Tityus serrulatus is the most medically important scorpion in Brazil, responsible for a growing number of accidents in urban areas. Despite its relevance, little is known about the population dynamics of this species in anthropogenic habitats and how abiotic factors shape its abundance and reproduction. We analyzed long-term data (2006–2013) from T. serrulatus collected in an urban cemetery in Americana, São Paulo State, Brazil. Using spatio-temporal mixed models, we evaluated the effects of temperature and humidity at the graves on the abundance of brooded and non-brooded individuals, as well as on the ratio between them. A total of 21,489 individuals were recorded, including 463 brooded individuals. While total abundance remained relatively stable across seasons, non-brooded individuals increased mainly with humidity, and brooded individuals increased with temperature. The ratio of brooded to non-brooded individuals increased as overall abundance declined, indicating a potential density-dependent feedback on reproduction. Possibly, this pattern reflects the interaction between climatic and biotic factors. Tityus serrulatus populations show remarkable resilience and adaptability to urban habitats, with reproductive and demographic responses shaped by both climatic and density-dependent drivers. These insights contribute to the eco-epidemiological understanding of scorpionism and may inform more effective surveillance and control strategies in urban areas.

Field sampling was conducted as part of municipal public health surveillance activities and focused on Americana’s central cemetery, since it is a known infestation focus, potentially serving as a source to other adjacent areas. Specimens of T. serrulatus were collected at the Saudade Municipal Cemetery during the environmental management activities of the Program for Surveillance and Control of Ticks and Scorpions (PVCE) of the Americana Health Department from April 2006 to December 2013. At the cemetery, graves are arranged in spatial blocks, each with a different number of graves. During the study, an unequal effort was applied each night, as evidenced by the differing number of graves surveyed and the inconsistent sampling intensity applied to each grave. Most graves were sampled only once during the study. To address uneven sampling effort across graves and nights, data were aggregated by month and grave block. Monthly sampling efforts in each block were inferred from the number of graves visited and included this variable in all models. The measures of the explanatory variables were also grouped by block and month, extracting the monthly median for each variable.