Hi, this is Caleb Wood bringing you another fact filled report on an awesome creature, the scorpion. My chosen animal is an invertebrate; its full classification is Scorpion Animalia, Cheliceata, Arahnida, Scorpionida, Chactidae, and the rest classifies a certain scorpion. When most people think of scorpions they think “oh no, not another evil creature that’s going to kill me. But if I don’t go to the desert I’ll be fine.” The people that say they are wrong in multiple ways, and that’s just some of the things my report will talk about.

Scorpions have an exoskeleton, these hard shell-like bodies give armor to the scorpions. They have eight hooked legs used for gripping and digging on different terrain. They also have a pair of pincers also known as pedipalps. These strong weapons are used to catch and hold their prey. The scorpion also has several to many simple eyes, hairs that help detect its surroundings. It has mechanooreceptors that locate its prey by vibrations, air current change and chemical imbalances. The last of the many mind boggling elements of the scorpion is its skyward curved tail that has a stinger used for catching prey and defense. The scorpion is a cold blooded animal; its only means of transportation is crawling around, but scientists believe that ancient scorpions roamed the sea, not the ground, many millions of years ago.

The scorpions can be found on any continent except Antarctica! It also means if it can be found pretty much anywhere it can live in any environment except freezing conditions. This animal can be found in the bark of a tree. If it finds a crack in the wall of a house it will make a burrow there or a home made cave in the ground going at an extremely steep angle, just enough to climb out at night, the time they roam the earth and hunt insects, spiders, and other invertebrate.

Most scorpions live from two to 10 years on average, but some species live up to 25 years! Scorpions reproduce only sexually. The Scorpion reproduces in a special way though. The male drops the sperm on the ground and leads the mate to it in which she picks it up and makes offspring. The female might eat the male after mating-talk about a rowdy spouse. The gestation period is any where from six weeks to 18 months, it depends on what species it is. The mother can have anywhere from two to 62 young, which she carries on her back for two weeks. I hope they have good backs. Other species will offer their life for the little scorpions. They give their body to the hatchlings to feast on. It may take a scorpion a total of five years to become mature!

As I mentioned earlier, scorpions eat many insects, spiders, which sometimes end up fatal to the scorpion, and other small invertebrates. When the scorpion catches its prey, it tears the victim into small pieces then shoots digestive juice on the pieces and then eats the remains. If the prey is injected with poison, the scorpion has an anti-venom in its body to prevent the scorpion from harm. This awesome creature is a strict carnivore and has never been recorded to eat plants. Spiders, humans and birds of prey are its predators, but most of them have learned to stay away from the scorpions. Although only 25 of 1,500 discovered scorpion species are deadly to humans, people have huge fears of scorpions. Scientists expect about another 1,000 species will be discovered! Some scorpions are taken from their homes and used to reproduce, until they’re old enough to be killed and eaten. This is putting some species in possible endangerment, although not yet. They may soon become an endangered species.

During my research I found multiple facts that are really neat, but fit nowhere in my report so I would like to share some of them with you now. Like Nevada, Arizona has a massive amount of scorpions. A certain species, the Bark scorpion (Centruroides sculpturatus) which is harmful to people has not had any sting related deaths in 40 years! Another cool set of facts are symptoms of a scorpion’s sting. They are: pain around stung area, no swelling will accrue, random movement of the eye, tongue feels swollen, drooling, not being able to swallow, your face may become numb, hyperactivity, and slurred speech. There is only one medical treatment hospital for scorpions in Arizona so you may want to have something cool to press on the sting area, except ice because it will give off a chemical reaction. I chose this topic because I’ve always wanted to learn more about them. I hope you were happy to learn more about scorpions.


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