---
title: "What the sources say about the Deathstalker Scorpion | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "41 claims from the Deathstalker Scorpion profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
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---

# What the sources say about the Deathstalker Scorpion (*Leiurus quinquestriatus*)

> 41 claims from the Deathstalker Scorpion profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Deathstalker Scorpion](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/deathstalker-scorpion/)

## Leiurus quinquestriatus. Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.

https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Leiurus_quinquestriatus/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| A desert scorpion about as long as a credit card | Deathstalkers are large venomous scorpions measuring 80 to 110 mm in length (note: Credit card (85.6 mm) is the writer's everyday comparison for 80 to 110 mm.) |
| one of the most dangerous on Earth | Because of their potent venom, deathstalkers are one of the most dangerous scorpions on Earth. |
| whose venom yielded chlorotoxin | Chlorotoxin originally isolated from venom of deathstalkers is used in cancer research. |
| a peptide used in cancer research | Chlorotoxin originally isolated from venom of deathstalkers is used in cancer research. |
| Arid and hyper-arid desert of north-east Africa, from Algeria and Niger to Sudan and Somalia | Members of the nominal subspeices L. quinquestriatus quinquestriatus are found in northeastern Africa as far west as Algeria and Niger, as far south as Sudan, and as far west as Somalia. (note: stats.habitat drops ADW's 'and the Middle East': the 2014 Lowe revision elevated the Middle Eastern subspecies (L. q. hebraeus) to its own species, L. hebraeus, so only the nominal (African) subspecies range is claimed for L. quinquestriatus. The 'arid and hyper-arid desert' wording is the next claim, quoting ADW's Habitat section.) |
| arid and hyper-arid desert | Deathstalkers are found in arid and hyper-arid regions of North Africa and the Middle East. |
| Insects, spiders, centipedes, earthworms, and other scorpions | Scorpions, including deathstalkers, generally consume small insects, spiders, centipedes, earthworms, and other scorpions. (note: stats.diet is a compact list field (site convention, e.g. mantis-shrimp.mdx's diet field), not a full sentence, so ADW's 'generally' qualifier is dropped the way every other profile's diet list drops its source's hedges.) |
| Not Evaluated | Deathstalkers have not been evaluated by the IUCN, US Fish and Wildlife Service, or CITES. ... IUCN Red List: Not Evaluated (note: No Red List assessment exists (source pack: GBIF/Crossref search came up empty). ADW's own IUCN field confirms Not Evaluated.) |
| a scorpion in the family Buthidae, yellowish in color with brown spots on its tail | Family Buthidae ... Deathstalkers are large venomous scorpions measuring 80 to 110 mm in length and weigh 1.0 to 2.5 g. They are yellowish in color with brown spots on the metasomal segment V (note: The metasoma is the tail; ADW places the spots on its segment V.) |
| An adult runs 80 to 110 millimeters long, about the length of a credit card or a little more, and weighs just 1 to 2.5 grams, about as much as a few paperclips | Deathstalkers are large venomous scorpions measuring 80 to 110 mm in length and weigh 1.0 to 2.5 g. (note: Credit card (85.6 mm) and 'a few paperclips' (about 0.5 g each) are the writer's everyday comparisons.) |
| Animal Diversity Web calls it one of the most dangerous scorpions on Earth because of its potent venom | Because of their potent venom, deathstalkers are one of the most dangerous scorpions on Earth. |
| In north-east Africa it is recorded from Algeria and Niger to Sudan and Somalia | Members of the nominal subspeices L. quinquestriatus quinquestriatus are found in northeastern Africa as far west as Algeria and Niger, as far south as Sudan, and as far west as Somalia. (note: ADW (2012) gives this range for the nominal subspecies. Lowe et al. 2014 elevated the Middle Eastern subspecies (next claims), so only the African range is kept.) |
| where it lives in arid and hyper-arid desert | Deathstalkers are found in arid and hyper-arid regions of North Africa and the Middle East. |
| Its Middle Eastern subspecies | Members of the subspeices L. quinquestriatus hebraeus are found throughout the Middle East as far north as Turkey, east to Iran, and south to Oman and Yemen. |
| Deathstalkers are nocturnal, a habit that helps them manage heat and water balance in dry habitats | Deathstalkers are nocturnal, which helps manage temperature and water balance, important functions for survival in dry habitats. |
| They shelter under rocks, move into another animal's abandoned burrow, or dig one of their own, about 20 centimeters below a rock | They generally reside under rocks or in abandoned burrows of other animals. They also create their own burrows about 20 cm below rocks. |
| Scorpions do not see well, and deathstalkers hunt by touch: tiny slit-shaped sensory organs near the tips of their legs pick up vibrations in the sand or soil, which help them judge the direction and distance of prey | they do not have good vision. Scorpions, including deathstalkers, utilize their sense of touch to navigate and hunt, using their pectines and other organs. They have tiny slit-like tarsal sensory organs near the tips of their legs which help detect vibrations in the sand or soil. These organs can help provide information regarding the direction and distance from potential prey. |
| They generally eat small insects, spiders, centipedes, earthworms, and other scorpions, using their pincers to crush a catch and pull it toward the mouth | Scorpions, including deathstalkers, generally consume small insects, spiders, centipedes, earthworms, and other scorpions. ... Once they capture prey, scorpions use their larger pincers to crush and draw prey toward the mouth. (note: The pincer sentence is in the same Food Habits paragraph that opens 'Scorpions, including deathstalkers'.) |
| Chlorotoxin, a toxin originally isolated from deathstalker venom, is used in cancer research | Chlorotoxin originally isolated from venom of deathstalkers is used in cancer research. (note: ADW (2012) states the origin at species level; DeBin et al. 1993 (Am J Physiol, 10.1152/ajpcell.1993.264.2.c361), which purified it, names only 'Leiurus quinquestriatus' in its abstract, so which of today's Leiurus species supplied the venom is not settled by the sources on disk.) |
| Little is known about how deathstalkers breed, but a female gives birth to 35 to 87 live young | Little is known about the specific reproductive behavior of deathstalkers. After a gestation period of 122 to 277 days (average 185), females give birth to 35 to 87 offspring (average 62.7). Key Reproductive Features sexual sexual fertilization fertilization external external viviparous |
| Deathstalkers are themselves commonly eaten by members of their own species and by other scorpions, and centipedes and vertebrates prey on them too. Death rates are high right after birth | Deathstalkers are commonly preyed upon members of their own speices and by other scorpions. Other invertebrate predators (e.g. centipedes) and vertebrates also prey on deathstalkers. They have high mortality directly after birth. |
| It reads the direction and distance of prey from vibrations picked up by slit-shaped sensory organs near the tips of its legs | They have tiny slit-like tarsal sensory organs near the tips of their legs which help detect vibrations in the sand or soil. These organs can help provide information regarding the direction and distance from potential prey. (note: vibe.reason, settled in #780: replaces the unsourced 130 cm/s strike figure) |
| like a hunter that works by touch | Scorpions, including deathstalkers, utilize their sense of touch to navigate and hunt (note: vibe.reason) |
| tags: nocturnal | Deathstalkers are nocturnal, which helps manage temperature and water balance, important functions for survival in dry habitats. (note: #780: tagMetadata 'foraging and hunting under darkness to avoid daytime heat') |

## Lowe, Yağmur & Kovařík (2014). A review of the genus Leiurus Ehrenberg, 1828 (Scorpiones: Buthidae) with description of four new species from the Arabian Peninsula. Euscorpius.

https://doi.org/10.18590/euscorpius.2014.vol2014.iss191.1

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| was raised to a separate species, Leiurus hebraeus, in 2014 | L . quinquestriatus hebraeus (Birula, 1908) is elevated to species level as L . hebraeus (Birula, 1908) stat. n. (note: 2014 is the paper's publication year (Euscorpius 191).) |

## Deshane, Garner & Sontheimer (2003). Chlorotoxin Inhibits Glioma Cell Invasion via Matrix Metalloproteinase-2. Journal of Biological Chemistry.

https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.m205662200

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| A venom peptide, chlorotoxin, that binds brain tumor cells | Chlorotoxin is a scorpion toxin that specifically binds to the surface of glioma cells and impairs their ability to invade. |
| It binds to the surface of glioma cells, a type of brain tumor, and impairs their ability to invade nearby tissue | Primary brain tumors (gliomas) have the unusual ability to diffusely infiltrate the normal brain thereby evading surgical treatment. Chlorotoxin is a scorpion toxin that specifically binds to the surface of glioma cells and impairs their ability to invade. |
| Researchers traced that binding to a protein called matrix metalloproteinase-2, or MMP-2, which gliomas make more of than usual but the healthy brain does not normally make | We isolated and identified the principal Cltx receptor on the surface of glioma cells as matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2). MMP-2 is specifically up-regulated in gliomas and related cancers, but is not normally expressed in brain. (note: 'make more of than usual' paraphrases 'up-regulated'.) |
| Glioma cells are studded with a surface protein, matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2), that the healthy brain does not normally make, and chlorotoxin fits that protein almost like a key | We isolated and identified the principal Cltx receptor on the surface of glioma cells as matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2). MMP-2 is specifically up-regulated in gliomas and related cancers, but is not normally expressed in brain. (note: 'studded with' and 'fits almost like a key' are metaphors for 'up-regulated' and 'principal receptor'.) |
| Locking on also blocks the enzyme's work and lowers how much of it sits on the cell surface, and the researchers found those effects can explain how the toxin holds back the tumor cells' invasion of nearby tissue | Importantly, we show that the anti-invasive effect of Cltx on glioma cells can be explained by its interactions with MMP-2. Cltx exerts a dual effect on MMP-2: it inhibits the enzymatic activity of MMP-2 and causes a reduction in the surface expression of MMP-2. |

## Veiseh et al. (2007). Tumor Paint: A Chlorotoxin:Cy5.5 Bioconjugate for Intraoperative Visualization of Cancer Foci. Cancer Research.

https://doi.org/10.1158/0008-5472.can-06-3948

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Attach a near-infrared fluorescent dye to chlorotoxin, and the probe marks tumors apart from the healthy tissue next to them | we developed a chlorotoxin:Cy5.5 (CTX:Cy5.5) bioconjugate that emits near-IR fluorescent signal. The probe delineates malignant glioma, medulloblastoma, prostate cancer, intestinal cancer, and sarcoma from adjacent non-neoplastic tissue in mouse models. (note: The lead-in 'paints its target' echoes the paper's own title, 'Tumor Paint'.) |
| In mouse experiments published in 2007, it outlined gliomas and four other kinds of cancer | The probe delineates malignant glioma, medulloblastoma, prostate cancer, intestinal cancer, and sarcoma from adjacent non-neoplastic tissue in mouse models. (note: 2007 is the paper's publication year. The four other kinds are medulloblastoma, prostate cancer, intestinal cancer and sarcoma.) |
| in which a glowing marker helps surgeons tell tumor from healthy tissue | Toward the goal of developing an optical imaging contrast agent that will enable surgeons to intraoperatively distinguish cancer foci from adjacent normal tissue |

## Patil et al. (2019). Phase 1 Safety, Pharmacokinetics, and Fluorescence Imaging Study of Tozuleristide (BLZ-100) in Adults With Newly Diagnosed or Recurrent Gliomas. Neurosurgery.

https://doi.org/10.1093/neuros/nyz125

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| built into the dye tozuleristide, made gliomas glow in a trial published in 2019 | Tozuleristide (BLZ-100), a near-infrared imaging agent composed of the peptide chlorotoxin ... Fluorescence signal was detected in both high- and low-grade glial tumors (note: 2019 is the paper's publication year.) |
| It is a peptide | composed of the peptide chlorotoxin |
| tozuleristide, which pairs chlorotoxin with a near-infrared dye called indocyanine green | Tozuleristide (BLZ-100), a near-infrared imaging agent composed of the peptide chlorotoxin and a near-infrared fluorophore indocyanine green, is a candidate molecule for FGS of glioma and other tumor types. |
| In a phase 1 trial, an early test of a drug's safety in people, 17 adults with suspected gliomas each received a single dose before surgery | To perform a phase 1 dose-escalation study to characterize the safety, pharmacokinetics, and fluorescence imaging of tozuleristide in adults with suspected glioma. Methods Patients received a single intravenous dose of tozuleristide 3 to 29 h before surgery. Fluorescence images of tumor and cavity in Situ before and after resection and of excised tissue ex Vivo were acquired, along with safety and pharmacokinetic measures. Results A total of 17 subjects received doses between 3 and 30 mg. |
| No dose-limiting side effects were seen, no reported problems were blamed on the drug, and the tumors gave off a fluorescent signal | No dose-limiting toxicity was observed, and no reported adverse events were considered related to tozuleristide. ... Fluorescence signal was detected in both high- and low-grade glial tumors |
| The researchers, publishing in 2019, concluded the dye may be useful for fluorescence-guided surgery | suggest that tozuleristide imaging may be useful for FGS of gliomas. (note: FGS is defined in the abstract's first line as fluorescence-guided surgery; 2019 is the publication year.) |
| A trial published in 2019 gave 17 adults with suspected gliomas a single dose of the chlorotoxin dye tozuleristide, from 3 to 30 milligrams, between 3 and 29 hours before their operation | in adults with suspected glioma. Methods Patients received a single intravenous dose of tozuleristide 3 to 29 h before surgery. ... A total of 17 subjects received doses between 3 and 30 mg. (note: 2019 is the publication year.) |
| No dose caused a safety problem, and cameras picked up a fluorescent glow from the tumors themselves, generally brighter in the more aggressive, higher-grade cases | No dose-limiting toxicity was observed, and no reported adverse events were considered related to tozuleristide. ... Fluorescence signal was detected in both high- and low-grade glial tumors, with high-grade tumors generally showing greater fluorescence intensity compared to lower grade tumors. (note: 'cameras picked up' paraphrases 'Fluorescence images ... were acquired'; 'more aggressive' glosses 'high-grade'.) |