Uroctonus mordax

Ok, yesterday by pure luck I stumbled across 2 Uroctonus mordax under the bark of a tree stump...up in the mountains for other reasons than this for a few hours and was bored so walked over to a tree stump chair which had bark that looked like it would come off soon and pulled it back and found 2 of em within a foot of each other. They both look to be female as they are quite plump and the largest I've seen(not saying much as I've only come across 4 including these 2).

They were both in a water bottle and after coming home I left then unattended for some time and came back to see one with its stinger in the back of the other. I seperated them of course, and some clear fluid came out of the sting area on the stung scorps back. She didn't seem affected other than perhaps being a bit less reactive than the other one. Today she seems fine, walking around, and the other has taken an earwig. Any concerns for the one that was stung?

Pics soon.

Sting. They were frozen in this pose for quite a while I'm guessing since I found them like that. It could have been worse, of course. Hate to imagine what any other scorp may have done confined like this and then left alone for a while.



This one was the one that was stung. A bit fatter than the other.


Size reference


They seem very calm scorpions and tend to play dead when discovered IME...then just prod them either onto a stick or just pick them up and put em in the cup.


Guessing female for both of them.

dt,

If the distance between the bases of the pectines are wide (such as those in your photo above) then, they are females. This distance is much shorter in males and the pectine teeth are much broader and longer. The genital papillae are very obvious in males; lacking in females.
Also, I wouldn't worry much about envenomations between your two specimens. This is not a rare occurrence amongst scorpions and few suffer any lasting effects.
BEAUTIFUL specimens!!!

Luc

Thanks Prymal for the info!

Anyone keeping these or similar mind telling how often you usually offer them food? Based on observing them I'm guessing maybe 2-3x a week?

I haven't kept any other scorps...but these look to me a lot like mini emperor scorpions.

I feed mine about 2x a week. They are very docile, both of mine had broods of about 20+ scorplings. Your specimens are beautifully dark, mine are much lighter in color. Keep them about like an emp with just a little bit lower temps. This species also enjoys burrowing (from experience with mine), so don't worry if you can't find one just check the substrate.

Good luck,
Josh

Thanks Josh for the info! I'm curious to see photos of your lighter colored ones...I always assumed they were all dark colored.

While I know this is totally guessing is their any possibility of either two of these being gravid? The fatter one seems like she could be...but she could have just as likely have snacked on a few extra termites. It'd be nice to get a male from the same location for them, but based on my luck finding scorps it is not likely. Praps I need a blacklight.

Pics

They look like they may be gravid. Here are some pics of my U.mordax and a blacklight pic.

Interesting photos. Yours are indeed a different color! Looking plump too I wonder how much color varies over range. Mine are from Central CA, so pretty far West compared to yours.

What kind of blacklight do you use when you hunt for these? I noticed they do seem to come out to look around at nighttime so a blacklight must be a pretty good way to find them.

I did not find them in KS, I ordered them from someone. These ones were found around Medford, OR. I use a fishing blacklight to hunt for Centruroides vittatus, and these seem to show up better under it than the C.vittatus; so it would be a good idea if you got one. Just look for a blacklight at a fishing supply store, sometimes Walmart has battery powered ones as well.

very interesting scorps. this is the first time i've seen pics of Uroctonus mordax. now i wanna get some. congrats dtknow!

Thanks rex_arachne.

The only update is that they continue to feed nicely on earwigs...particularly the slimmer one. I just assume the fatter one is eating.