(YAHOO) – Forget snakes, it’s scorpions Brazilians most need to worry about. The arachnids – feared for the toxic stinger poised atop their tails – are proliferating thanks to urbanization and warming temperatures.
The result is that scorpions have become the most lethal poisonous animal in Brazil, posing a growing danger for people across the whole country – and spurring demand for antivenom.
The most widely found species in the country, the Brazilian yellow scorpion, is the most dangerous scorpion in South America. Unusually for scorpions, this all-female species also reproduces asexually, reducing population-control options.