In 2020, scientists with the American Chemical Society set out to identify fluorescent molecules in addition to previously identified β-carboline and 7-hydroxy-4-methylcoumarin, which scientists knew existed in the hard outer shell, or exoskeleton. For example, if one is hiding under a rock, they won’t be able to “ see” the UV rays with their body. Scorpions whose eyes were blocked reacted to UV light in much the same way as those whose eyes were unblocked, which suggests that molecules in the exoskeleton may “function as a whole-body photon collector, transducing UV light to cyan-green before relaying this information the central nervous system.” In essence, scorpions “see” with their entire body and may use this ability to detect shelter. In 2012, Douglas Gaffin from the University of Oklahoma expanded upon Klook’s work to determine how scorpions react to ultraviolet and blue-green light both when the arachnid’s eyes are blocked and unblocked. They may have eight eyes, but it appears that scorpions “see” with their entire body. “Because night-time levels of UV light correlate with the Moon phase, this could enable the creatures to detect moonlight and remain obscured on moonlit nights,” according to a 2010 article published in Nature describing the study. This means that the fluorescence ability potentially aids in the detection of and response to UV light, and may potentially help them to hide from predators. It was determined that scorpions exposed to more fluorescent light reduced their activity and tended to stay more stationary. In 2010, Klook and a team at the California State University in Bakersfield described a study in the Journal of Arachnology in which more than a dozen female scorpions were exposed to various types and combinations of light, including UV, infrared, and white light to see how active they would be under certain conditions. The leading theory, however, is that a scorpion’s ability to fluoresce is likely a defense mechanism that helps the arachnid detect and avoid light. It might also be some sort of sunscreen or a means of communication. The glowing could be a “relic trait” that was once an evolutionary necessity that is no longer needed. But scorpions present a special enigma: Why?īiologist Carl Klook has presented a number of theories. Other species of insects also glow under UV light, including species of spiders, lightning bugs, and centipedes.
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