Life Cycle of Arizona Scorpions

Mating

• Scorpions often mate at night, usually in spring, fall or early summer. The male scorpion grasps the female scorpion's pincers with his own to prevent her from attacking him. The male scorpion then leads the female in a courtship dance that can last anywhere from a few hours to a few days. The male scorpion deposits his sperm packet on the ground and maneuvers the female scorpion's abdomen over the sperm deposit. The female absorbs the sperm through her genital opening, located underneath her abdomen, and stores it for later use. The sperm is usually stored for a year until the female uses it to fertilize her eggs the following summer.

Birth

• Scorpions have a gestation period that lasts from several months to a year, depending on the exact species of scorpion. Female scorpions give birth during the summer months. Depending on the species of scorpion, a single female scorpion produces anywhere between 6 and 90 young. The scorpions are born live and climb onto their mother's back. The young scorpions continue to develop while they live on their mother's back. If the young fall off the mother's back they become prey, even to their own mother.

Molting

• The young stay on their mother's back until their first molt, which typically happens 7 to 21 days after their birth. Molting is the shedding of the old exoskeleton so a new exoskeleton can be secreted and the scorpion can continue to grow. Once the young scorpions leave their mother's back, they live a completely independent life. Young scorpions molt about six times before they reach maturity. Most scorpions take one to six years to reach maturity. The molting process requires a lot of energy and the scorpion is vulnerable to predators for a few days after molting until the new exoskeleton hardens.

Life Span and Maturity

• Some species of scorpions can live 10 to 15 years, although most species only live three to five years. Scorpions molt a total of 6 to 10 times during their lifetime. A difficult molt, often due to too much or too little humidity, can result in loss of limbs or death. Many young scorpions in captivity often die during the molting process.