Scorpion facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Scorpions Temporal range: Late Ordovician - Recent, 468 - 0 Mya
Hottentotta tamulus from Maharashtra, India
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Scorpiones

A black scorpion

Scorpions are eight legged venomous arachnids. They have a long body with an extended tail with a sting. The average adult scorpion is about 3 inches in length.

The evolutionary history of scorpions goes back to the Ordovician, about 470 million years ago. They have adapted to a wide range of environments, and live on all continents except Antarctica. There are 13 living families.

Anatomy

They have eight legs and a pair of grasping pedipalps (like claws). The tail is narrow, with segments. It usually has a forward curve over the back, ending with a venomous stinger.

Their body is in three parts. The front section is the cephalothorax; the abdomen is called the mesosoma, and the tail is the metasoma. The body is covered by an exoskeleton which gives them good protection.

Adapting to survive in the desert

Scorpions have many ways to survive in the desert. They can slow down their metabolism. This allows them to survive on as little as one insect per year. This ability also allows them to shelter from the sun and heat for extended periods of time, using only little amounts of oxygen. Many people also believe that their claws, or pincers, were once front legs that have turned into what they now are by going through evolution. Nevertheless, the scorpions' claws play a crucial part in their hunting and mating rituals. Scorpions also possess a special, feather-like pair of organs, called pectines that they use to sense even the smallest of movements around them. This allows them to effectively track down and hunt their prey, either above or below the surface. This also warns them of possible dangers, such as other bigger hunters.

The scorpion’s most feared and recognized feature is its sting. The sting contains a neurotoxin, which the scorpion uses to paralyze the victim, so it would be easier to kill and eat. They also stay hidden under rocks and that makes their body temperature cool.

Diet and feeding

Scorpion feeding on a solifugid

Scorpions generally prey on insects, particularly grasshoppers, crickets, termites, beetles and wasps. Other prey include spiders, solifugids, woodlice and even small vertebrates including lizards, snakes and mammals. Species with large claws may prey on earthworms and mollusks. The majority of species are opportunistic and consume a variety of prey though some may be highly specialized; Isometroides vescus specializes on burrowing spiders. Prey size depends on the size of the species. Several scorpion species are sit-and-wait predators, which involves them waiting for prey at or near the entrance to their burrow. Others actively seek them out. Scorpions detect their prey with mechanoreceptive and chemoreceptive hairs on their bodies and capture them with their claws. Small animals are merely killed with the claws, particularly by large-clawed species. Larger and more aggressive prey is given a sting.

Scorpions, like other arachnids, digest their food externally. The chelicerae, which are very sharp, are used to pull small amounts of food off the prey item into a pre-oral cavity below the chelicerae and carapace. The digestive juices from the gut are egested onto the food, and the digested food is then sucked into the gut in liquid form. Any solid indigestible matter (such as exoskeleton fragments) is trapped by setae in the pre-oral cavity and ejected. The sucked-in food is pumped into the midgut by the pharynx, where it is further digested. The waste passes through the hindgut and out of the anus. Scorpions can consume large amounts of food during one meal.

Breeding cycle

The mating ritual of scorpions begins when the male and female connect claws. After this they verify that the other scorpion is of the same species, and is the opposite gender. After this, the male leads the female around until it finds a suitable spot to deposit its spermatophore. Once the male has found a suitable spot, he guides the female over it, where it enters her and fertilizes her. The mating ritual can take anywhere between 1 and 26 hours, depending on the male’s ability to find a suitable spot. Only a scorpion that has reached maturity may go through the mating ritual. A scorpion reaches maturity after it has gone through 5 to 7 moults.

Relationship with humans

Although scorpions are usually not found in large numbers in densely populated urban areas, they do regularly occur in and near human habitation in all tropical parts of the world. The lack of predators, readily available shelter, and abundance of insect prey such as crickets, cockroaches, silverfishes, and earwigs have caused scorpions to thrive in industrial and residential areas. In Brazil, the number of people stung by scorpions increased from 12,000 in 2000 to 140,000 in 2018.

Sting and venom

All known scorpion species possess venom and use it primarily to kill or paralyze their prey so that it can be eaten. The venom consists of a collection of peptides.

In general, the venom is fast-acting, allowing for effective prey capture; however, as a general rule, scorpions kill their prey with brute force if they can, as opposed to using venom, which is also used as a defense against predators.

Prevention

According to the United States National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, these steps should be taken to prevent scorpion stings:

• Wear long sleeves and trousers.
• Wear leather gloves.
• Shake out clothing, bedding, bathroom towels, or shoes before using them.
• Workers with a history of severe allergic reactions to insect bites or stings should consider carrying an epinephrine autoinjector (EpiPen) and should wear a medical identification bracelet or necklace stating their allergy.

Predators

Scorpions may be attacked by other arthropods like ants, spiders, solifugids and centipedes. Major predators include frogs, lizards, snakes, birds, and mammals. Meerkats are somewhat specialized in preying on scorpions, biting off their stingers and being immune to their venom. Other predators adapted for hunting scorpions include the grasshopper mouse and desert long-eared bat, which are also immune to their venom.

When threatened, a scorpion raises its claws and tail in a defensive posture. Some species stridulate to warn off predators by rubbing certain hairs, the stinger or the claws. Certain species have a preference for using either the claws or stinger as defense, depending on the size of the appendages. A few scorpions, such as Parabuthus, Centruroides margaritatus, and Hadrurus arizonensis, squirt venom in a narrow jet as far as 1 meter (3.3 ft) to warn off potential predators, possibly injuring them in the eyes. Some Ananteris species can shed parts of their tail to escape predators. The parts do not grow back, leaving them unable to sting and defecate, but they can still catch small prey and reproduce for at least eight months afterward.

Consumption

Scorpions are eaten by people in West Africa, Myanmar and East Asia. Fried scorpion is traditionally eaten in Shandong, China. There, scorpions can be cooked and eaten in a variety of ways, including roasting, frying, grilling, raw, or alive. The stingers are typically not removed, since direct and sustained heat negates the harmful effects of the venom. In Thailand, scorpions are not eaten as often as other arthropods, such as grasshoppers, but they are sometimes fried as street food. They are used in Vietnam to make snake wine (scorpion wine).

Pets

Scorpions are often kept as pets. They are relatively simple to keep, the main requirements being a secure enclosure such as a glass terrarium with a lockable lid and the appropriate temperature and humidity for the chosen species, which typically means installing a heating mat and spraying regularly with a little water. The substrate needs to resemble that of the species' natural environment, such as peat for forest species, or lateritic sand for burrowing desert species. Scorpions in the genera Pandinus and Heterometrus are docile enough to handle. A large Pandinus may consume up to three crickets each week. The pet trade has threatened wild populations of some scorpion species, particularly Androctonus australis and Pandinus imperator.

Culture

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  Late period bronze figure of Isis-Serket

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  "Scorpion and snake fighting", Anglo-Saxon Herbal, c. 1050

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  The constellation Scorpius, depicted in Urania's Mirror as "Scorpio", London, c. 1825

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  A scorpion motif (two types shown) was often woven into Turkish kilim flatweave carpets, for protection from their sting.

The scorpion is a culturally significant animal.

One of the earliest occurrences of the scorpion in culture is its inclusion, as Scorpio, in the 12 signs of the Zodiac by Babylonian astronomers during the Chaldean period. This was then taken up by western astrology; in astronomy the corresponding constellation is named Scorpius. In ancient Egypt, the goddess Serket, who protected the Pharaoh, was often depicted as a scorpion. In ancient Greece, a warrior's shield sometimes carried a scorpion device, as seen in red-figure pottery from the 5th century BC. In Greek mythology, Artemis or Gaia sent a giant scorpion to kill the hunter Orion, who had said he would kill all the world's animals. Orion and the scorpion both became constellations; as enemies they were placed on opposite sides of the world, so when one rises in the sky, the other sets. Scorpions are mentioned in the Bible and the Talmud as symbols of danger and maliciousness.

Since classical times, the scorpion with its powerful stinger has been used to provide a name for weapons. In the Roman army, the scorpio was a torsion siege engine used to shoot a projectile. The British Army's FV101 Scorpion was an armored reconnaissance vehicle or light tank in service from 1972 to 1994. A version of the Matilda II tank, fitted with a flail to clear mines, was named the Matilda Scorpion.

Several ships of the Royal Navy and of the US Navy have been named Scorpion including an 18-gun sloop in 1803, a turret ship in 1863, a patrol yacht in 1898, a destroyer in 1910, and a nuclear submarine in 1960.

The scorpion has served as the name or symbol of products and brands including Italy's Abarth racing cars and a Montesa scrambler motorcycle. A hand- or forearm-balancing asana in modern yoga as exercise with the back arched and one or both legs pointing forward over the head in the manner of the scorpion's tail is called Scorpion pose.

Interesting facts about scorpions

• There are about 1,750 species of scorpions worldwide.
• The longest scorpion is the Giant forest scorpion, which can reach 23 cm (9 inch) in length.
• Scorpions lived in Antarctica until about 50 million years ago, when it became cold there.
• Scorpions can survive six to twelve months of starvation due to their low metabolic rate.
• Only about 25 species have venom which can kill a human being, most of them belong to the family Buthidae.
• Scorpion venom may be useful in medical research and might lead to the development of analgesic, anti-cancer, antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, antiparasitic, and immunosuppressive drugs.

Related pages

• Arachnid
• Desert scorpion

Images for kids

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  Allopalaeophonus, formerly called Palaeophonus hunteri, from the Silurian of Scotland

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  Palaeophonus nuncius, a Silurian fossil from Sweden

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  Centruroides vittatus, the striped bark scorpion, a member of Buthidae, the largest family of scorpions

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  Heterometrus laoticus, the Vietnam forest scorpion, a member of the family Scorpionidae

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  Ventral view: the pectines have a comblike structure in an inverted V shape.

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  Stinger of an Arizona bark scorpion

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  Centruroides limpidus in its rocky shelter

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  Male and female scorpion during promenade à deux

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  Compsobuthus werneri female with young

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  Arizona bark scorpion, one of the few species whose venom is deadly to humans

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  The deathstalker's powerful venom contains the 36-amino acid peptide chlorotoxin (ribbon diagram shown). This blocks small-conductance chloride channels, immobilizing its prey.

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  Scorpion pose in yoga has one or both legs pointing forward over the head, like a scorpion's tail.

See also

In Spanish: Scorpiones para niños