Arachnids with lobster-like pincers and tails bearing stingers. Scorpions have existed for a long
time (the oldest known fossils are 400 million years old, and some early scorpions were much bigger than those of today - the fossilized Brontoscorpio and Gigantoscorpio are estimated to have been a metre long each in life). Scorpions possess a pair of feather-like forms under their stomachs which they use to 'feel' the ground for vibrations which could tell of nearby predators or prey. When mating, the male scorpion grasps the
female by the pincers, deposits a 'package' of
sperm onto the ground and then pulls the
female over it, so she can lower herself and absorb it through an opening in her body. Despite their fearsome reputation, scorpions are not all dangerous. In fact many, like the Emperor Scorpions from West Africa and Black Forest Scorpions from
Asia are harmless. A
way of determining as to whether a scorpion
may be dangerous is to look at its pincers. Harmless scorpions like Emperors and Black Forests have large strong pincers and relatively
small tails. At the other end of the scale are the dreaded Fat-tail Scorpions, which have
small, slender pincers and large muscular tails which can drive their deadly stingers through
shoes. Scorpions exist in tropical, desert and scrubland environments.
Emperor Scorpions, Redclaw Scorpions, Black Forest Scorpions, Egyptian
Gold Scorpions - all harmless, as I can assure you since I've kept them as pets in the past.
I'd just like to mention
Spike, the grandmother of my
family of Emperor Scorpions (now sadly all deceased). RIP Spike.
