Arachnibattle: Spiders vs Scorpions

spiders, scorpions, bugs, arachnids, fun, competition, athletic wear

It’s a battle of terrifying arachnids!  Who would you rather face?  Web-spinning spiders, or stinging scorpions?  This battle’s a bit of a catch-22 for anyone who isn’t an arachnid enthusiast, but if you want to get those bonuses, you’ll have to choose one to compete on June 8!

Spiders

  • All spiders have eight legs and have fancy jaws called chelicerae, which contain venom and fangs with which to deposit it
  • Spiders rank seventh in species diversity, and can be found on every continent except for Antarctica.  So if you’re extremely arachnophobia, now you know where to go!
  • Arguably the most dangerous spider is the Brazilian wandering spider, also sometimes known as the banana spider, because they sometimes like to hitchhike across the globe in boxes of bananas.  If their venom gets into the blood stream, the neurotoxin produced by these spiders is 20x more deadly than that of the black widow.  Fortunately, there is an effective antivenom for bites by this spider, so if you’re ever bitten just make sure to get yourself to a hospital asap.

Scorpions

  • Like spiders, all scorpions have 8 legs.  They are easily recognizable by their segmented tails which end in a venomous stinger.
  • Also like spiders, scorpions can be found on every continent except Antarctica.  Time to buy that plane ticket!
  • One of the most dangerous species of scorpions is the terrifyingly named “deathstalker” which has a low lethal dose of it’s cocktail of neurotoxins.  These toxins include chlorotoxin, charybdotoxin, scllatoxin, and agitoxins types 1, 2 and 3.  These guys are usually found in desert habitats within North Africa and the Middle East.
  • If you’re a Scorpio, your star sign is (perhaps unsurpisingly) based on the scorpion!  According to Greek Mythology, a scorpion was sent to kill Orion after his braggadocios attitude pissed off a bunch of other Greek gods and goddesses.  The mission was successful.

So which team will it be?  Pick your favorite deadly arachnid and let the competition begin!

The battle begins June 8 at 11am ET and runs for 24 hours.

The usual bonuses
Earn 5,000 points – 2,500 bonus
Earn 15,000 points – 5,000 bonus
Earn 25,000 points – 10,000 bonus
For every 25,000 points above 25,000 – 5,000 bonus
Member of winning team (if you’ve scored at least 2,500 points) – 10,000 bonus
Highest scorer on each team – 5,000 bonus
Player with #1 overall score – 10,000 bonus
Player with #2 overall score – 5,000 bonus
Player with #3 overall score – 2,500 bonus

Artwork by Daniela Gamba