Repertório comportamental do escorpião amarelo Tityus serrulatus Lutz & Mello 1922 (Scorpiones, Buthidae) em cativeiro

Abstract

We intend to provid a first basic ethogram for the study of the scorpion Tityus serrulatus Lutz & Mello, 1922. The study was conducted in laboratory conditions (Laboratório de Experimentação Animal, LEA – UFU) where the animals (13 individuals) were maintained in a terrarium and observed for 110 hours (“ad libitum”), so divided in 18 hours of qualification and 92 hours of quantification of behavioral acts (observations between 06:00am and 01:30am hs, from April to July 2001). Seventeen distinct acts were observed and classified in six groups of activities: resting, exploration, foraging, interactions with cospecific, self-grooming and searching by umidity.
Resting and foraging can be confused due the “ambush” hunting behavior of this species. The use of pectines in a mecano-receptive function can justify a lot of time spent in self-grooming, cleanning the sensitive structures as occurs in other artropods. The long time in captive conditions can stress or to reduce the behavioral acts showed by T. serrulatus.