Dune scorpion
{{Short description|Species of scorpion}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Smeringurus mesaensis.jpg
| genus = Smeringurus
| species = mesaensis
| authority = (Stahnke, 1957)
}}
Smeringurus mesaensis, also known as the dune scorpion or giant sand scorpion, is a species of scorpion in the family Vaejovidae.{{cite book|last=Gardiner|first=Mary|title=Good Garden Bugs: Everything You Need to Know about Beneficial Predatory Insects|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YPv6CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA157|accessdate=8 July 2017|date=2015|publisher=Quarry Books|isbn=9781592539093|pages=157–}} It is common in the deserts of the southwestern United States.{{Cite web|url=http://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Smeringurus_mesaensis/|title=BioKIDS - Kids' Inquiry of Diverse Species,|last=Web|first=Animal Diversity|website=www.biokids.umich.edu|language=en|access-date=2017-07-08}}
Description
The dune scorpion is approximately 72 mm in length and 2.0 g in mass.{{Cite web|url=http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Smeringurus_mesaensis/|title=ADW: : INFORMATION|website=Animal Diversity Web|language=en|access-date=2017-07-08}}
Behaviour and ecology
Smeringurus mesaensis is fossorial and solitary, though young will aggregate shortly after dispersing from their mother. Females of this species are typically larger than males,{{Cite book|title=The Biology of Scorpions|last=Polis|first=Gary|publisher=Stanford University Press|year=1990|isbn=|location=|pages=161–223}} with males traveling to find females during mating season.{{Cite web|url=http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Smeringurus_mesaensis/|title=ADW: : INFORMATION|website=Animal Diversity Web|language=en|access-date=2017-07-08}} They are nocturnal creatures, active between 9 p.m. and 3 a.m., accounting for their daytime invisibility.{{Citation|last=Stockmann|first=Roland|title=Introduction to Scorpion Biology and Ecology|date=2015|url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6404-0_14|work=Scorpion Venoms|pages=25–59|editor-last=Gopalakrishnakone|editor-first=P.|series=Toxinology|place=Dordrecht|publisher=Springer Netherlands|language=en|doi=10.1007/978-94-007-6404-0_14|isbn=978-94-007-6404-0|access-date=2021-10-28|editor2-last=Possani|editor2-first=Lourival D.|editor3-last=F. Schwartz|editor3-first=Elisabeth|editor4-last=Rodríguez de la Vega|editor4-first=Ricardo C.|url-access=subscription}}