Spiders, Men and Scorpions

Bugs as drugs, part two: worms, leeches, scorpions, snails, ticks, centipedes, and spiders.

In this second of a two-part series analyzing the evidence for the use of organisms as medicine, the use of a number of different "bugs" (worms, leeches, snails, ticks, centipedes, and spiders) is detailed. Several live organisms are used as treatments: leeches for plastic surgery and osteoarthritis and the helminths Trichuris suis and Necator americanus for inflammatory bowel disease. Leech sa...

Scorpions of Europe

This brief review summarizes the studies in systematics and zoogeography of European scorpions. The current “splitting” trend in scorpion taxonomy is only a reasonable response to the former “lumping.” Our better understanding of scorpion systematics became possible due to the availability of new morphological characters and molecular techniques, as well as of new material. Many taxa and local ...

Scorpions: A Presentation

Scorpions, at least the species of the family Buthidæ whose venoms are better known, appear as animals that have evolved very little over time. The composition of their venoms is relatively simple as most toxins have a common structural motif that is found in other venoms from primitive species. Moreover, all the scorpion venom toxins principally act on membrane ionic channels of excitable cell...

The Scorpions Lose Their Sting

23 While it would appear that the decision to incorporate or subsume the Directorate of Special Operations (or Scorpions), into the South African Police Service (SAPS) is a fait accompli, the process of incorporation will not be straightforward. This is largely because the decision to disband the Scorpions is politically motivated, rather than motivated by practical concerns around the function...

Unconventional substances of abuse: scorpions and lizards.