Have you ever wondered what a scorpion is?  Well, I have. A scorpion is an arachnid since it has eight legs. They belong in the order Scorpionses. There are 2000 species of scorpions. The Emperor scorpions are one of the largest of all scorpions. The body of an Emperor scorpion is like a spider, it is divided into two segments the cephalothorax and the abdomen. Their average length is 4-8. They have an exoskeleton.

 

Their exoskeleton color can be dark blue, brown, reddish and black. Their textured pinchers are reddish in coloring. Their sting is mildly venomous, but their sting is painful. It is harmless for people that are healthy. They have very strong claws, can pinch hard. They rarely sting, but young individuals and females scorpions can be more prone to stinging. The two pinchers (pedipalps) are located at the front of the scorpion’s body and they are strong enough to draw blood from a person’s body.

 

Their life span is eight years. Their habitat is tropical rainforests of West Africa. They are located in the countries of Togo, Ghana, Chad, Benin, Guinea, Liberia, Serria Leone, Senegal, and the Congo Region. They eat cockroaches, crickets, and meal worms. Emperor scorpions prey on a huge number of animals, such as, spiders, parasitic wasps, flies, birds, reptiles, and amphibians.

 

Emperor Scorpions live under rocks, logs, and other forest debris. They hunt at night using their sensory hairs to detect nearby prey. They rarely sting smaller pray. They usually grasp to their prey and tear them apart.

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Author: Leilani A

Published: 03/2008

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Sources:

http://www.angelfire.com/mo2/animals1/scorpion/empscorp.html http://www.ub.ntnu.no/scorpion-files/p_imperator.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandinus_imperator http://www.easyinsects.co.uk/site/content/view/26/1/ http://pioneerunion.ca.schoolwebpages.com/education/components/scrapbook/default.php?sectiondetailid=2883 http://www.thebigzoo.com/Animals/Emperor_Scorpion.as