A chemical cocktail!

The Australian rainforest scorpion (Liocheles waigiensis) has been found to be able to tweak the chemical profile of its venom following just weeks of exposure to a predator. The scorpion appears to do this to tailor its cocktail of venom toxins to deter predators that threaten it, rather than to hunt its preferred prey, insects.

In an experiment, researchers presented scorpions in the laboratory with a taxidermied mouse to mimic a mammalian predator in the wild. They simulated mouse attacks on the scorpions three times a week for five weeks. Towards the end of the experiment, the researchers found that the venom chemistry of predator-exposed scorpions differed from that of the unexposed scorpions.

In exposed scorpions they found a relative increase in the production of some toxins that specifically target mammalian cells. Exposure to the dummy predator also decreased the production of toxins that scorpions use to catch prey such as insects. The venom cocktail contains toxins to deter predators, as well as to immobilise prey. The scorpion tries to use its venom as efficiently as possible.

The scorpion is found in Asia (Aru Islands, Indonesia, Moluccas, Papua New Guinea, Philippines), Australia (Queensland east coast from the border with NSW to the tip of the Cape, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, New Caledonia and some small islands north of Australia.

---

Josh the scorpion grumbled under his breath. He was quite irritated with everyone, and was in a terribly bad mood. His claws were itching for a fight and his tail, with its sting, was swinging wildly. He didn’t know how he had managed to control himself at the party.

A knock came at the entrance to his small rocky cave, his home. It was Mr. Rabbit, his friend. “Hey Josh, don’t take it too hard”, he called. “Those guys are idiots. Come on out and join us at the party again!”

What! Join the party again, when he had been humiliated and laughed at? Never! “Just go away, Rabbit!” he shouted back. “I don’t want to see any of their faces again!”

“You don’t have to talk to them”, said Rabbit patiently. “You can be with us, you needn’t—”

Rabbit’s sentence was cut short by a babble of other excited voices. Who were they? Josh listened intently, only to find his anger rising multi-fold.

“Hey Scorpion coward, come on out”, it was the Tarantula spider which had provoked him earlier too, during the party. “Let’s have a look at that useless Chemistry degree of yours!”

Loud raucous laughter followed this statement. “We didn’t know you were such a geek till Centi told us!” came another voice. It was the lizard. “What’s that degree of yours doing now? Laying eggs in your house?”

The whole lot of them laughed again. Rabbit was trying to plead with them to go back. Centi the centipede, in his high squeaky voice, was trying to act smart too.

“Josh is such a wimp”, he declared, shedding tears of laughter. “He caught me that day to eat me, but let me go when I threatened him with my sting!”

Josh cursed the day he had let the centipede go free. He had caught the centipede to eat him alright, but the centipede had cried and whimpered and pleaded, and in the end, Josh had just let him go, settling for a lesser meal of a few beetles.

And that was when the centipede had seen the framed certificate of a Masters degree in Chemistry hanging on the wall of Josh’s home, and also all the laboratory apparatus of test tubes and chemicals which he kept to conduct experiments. The ungrateful centipede, had later befriended the Tarantula and the lizard, and joined them in making fun of him.

Josh wanted to go out and fight, but then he would have to fight with all three of them at once. Poor Rabbit wouldn’t be able to help him much. At last, he just went and rolled a huge rock over the entrance, to drown out the voices.

Josh glared at the Chemistry degree certificate that hung crooked on the wall. “Stupid degree”, he muttered. “It’s all your fault, Dad!” he shouted angrily, to no one in particular. His father was long dead and gone.

“I did it for you, and now these idiots are making fun of me. But I guess they are right”, he was speaking to himself now. “What use is the degree to me now? I don’t do anything with it!”

Josh was an Australian Rainforest Scorpion, and mostly preferred to keep to himself. He usually went out only to hunt, and had just a few friends. Even with his prey, he never used his sting unless really needed.

But his quiet nature seemed to make everyone take him for granted. He was often called a coward, a passive animal, a loser, and what not. The party was the last straw.

Josh hated going out. He didn’t step out of his house for ten days. Rabbit, however, came everyday to ask about his well being. He spoke to Rabbit without opening the door, but poor Rabbit persisted in his efforts.

At long last, when he finally decided to make an appearance, the first he met was the lizard. “Hey loser”, called the lizard. “You won’t live long”, he sniggered. “You have new enemies in the neighbourhood.”

Josh ignored the jibe. “Very soon it will be bye-bye for you!” called the lizard again. “My enemies are your enemies as well, lizard”, said Josh coolly.

“Oh, but you’re the loser who’s going to be eaten up”, said the lizard confidently. “I have enough defences to keep myself safe. Ooohhh, there comes one!”

Before Josh could react, the lizard disappeared behind a bush and he was left all alone to face the new predator that came there. It was shrew, and it was almost on Josh before he could find a place to hide.

The shrew, a small, mouse like animal, was still quite bigger than Josh, and quite scary too. The shrew seemed in no mood to give up. It had spotted Josh, and it pushed over the rock to expose him. Josh had no option but to fight.

He scuttled away a little, then stung his enemy. But the pain of the sting seemed temporary. Why wasn’t his venom affecting the shrew? The shrew continued to chase him. Josh ran for his life. He scuttled into his home just in time, out of reach of the shrew.

Josh stayed inside for some time, but he was feeling hungry. How could he go on like this? He had to go out and hunt. But with bigger animals out on the prowl for him, he would become a meal first! He waited till night fell, hoping to find a cricket or two in the dark.

But as soon as he stepped out, his next enemy appeared. It was an owl. “Whoooooo”, it said, before swooping down on him silently, its wings sweeping smoothly in the dead night. This time, Josh was caught. Once again, he managed to give a sting to the owl, but it only gave him a momentary advantage. The owl dropped him, but didn’t give up on his chase.

Josh ran to his home, panting and panicking. Why wasn’t his venom working? The sting was for emergencies, and that was simply not effective. What would he do now? That was when his eyes fell on the Chemistry certificate of his. Well, here was something he could do…

A few weeks later, he walked out in the bright daylight ready for the kill. His tormentors, the tarantula, the lizard and the centipede were already there, ready to taunt him for his retreat the previous day.

He ignored them, and waited for his enemies to make a move. Soon enough, the shrew appeared again. This time, instead of running away, Josh put up a fight, and gave a hard sting to the shrew.

The shrew writhed in pain and shrank away. In the evening, it was the owl’s turn. Josh’s new and improved venom gave him a sting that he would never forget.

The next day, Rabbit came to see him. “Did you hear? The Tarantula, the lizard and the centipede are all dead. I believe the owl and the shrew and some other new animals in the neighbourhood hunted them and killed them. How did you escape?”

Josh gave a furtive smile. He had tweaked his venom a little bit with his knowledge in chemistry, and tailor-made it to suit his new enemies. His Chemistry degree hadn’t been a waste after all!