Home range geometry of the desert scorpion Paruroctonus mesaensis

Abstract

The home range of the desert scorpion Paruroctonus mesaensis is analyzed using techniques of Ford & Krumme (1979). Possible factors influencing home range geomtry of P. mesaensis include prey distribution, prey abundance and renewal, energy requirements, risk of predation and body size. There are differences in home range size among the three year classes with the youngest year class maintaining a significantly smaller home range. Home ranges of each year class are approximately circular indicating that these scorpions are remarkably symmetric in the directional use of space around their burrow. The majority of surface activity occurs within 1.0 m from the burrow for all ages. These patterns along with equal probabilities of prey capture at all distances from the burrow suggest that scorpions do not deplete prey within their home ranges.

Exploitation Competition and the Evolution of Interference, Cannibalism, and Intraguild Predation in Age/Size-Structured Populations

“…However, body size, prey use, foraging behavior, home range, microhabitat use, temporal (seasonal and die!) patterns, and intra-and interspecific interactions change greatly during growth (Polis 1979(Polis , 1984aMcCormick 1986a, 1987;Polis et al 1985). For example, foraging age classes of the scorpion Paruroctonus mesaensis increase 60-80x in weight from 0.03 g (instar 2) to 2.0-2.5 g (nongravid adults); instar 2 individuals eat prey that average 5 mm in length whereas adults use prey averaging three times larger, two-thirds of which are different species.…”

Microallopatry Caused Strong Diversification in Buthus scorpions (Scorpiones: Buthidae) in the Atlas Mountains (NW Africa)

“…Consequently, individuals have limited home ranges which generally are restricted to small areas around their burrows [15]. Strong genetic differentiation has previously been observed for scorpion species and was probably triggered by barriers such as high elevations, steep valleys or sea barriers [16]–[19] in combination with low dispersal ability of the organisms [20]. In addition to being extremely limited, dispersal is also highly asymmetrical in these organisms, with male scorpions dispersing more widely.…”

Rates of Molecular Evolution in Nuclear Genes of East Mediterranean Scorpions

“…First, it can be assumed that scorpion populations inhabited the Mediterranean islands during the MSC and exchanged genes during the establishment of land bridges. Second, it is likely that the populations subsequently remained isolated, as scorpions show extremely low dispersal rates (annually 1-30 m; Polis et al 1985), and genetic data on allozymes and nuclear and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences suggest a strong population structure with high F ST -estimates between subpopulations and low dispersal rates (Yamashita and Polis 1995;Gantenbein et al 2001;Gantenbein 2004).…”