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Even at the local scale, environmental changes due of anthropogenic actions represent a source of disturbance in terrestrial ecosystems, forcing species to respond according to their ecological plasticity. Thus, stenotopic species and those with low-dispersal ability will likely be negatively affected by landscape modifications that reduce environmental complexity. In this study, we identify and quantify the effects of biotic and abiotic factors related to habitat complexity on the variation in scorpion assemblages in terms of both species’ richness, abundance and composition across 18 transects covering Caatinga landscapes with different levels of degradation. Using ultraviolet flashlights, we sampled 269 scorpions, belonging to six species and two families. The results showed contrasting patterns of species richness and abundance that depend on the level of habitat complexity. More specifically, we reported that scorpion species richness could be predicted by the number of trees, while the coefficient of variation of the diameter at breast height of trees (cvDBH) is a predictor of scorpion abundance. These findings suggest that vegetation structure is deterministic for the maintenance of scorpion assemblages in Caatinga landscapes. In addition, the cvDBH and tree number may explain 39% and 40% of the variability observed amongst scorpion assemblages in terms of richness difference and species composition, respectively. This study provides insights concerning the development of conservation strategies, clarifying the role of habitat complexity for the preservation of low-dispersal animals in neglected environments, such as those within the Caatinga domain.

The montane forests of northeastern Brazil are patches of rainforests, surrounded by xeric vegetation, that originated during the expansion of rainforests in the Pleistocene epoch. Their historical processes make these areas ideal for biogeographical investigations of organisms, particularly in groups with low dispersion and habitat specificity, such as scorpions. We perform a macroecological investigation of the community assembly process of scorpions, disentangling the pattern of β-diversity to test the hypothesis that the similarity in the composition of scorpion fauna in areas of montane forests and coastal rainforests is greater when these localities are geographically close. We also investigated if larger patches of montane forests exhibit a positive species–area relationship. Our results state that species replacement accounts for 71% of the total scorpion β-diversity in montane forest remnants. Additionally, scorpion assemblages were influenced by the spatial arrangement, with a higher similarity between the fauna of montane forests and coastal forests when these areas were geographically close. We did not find a species–area relationship in montane forest patches. The expressive contribution of species replacement to the overall β-diversity may reflect both the high environmental heterogeneity and the historical and independent colonization events that took place in these areas.

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Scorpions can adopt different reproductive strategies (e.g., sexual or parthenogenesis) depending on the environmental conditions. In this study, we described the courtship repertoire of the parthenogenetic scorpion Tityus stigmurus, a species with inconspicuous sexual populations distributed throughout northeastern Brazil. Specimens of both sexes (10 males, 10 females) were obtained from field expeditions in three locations in northeastern Brazil and were paired under laboratory conditions in an intrapopulation design. All observations were conducted at night using red light positioned above an experimental arena. From the 10 courtship interactions observed in this study, only one pair successfully completed the reproductive repertoire that included the insemination process. The incomplete interactions were abruptly terminated by the females immediately after deposition of the spermatophore. Overall, the reproductive repertoire of T. stigmurus was similar to that of other scorpions, especially its congeners, possibly because this reproductive behavior emerged at a basal point in the evolution of scorpions. The acquisition of new insights into the reproductive biology of different scorpion species may improve the theoretical background for applications ranging from evolutionary biology to public health strategies.

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