Upon venturing into an “abandoned” house, one man discovered it wasn’t actually abandoned at all. On the contrary, it was filled to capacity – with scorpions.
The man shared the bizarre, spine-chilling video on social media, where it instantly went viral, amassing thousands upon thousands of likes and comments across multiple platforms.
It’s been shared so many times, in fact, that the origin of the video is unclear. The man’s Portuguese accent, however, led many users to believe the video came from Brazil, which would mean the countless critters littering the floors and walls of the home are Tityus serrulatus, or yellow scorpions, the species native to the South American country.
Man finds thousands of scorpions in an abandoned house pic.twitter.com/qLqY6Yzp8A
— OddIy Terrifying (@OTerrifying) January 31, 2023
Now, here’s the special thing about yellow scorpions. Unlike their many, many relatives (there are around 2200 species total worldwide), yellow scorpions are parthenogenetic. This is a very rare phenomenon that allows the females of the species to reproduce asexually! Extremely useful for rapid reproduction and the hostile takeovers of abandoned buildings that occur as a result.
“I’m from Brazil, the same country of the video,” one user wrote. “We do have a problem with the occasional scorpion crawling out of the sewer like a cockroach. We also have a saying, ‘Good thing God doesn’t give the snake wings.'”
How Dangerous Are Scorpions?
Scorpions are among the most unsettling creatures on Earth in terms of appearance alone. Thankfully, though, they’re not nearly as vicious as they appear. Out of the more than 2,000 species of scorpions, only 30-40 have venom strong enough to kill humans.
Unfortunately for the man behind the camera (and whoever owns the building), however, yellow scorpions fall into the deadly category. A species of the family Buthidae, yellow scorpions are the most dangerous in South America and responsible for the most fatal stings.
Now, scorpions rarely deliver such a strong dose of venom when they sting, but some 3,000 people still die from stings annually. To put that into perspective, that’s about 10 times the number of people killed by venomous snakes per year.
Antivenin does exist for scorpion stings. However, it’s not 100 percent effective and can actually do more harm than good by triggering fatal allergic reactions.
Despite its deadly nature, scientists believe scorpion venom could actually be a medical miracle waiting to be put to use. “Scorpion venom may not only be a medical threat to human health but could prove to be a valuable source of bioactive molecules that may serve as leads for the development of new therapies against current and emerging diseases,” the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) explained.
