Publication Date

7-17-2021

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Biology (MS)

Committee Member

Quintana, Fernando

Committee Member

Eversold, Cord

Committee Member

Bennett, Marvin

Abstract

Microhabitat selection of the striped-bark scorpion (Scorpiones; Buthidae), Centruroides vittatus (Say 1821), can be affected by different factors such as prey availability, risk of predation and environmental factors such as temperature and humidity. The effects of temperature, humidity, range were also performed. There was a significant interaction among the three different study sites, microhabitats, and size classes. For all threestudy sites, the pooled smaller scorpions and the large scorpions were seen at higher frequencies compared to the intermediate scorpions. Both the small and intermediate scorpions were seen on vegetation at a higher frequency. However, the large scorpions were seen on both the ground and vegetation at similar frequencies. Use of the different microhabitats by the different size classes was also significantly different. Small scorpions were found at a higher frequency on herbs, shrubs and grasses compared to the intermediate and large scorpions. Large scorpions were found on soil, leaf litter and succulents compared to the small and intermediate scorpions. C. vittatus scorpions in this study utilized the sit-and-wait foraging method at a higher frequency than the active method. An increased number of scorpions were actively foraging as the air temperature increased but the number of scorpions actively foraging decreased as the relative humidity increased. Results suggest that temperature and humidity does have an effect on the behavior of scorpions.

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