Scorpions

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Scorpions

• Stuff you never knew
• about Scorpions

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Scorpions

• Scorpions are the oldest known terrestrial
  arthropods
• Fossil scorpions were found in Paleozoic rocks
  that were 430 million years old (long before the
  time of the dinosaurs)!
• These fossils are over three feet long! The
  ancient scorpions are thought to have been
  amphibious or wholly aquatic.

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Class Arachnida

• They are venomous arthropods of the Class
  Arachnida, relatives of spiders, mites, and
  ticks.
• Given the class they are in, would you consider
  them to be an insect?

NO--INSECTS ARE IN THE CLASS INSECTA
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Scorpion Anatomy

• 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.

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Scorpion Anatomy

• If scorpions are in the same class as spiders,
  how many legs do they have?

Scorpions have eight legs!
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Scorpion Anatomy

• Scorpions in general have three to five sets of
  eyes.
• Some species of cave- and litter-dwelling
  scorpions, however, have no eyes!
• The eyes are very sensitive some think they even
  allow the scorpion to navigate by star light.

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What do scorpions eat?
Rodents
Lizards
Spiders
Other Scorpions
Insects
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A Hibernating Scorpion?

• To conserve energy in times of famine, scorpions
  can slow down their metabolism. Certain scorpions
  can survive almost a year without food, and they
  can even hibernate.

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Do Scorpions Drink Water?
No!

• They get all the water they need from their food.

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Enemies

• Shrews, snakes, owls, centipedes, tarantulas,
  bats, and other scorpions prey on scorpions.

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Is It Normal to See Scorpions During the Day?
If you said no, pat yourself on the back.

• Scorpions are sensitive to light, so they are
  primarily nocturnal.

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How Do Scorpions Catch Their Prey?

• When potential prey passes by, it creates
  vibrations the scorpion can sense.
• They can quickly strike with the stinger or grasp
  the prey with their claws.

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Sensing Vibrations

• Scorpions have tiny sensory hairs on their legs
  that detect touch, temperature, and other
  information, just like a cats whiskers!
• Similar to the way seismologists locate
  earthquakes, scorpions determine the size and
  location of a meal by measuring subsurface
  vibrations.

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Do Scorpions Live in Families?
YES!

• A few scorpions exhibit social behaviors, such as
  searching for food together, colonial burrowing,
  and even living in an extended family.

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Scorpion Reproduction

• All scorpions are viviparous. Do you know what
  that means?

They give live birth, like humans!

• The mother scorpion can give birth to about 35
  young, which are ½ inch in length.

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Scorpion Babies

• 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.

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What is the biggest scorpion of all?

• The black emperor scorpion is the biggest
  scorpion of all.
• It weighs about as much as a hard-boiled egg and
  is about 8 inches long.
• The longest recorded scorpion in the world was
  8.5 inches in length!

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Where can you find scorpions?

• Scorpions are known to be desert creatures.
• They can also be found in the sea, in the
  mountains, in the tropics, and in caves

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Where on earth are scorpions found?

• What is the only continent that scorpions are NOT
  found on?

Antarctica!
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Scorpion Venom

• Do Scorpions Sting or Bite?

If you said Sting, you are absolutely right!

• The stinger on the end of their tail carries
  their venom.

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Scorpion Venom

• Scorpions use their venom to kill or paralyze
  their prey so it can be eaten.
• Scorpion venoms are complex mixtures of
  neurotoxins and other substances each species
  has a unique mixture.

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Neurotoxins

• What part of the body do neurotoxins affect?

The nervous system! This includes your brain,
spinal cord, and nerves.
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Scorpion Poison

• The sting of most scorpions can be very painful,
  like a bee sting, although most are not lethal.
• Only 25 of 1500 species of scorpions in the world
  are deadly to humans, including Arizonas bark
  scorpion.

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Deadliest Scorpion

• Where do you think the most deadly scorpion is
  found?

If you said Africa, you are correct! The most
dangerous scorpion lives in the Sahara desert in
Northern Africa.
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Suicide Myth

• There is a belief that scorpions commit suicide
  by stinging themselves to death when surrounded
  by fire. IS THIS TRUE?

NOPE!

• 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.

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Scorpions as pets?

• The most common scorpion pet is the emperor
  scorpion, which is more docile than most species
  and has a mild venom.

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Glowing Scorpions?

• Scorpions fluoresce or glow under ultra-violate
  light so they are easy to find with the aid of a
  black light during the night.