Scorpion Species Overview
As a whole the Scorpion species around the world have a very bad reputation. This is due to the deadly venom that a small amount of them have. All Scorpions are venomous though but the toxic level of it can be varied from one end of the spectrum to the next.
These are very fast and adaptable living creatures. They may be around and you don’t know it due to their methods of survival. They are able to dig in the sand and the soil that they so well blend in with. This is why people accidentally touch them and get stung. This is also why people don’t see them when they go to put on their jacket or a shoe.
Scorpion’s species can be very small with many being only about 0.35 inches in size. Others can be up to 7.8 inches. The coloring of them depends on where they live. They have to try to blend in so that they can remain undetected from predators. They also vary in size based on location and what they eat.
They will consume anything in front of them including insects and small rodents. However, they are fine if they don’t have any food at all. In fact, they may go close to a year without any food. All Scorpions have to use their venom as a means of consuming prey. That venom turns the insides of the prey into a liquid form. That is what they suck out and feed on. It isn’t possible for any species of Scorpion to be able to consume solid food.
Scorpion Species |
Many people assume that the Scorpion can only be found living in very hot environments. It is true that many of them do live in the hot areas and the desert habitats. However, they are able to live anywhere you can think of as long as there is soil that they can burrow in and some access to food.
They have a reputation for being very aggressive but that simply isn’t true. Instead, they strive to protect themselves. They do have many sets of eyes but they can’t see well. They are sensitive to light which is why they tend to stay under rocks or in other dark places during the day.
They mainly go out at night when they can hunt for food. They are solitary creatures with very little tolerance for each other. If their habitat overlaps much they will become aggressive. They may eat each other too in an effort to reduce the competition.
The males and females will tolerate each other long enough for mating to occur. They will take part in dancing rituals that are very interesting to watch. He needs to be receptive to that or she will consume him for a meal before he has time to make an exit.
Depending on the species of Scorpion there can be a few or many young born. They will climb onto the back of the mother and stay there until they go through their first molting cycle. It takes at least 5-6 molting cycles for a Scorpion to be mature. This is a very long time compared to other types of creatures in the world of arachnids.
There are fossil remains to indicate the Scorpion has been around for over 430 million years. They continue to be very adaptable to changes in the environment. With more than 1,700 species of them around the world today they continue to be something that people worry about. They don’t seem to have any species at risk of extinction at this point in time.
