What kind of scorpion is Pepe?
Pepe is a female bark scorpion, Centruroides exilicauda and came to us from Nogales, Sonora, on February 27, 1997. Unfortuately she died on August 6, 1997, probably due to having been delivered in a small unventilated jar with soil smelling of oil.		  pepe1
Is this the first two-tailed scorpion?
Other accounts of two-tailed scorpions exist and several museums and universities have preserved specimens in their collections. (For a list of other species that have been noted with two tails, see the list below) In fact, two-tailed scorpions were once thought to be in their own group, apart from scorpions with one tail!Do both tails move?
Here at the Sonoran Arthropod Studies Institute,we have observed that both telsons (tails) are capable of movement and are held either crossed over one another or arched side-by-side. Pepe exhibits behaviors similar to other bark scorpions such as walking upside down beneath objects and holding the body very flat on the ground.

Is one tail dominant over the other?
In one observation of Pepe using her tails to subdue a cricket, the right tail appeared to be the tool of choice. Upon approaching the cricket, Pepe grabbed its abdomen with the left claw and pierced the cricket with her right tail. About ten minutes later, Pepe stung the cricket again with the right tail. More observations are needed to study tail usage and behavior.
pepe2 Does Pepe “Glow” like other scorpions underneath a UV light?
Yes, Pepe fluoresces in ultraviolet light just like other scorpions do. The number of described scorpion species has increased dramatically since this phenomenon was discovered and used to locate scorpions at night.
Has Pepe given birth?
Pepe just gave birth on Friday, June 6th. By the next day, she had about twelve babies on her back and some had been eaten (not uncommon for scorpions.) And to answer the question you are all wondering…NO, none of the babies had two tails.List of other scorpions where two tails have been noted:
(From Sissom, W. David and Rowland M. Shelley. 1995. Report on a rare developmental anomaly in the scorpion, Centruroides vittatus (Buthidae) The Journal of Arachnology, 23:199-201. Please refer to this paper for citations concerning the following list.

Euscorpius germanus, E. carpathicus, Buthacus leptochelys, Androctonus crassicauda, Hottentotta alticola, Centruroides infamatus, C. gracilus, C. margaritatus, C. exilicauda, C. vittatus

 

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