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How Do Scorpions Reproduce?

Scorpions are crablike invertebrates related to spiders, mites and ticks. Unlike these relations, scorpions have pincers that can deliver a sting. There are about 1,300 species of scorpions and some are more venomous than others. Scorpions belong to the arachnida class. Their bodies are long and segmented, the last segment being a tail that ends with a stinger.

  1. Breeding Season

    • Breeding season for the scorpion varies according to the species. For some, such as the North American hairy scorpion, there is no defined breeding season; it goes dormant in the winter months, and doesn't breed then. For most species, the breeding season is during the warm months of a region. The gestation period for scorpion averages 10 months. The scorpion has about 30 young, which the mother carries on her back for about three weeks.

    Promenade a Deux

    • Part of the scorpion mating ritual involves a promenade a deux in which the pair dance or rock back and forth and turn about. The male leads the dance by grabbing the female by her pedipalps (frontal appendages). The movements involved in the dance are simple and mostly repetitive. Sometimes it involves a swaying motion and head stands. The promenade the pair engages in can last a few minutes or a few hours. There are variations in the dances of different species of scorpions. They will continue the dance until they find a suitable surface on which to deposit the spermatophore.

    Fertilization

    • The fertilization effort takes place after the completion of the promenade a deux. The male scorpion deposits a spermatophore on the surface and pulls the female over it causing it to be released into her reproductive organ, called a gonophore. A female sometimes resists taking the sperm and the male sometimes clubs her before releasing his grip and delivers up to 14 stings on her back. The male flees immediately afterward and sometimes the female chases him down and eats him.

    Cannibalism

    • Female scorpions are known for their cannibalism, but it is not always part of the mating ritual of the scorpion and varies among species. Wilson R. Lourenco writes in "Reproduction in Scorpions" that cannibalism is exaggerated in scorpions and that it occurs only 39 percent of the time in four families of scorpions. He notes that there is evidence that male scorpions that have already mated are capable of producing new spermatophores a short time afterward and can mate again.

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