Efficacy of neem oil (Azadirachta indica) as an antiparasitic treatment for scorpions (Androctonus bicolor) and its impact on venom production

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  By Guy Haimovitch - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=630184 Efficacy of neem oil (Azadirachta indica) as an antiparasitic treatment for scorpions (Androctonus bicolor) and its impact on venom production Abstract Mite infestations are a recurrent welfare issue that significantly affect the health, venom production, and survival of scorpions, particularly under human care. Chemical acaricides such as permethrins and fipronil, widely used in veterinary medicine for mite and tick control, are contraindicated in scorpions. Since mites and scorpions both belong to the class Arachnida, even minimal exposure can result in severe toxicity or death. Neem oil ( Azadirachta indica ) has been widely recognized for its acaricidal, antibacterial, and antifungal properties. Its main compound, azadirachtin, interferes with mite development and reproduction, leading to reduced infestations and egg viability. This study evaluated the efficacy and safety of a 1...

THE CURIOUS LIFE OF A SOCIAL PSEUDOSCORPION

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Paratemnoides nidificator adults and nymphs interacting in and around a cooperatively constructed silken brood chamber. © José Roberto Peruca, 2015 (CC-BY-2.0)

THE CURIOUS LIFE OF A SOCIAL PSEUDOSCORPION

Travelling through Brazil you find yourself in the Cerrado, a vast tropical savannah just southeast of the Amazon rainforest. Stopping under one of the trees, you sit down for a quick rest and to take in the natural beauty around you. Your eye then caches the movement of a fly landing on the rough bark of the tree and, ever ready as you are, you reach for your camera and inch closer to try and take a good macro photo. While getting the insect into focus you notice the fly begins to struggle, though at first you fail to see why. It is then that you notice a myriad of small, scorpion-like pincers emerging from the crevices in the bark around the fly, grasping at it and keeping it from flying away. Then you see the owners of the pincers emerge, one or two at first then more and more as they grow bolder. Before you are tiny creatures that look like a scorpion without its tail, furiously working together trying to subdue the fly before dragging it under the bark where they emerged from. What you have just witnessed is an extremely rare event… cooperative hunting in pseudoscorpions.