Detailed Explanation of Key Points in Breeding Scorpion Rearing and Management

The introduced breeding scorpions often fall into two categories. One is when, looking at the abdomen and sides, rice-grain-shaped embryos are visible inside, or even the stripes on the backs of the young scorpions can be seen from the abdomen; this condition is called "scorpion about to give birth." At delivery, the time may be as short as two or three days or as long as more than ten days. The other is when the belly appears swollen and large from the back, but no rice-grain-shaped embryos can be seen from the abdomen, though brownish-yellow egg granules are vaguely visible from the side; this condition is called "pregnant scorpion." If the temperature is controlled between 32 and 36 °C, most will give birth within 40 days.

For newly introduced breeding scorpions, do not rush to put them into the pool. It is best to place them in a fairly large basin, then carry out "grading" one by one (when introducing breeding scorpions, the males have already been separated out and can be placed in the pool). The specific method is: use tweezers to grasp the scorpion at the second or third segment from the base of the tail; the scorpion will automatically curl up, allowing its abdomen to be observed. If a scorpion about to give birth is found, it can be placed into a birthing bottle containing 3 cm of sand and soil. Each bottle can hold two, and the sand and soil only need to be moist. Place two yellow mealworms in the bottle and let them feed freely. Then gather the birthing bottles containing scorpions about to give birth and place them on the birthing racks in the birthing room. The remaining pregnant scorpions can be placed in the rearing pool for rearing and observation, and "grading" should be carried out once every few days. In daily management, each birthing bottle must be checked one by one every day. If any have given birth, the mothers that have not given birth should be picked into another bottle with tweezers, and those that have already given birth should be placed individually or two together, with the birth date recorded for future management. When the sand and soil in the bottle are too dry, water can be dripped along the bottle wall using a sponge or other container to keep it moist. If rotten or spoiled dead insects are found, remove them promptly.

Raising breeding scorpions well is the foundation for developing artificial scorpion farming. First, select large, robust male scorpions. As the saying goes: "A good female scorpion benefits a whole litter; a good male scorpion benefits a whole slope." After mating, the males and females are best reared separately. The scorpion nests for breeding scorpions should be clean and quiet, the feed should be fresh and varied, the temperature and humidity should be normal, and the density should be appropriately reduced. In this way, a scorpion colony with strong bodies and excellent quality can be cultivated.

Management of mating scorpions. Under constant-temperature rearing conditions, the scorpion colony can mate at any time. Before mating, male scorpions appear restless and search everywhere for a mate -- the female scorpion. Once found, they will mate; if not found, they will deposit the spermatophore on tiles or stones. This period before estrus and mating is relatively long for male scorpions, generally about 15 to 30 minutes or a little longer.

 During mating, the scorpion uses the pincers of its pedipalps to tightly grip the female's pedipalps and does not let go, dragging the female back and forth and crawling in circles, resembling a dance. At the same time, the male's tail curves upward and shakes constantly, and the pectines also keep swinging to probe the ground conditions and find a suitable mating site. If a flat stone slab or hard ground can be found, that is fine; otherwise, the male uses the first and second pairs of walking legs to dig the soil beneath it fine, spread it flat, and pack it down, preparing for the female's fertilization. This process lasts about 15 minutes.

Next, the male scorpion, trembling all over, pulls the female tight and extends its own cephalothorax to contact the female's cephalothorax. Then it raises the first and second pairs of walking legs and alternately strokes the female's genital operculum and the area nearby. Immediately after, the male's metasoma swings up and down, the genital operculum opens, and the anterior abdomen approaches the ground to produce a spermatophore, which firmly adheres to the stone or ground. The male then retreats and slowly lifts the anterior abdomen, and the spermatophore is fully drawn out, fixed to the ground at a 70-degree angle. At the same time, the male pulls the female over, and the female's genital operculum opens and moves forward. When the genital chamber touches the tip of the spermatophore, the upper half of the spermatophore inserts into the female's genital chamber and then ruptures. Due to the sharp pain, the female suddenly retreats and breaks free from the male's grip, causing the spermatophore to be pulled out and fall to the ground (in some cases, the entire spermatophore enters the female's genital chamber and does not come out again). The sperm entering the female's body combines with the eggs to form fertilized eggs. This is the fertilization process of scorpions. This process takes about 10 minutes. Of course, mating is not always completely smooth, and there are also many unsuccessful cases. For example, some cannot release a spermatophore, and some, after releasing a spermatophore, cannot pierce it into the female's genital chamber, so it remains intact standing on the ground. If only a large number of fallen, broken spermatophores remain on the ground, this indicates a very high mating success rate. After the female mates and is fertilized, the sperm can be stored for a long time in the spermatheca. Therefore, a scorpion can reproduce for life after mating once, but the reproduction rate will decline year by year.

The key to managing scorpions during the mating period lies in creating suitable external conditions so that male and female scorpions can successfully complete mating in a good environment. These conditions are:

(1) Temperature between 28 and 38 °C. Within this range, the higher the temperature, the higher the mating success rate.