nymph of something bigger. Did you actually see it inside the scorpion? I've never heard of a parasitic roach, but anythings possible. If you saw a larvae in the scorpion, it was something else, as roaches do not have a larval stage.

My impression of Centruroides is that they are fairly short lived, maybe 2-3 years. I keep C. gracilis in a colony, and the individual scorps don't seem to have long lives, but it's hard to tell how long any one lives since theres quite a few in there.

Wade

I did not see anything come out of the scorpion. but i think i would have seen that roach before if it was in there. it just appeared over night. The bark that is in the tank was collected when i was living in FL it is some kind of pine bark. Before it was used it was used all 3 pieces were put in the microwave. I remember them being warm to the touch and pretty much dry when they came out. If it survived the microwave my hats off to it. When i first found the scorp it was hanging upside down off a piece of bark with its tail curved up and over its body. This seemed a stange way for a scorp to die a natural death. After i saw that i looked through tank and saw that roach. I never saw it before then. i did not have time to remove the scorp then, it was christmas after all. The next day when i came back i found the scorp like this w/ that roach feeding off on it.

sorry

Steve,
God, I'm so sorry...I can't think of anything more adequate to say...Poor scorp

Peace,
Gillian

Sounds to me like the scorpion may have died a natural death and then the mystery roach decided to make a meal of it. And by "natural" I include any of the multitudinous ways a scorpion can die without us having the foggiest notion of why or the slightest chance of preventing it.

Cheers,
Dave