Scorpion Facts
Scorpion Facts
2. Fossil scorpions were found in Paleozoic rocks that were 430 million years old (long before the time of the dinosaurs)!
3. These fossils are over three feet long! The ancient scorpions are thought to have been amphibious or wholly aquatic.
4. They are venomous arthropods of the Class Arachnida, relatives of spiders, mites, and ticks.
5. The stinger at the end of the tail injects a paralyzing poison into the prey. Unlike other arachnids, scorpions have large, pincer-like pedipalps, used to grab and subdue prey.
6. Scorpions have eight legs!
7. Scorpions in general have three to five sets of eyes.
8. Some species of cave and litter-dwelling scorpions, however, have no eyes!
9. The eyes are very sensitive: some think they even allow the scorpion to navigate by star light.
10. To conserve energy in times of famine, scorpions can slow down their metabolism.
11. Certain scorpions can survive almost a year without food, and they can even hibernate.
12. They get all the water they need from their food.
13. Shrews, snakes, owls, centipedes, tarantulas, bats, and other scorpions prey on scorpions.
14. Scorpions are sensitive to light, so they are primarily nocturnal.
15. When potential prey passes by, it creates vibrations the scorpion can sense.
16. They can quickly strike with the stinger or grasp the prey with their claws.
17. Scorpions have tiny sensory hairs on their legs that detect touch, temperature, and other information, just like a cat’s whiskers!
18. Similar to the way seismologists locate earthquakes, scorpions determine the size and location of a meal by measuring subsurface vibrations.
19. A few scorpions exhibit social behaviors, such as searching for food together, colonial burrowing, and even living in an extended family.
20. They give live birth, like humans!
21. The mother scorpion can give birth to about 35 young, which are ½ inch in length.
22. She assists them by making a "birth basket" with her folded legs to catch them as they are born and to provide them with a means to climb to her back. The mother cares for the young until the babies are old enough to hunt on their own.
23. The black emperor scorpion is the biggest scorpion of all.
24. It weighs about as much as a hard-boiled egg and is about 8 inches long.
25. The longest recorded scorpion in the world was 8.5 inches in length!
26. Scorpions are known to be desert creatures.
27. They can also be found in the sea, in the mountains, in the tropics, and in caves.
28. The only continent that scorpions are NOT found on is Antarctica!
29. The stinger on the end of their tail carries their venom.
30. Scorpions use their venom to kill or paralyze their prey so it can be eaten.
31. Scorpion venoms are complex mixtures of neurotoxins and other substances; each species has a unique mixture.
32. The sting of most scorpions can be very painful, like a bee sting, although most are not lethal.
33. Only 25 of 1500 species of scorpions in the world are deadly to humans, including Arizona’s bark scorpion.
34. The most dangerous scorpion lives in the Sahara desert in Northern Africa.
35. The myth may derive from the fact that scorpions are ectotherms; when exposed to intense heat their body malfunctions. This causes the scorpion to spasm wildly and can accidentally sting itself.
36. The most common scorpion pet is the emperor scorpion, which is more docile than most species and has a mild venom.
37. Scorpions fluoresce or glow under ultra-violate light so they are easy to find with the aid of a black light during the night.
38. The bark is the most dangerous in the world. It is found in California ,Arizona, ,Nevada, southern Utah , Mexico and finally New Mexico. Bark Scorpions are most commonly found under rocks logs tree bark and other easy to get in places. The bark scorpion grows up to 4 inches. The Bark scorpion`s nick name is The house scorpion. Their venom is the worst kind it will cause sever pain or hospitalization.
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