Brazil under attack from growing number of scorpions

Brazilians are being threatened by an eight-legged predator that is spreading like wildfire in the country. Scorpions, the poisonous arachnids with a stinger and a pair of grasping pincers, are growing in numbers because of the warming temperatures and urbanisation.

Scorpions have become the most lethal poisonous animal in Brazil, triggering a demand for antivenom across the country. Brazil is home to the Brazilian yellow scorpion, the most dangerous scorpion in South America.

Controlling their population is a huge problem since this species comprises only females who reproduce asexually. The changing climate had led them to eat more and reproduce more.

"With a warming habitat, these animals' metabolisms are also warming, so they are more active, eating more and reproducing more," Thiago Chiariello, production coordinator of the scorpion antivenom lab at Brazil's Instituto Butantan in Sao Paulo, said.

Urbanisation is another factor leading to the increase in their numbers since scorpions' natural predators lizards and birds are leaving such regions, leading them to thrive. Scorpions also have more cockroaches to feed on because of the growing trash in cities.

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"Cities are growing unchecked" and the spread of trash they bring means more food supply for scorpions, Chiariello said.

People are encountering more and more scorpions, leading to more reports of being stung by the arachnid.

"This is leading to more contact with people, which means more accidents."

According to Brazil's health ministry, more than 200,000 scorpion sting incidents were registered last year, a 250 per cent increase from a decade earlier. As per data, 152 people died of scorpion stings in Brazil in 2023, and 140 from snakebites. In 2019, 95 deaths by scorpion sting were recorded.

Scorpion stings can lead to several other problems. Healthy adults might get mild to moderate symptoms from a Brazilian yellow scorpion sting, including pain, vomiting, profuse sweating and tremors.

Severe symptoms include shock, fluid build-up in the lungs, cardiovascular collapse and heart failure.