Arachnids with eight legs, grasping pincers and a curved tail ending in a venomous sting. More than 2,500 species live on every continent except Antarctica, mostly in deserts. All give birth to live young.
Quick answers
What is it?Arachnid
Carnivore?Yes
Dangerous?Yes
Most stings don’t need medical treatment, but about 25 species, under 1%, can kill a person. Deaths happen mainly where medical help is hard to reach.
Domesticated?No
Awake when?Night
Its eyes are sensitive enough for night species to navigate by starlight.
Hibernates?No
Kept as a pet?Sometimes
Often kept as pets, needing little more than a secure, lockable tank.
Do people eat it?In places
Eaten in West Africa, Myanmar and East Asia; fried scorpion is a tradition in Shandong, China.
At a glance
Found inAfrica, Asia, Americas, Australia, Europe
HabitatDesert, Scrub, Forest, Grassland
ColoursBlack, Brown, Yellow
SizeTiny
Legs8
Covered inExoskeleton
Lives alone
Lives for3–8 years
In the wild
- Where it lives
- Every continent except Antarctica.
- What it eats
- Mostly insects and other invertebrates; some take vertebrates. It digests food outside its body.
Did you know
Glows bright blue-green under ultraviolet light.
A mother carries her young on her back until their exoskeletons harden.
Often confused with
On these lists
Sources
Last reviewed
Play
Could you have guessed it?
A photo, a few hints, one guess. Same 438 animals.
