Deathstalker
Leiurus quinquestriatus
— Where the name comes from
Leiurus is Greek for “smooth tail”, from leîos, smooth, and ourá, tail; quinquestriatus is Latin, “five-striped”. The English name, deathstalker, sums up its reputation: it is one of the most venomous scorpions in the world, pale yellow as the sand it lives on.
— Facts
- Group
- Arachnids · Arachnida
- Order
- Scorpions
- Habitat
- Desert and arid steppe
- Range
- North Africa and the Middle East
- Size
- 8–11 cm
- Diet
- Carnivore — insects and other arthropods
- Lifespan
- 4–5 years
— Characteristics
- 01
The venom is a cocktail of neurotoxins among the most potent in its order.
- 02
It glows an intense fluorescent blue under ultraviolet light, as all scorpions do.
- 03
It hunts at night and spends the day hidden under stones or in burrows.
— What sets it apart
The deathstalker’s formidable venom has turned out to be a treasure house for medicine: it contains a molecule that binds selectively to brain tumour cells, from which a “luminous paint” has been made that lights cancer up during surgery, helping surgeons tell diseased tissue from healthy. Like all scorpions, it also glows blue under ultraviolet light, for reasons still mysterious: perhaps their own bodies work as light detectors.
