Scorpion surface activity is influenced by several factors, both biotic (e.g. prey or mate availability or predator risk) and abiotic (e.g. weather or illumation). Zia Nisani and co--workers have recently published a study on seasonal variations of Paruroctonus marksi Haradon, 1984 (Vaejovidae) activity in the Mojave Desert in California, US.
Their main finding was that the scorpions were mostly active in warm and humid nights, but that soil temperature also seemed to have a small impact on the activity.
Abstract:
Many environmental factors may influence the activity pattern of scorpions in arid ecosystems. We investigated the seasonal variations of Paruroctonus marksi scorpion activity in the Mojave Desert (California, USA). Black light surveys were carried out within two 100 ×100 m plots from August 2017 to September 2018. The majority (85%) of scorpions were found in open areas compared with being in vegetation. The presence of P. marksi was positively correlated with both water vapor pressure and soil temperature, while moon illumination had no significant effect on P. marksi foraging behavior. Scorpions might be using humidity as an indicator of prey abundance and since they are not visual hunters, and moonlight does not affect their surface activity possibly due to lack of visual hunters in the study site.
Reference:
Nisani Z, Frederick D, Garcia-Plascencia A, Lopez D, Miller R, Trinh-Nguyen L. Influence of environmental factors on surface activity of Paruroctonus marksi (Scorpiones: Vaejovidae) in the Mojave Desert. Euscorpius. 2022(364):1-5. [Open Access]
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