What do you think of when you think of scorpions? It may be a negative word such as poison, horror, etc. Scorpions are characterized by their long, slender bodies, crayfish, curved and segmented tails, and stingers on their tails. Scorpions are an ancient creature, with ancestors dating back 430 million years. There are about 1700 kinds of scorpion species in the world, and there are 15 species distributed in China, and it is worth noting that any kind of scorpion is poisonous, but the size of the toxicity is different.
Scorpions generally prefer to live in some places that are not dry and wet, and the vegetation is relatively sparse, and they are accustomed to living in some natural crevices and caves, so the scorpions in China are mainly distributed in the northern region.
The most famous scorpion in the country is headed by the Hebei whole scorpion, which occupies the top spot in the market price of major medicinal materials all year round.
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The scorpion is a carnivorous animal, generally feeding on invertebrates, such as spiders and centipedes, etc., which mainly rely on the auditory hairs on the tentacles to find the location of prey, and then prey on them through the poisonous needles on their tails. Wild scorpions are small pest control experts, a scorpion can consume tens of thousands of pests a year, and its role in ecological protection is very huge. The average scorpion's toxin is enough to put down insects, but for humans it may only produce some intense burning and pain
Scorpions are animals that are afraid of strong light stimulation, so their main habit is to lie diurnal and nocturnal. Because they like to live in groups, they also have the habit of recognizing me and knowing the group. Because scorpions are warm animals, they have a strong tolerance for changes in the outside temperature, have the habit of hibernating, hibernate for about 6 months throughout the year, and like to travel at warm and windless nights with dry ground.
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In folk, scorpions are a rare nourishing tonic and are loved by people. It is said that 5,000 tons of scorpions circulate in the medicinal market every year, part of which is used for medicinal purposes and some of which is eaten. The annual artificial breeding of scorpions in China is only about 100 tons, and there is a serious shortage of supply and demand in the market. Therefore, many people will secretly hunt scorpions in the wild to sell in the market.
The largest area of wild scorpion production in China is Hebei and Henan, and the distribution of scorpions in Shandong, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Anhui and other provinces is also relatively extensive, and the more well-known scorpion species are Chinese wolf scorpion, Liaokel scorpion and whole scorpion.
The whole scorpion belongs to the East Asian pincer scorpion and is a very important raw material for Chinese medicinal materials. A complete whole scorpion is 6 cm long throughout and the body is generally divided into three parts: cephalothorax, anterior abdomen and hindibular abdomen. Whole scorpions are usually artificially raised for medicinal purposes, and are also the most widely distributed scorpions in China. In the case of artificial breeding, the whole scorpion can breed 3 times a year, and the number of pups produced each time is between 40-60.
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In the case of the whole scorpion, its most essential medicinal use lies in its toxin. Scorpion venom contains not only neurotoxins but also cytotoxins, which have great prospects in human biological research. Scientific studies have shown that toxins account for 75% of the total protein in the whole scorpion toxin, as well as toxic proteins, hyaluronidase, biological amines and other components. It will have a very important role in the future of human research on a variety of diseases.
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Later, someone seemed to see a business opportunity in the scorpion market. Some people eat scorpions directly, some people take them into medicine, some people take them to brew wine, and the price of scorpions soars due to severe market shortages. So some people began to think of wild scorpions, hunting in the scorpion-infested mountain forest. At night, you may even use all the flashlights at the top of the village to catch scorpions on the mountain and sell them.
And these scorpions are likely to be collected and acquired, which is indeed a considerable income for those who catch scorpions. However, under the overfishing of people, it is found that the size of the scorpion is getting smaller and smaller, if the hunt continues, may the wild scorpion be locally extinct?
As things stand, there seems to be no relevant laws and regulations to stop the relevant behavior, and law enforcement departments can only carry out moral dissuasion. However, the ecological disaster brought by indiscriminate hunting of scorpions is very large, and the reduction of the number of scorpions will lead to pests that cannot be eliminated and may erupt in a short period of time.
Are we still not protecting scorpions because they are still numerous? One day we come back to God, but these scorpions are long gone.
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