Emperor Scorpion

Range: Western Africa

Habitat:  Tropical rain forests.

Behavior: Mostly nocturnal, they burrow or hide under bark and other debris during the day.

Diet:  They eat mainly insects and other small arthropods, possibly small vertebrates.  We feed ours crickets.

Lifespan: In human care they may live 7-10 years.

Fun Facts

• Their pedipalps (pedi=foot  palp=feel, “foot feelers”) are large pinchers they use to grab prey.
• Scorpions give birth to live babies, who stay on the mother’s back until their first molt, and then will go off to grow up alone.
• Scorpions are venomous, using the stinger on the tail to inject venom. The stinger is called the telson.
• There are about 1100 species of scorpions in the world, and less than 50 are deadly to humans. In the United States the only truly deadly scorpion is the bark scorpion found in the southwest deserts.
• Remember….if you are allergic to bee stings then any arachnid venom may be very harmful to you!
• Most scorpions fluoresce a blue color under Ultra Violet light. It is due to a component in the cuticle of the exoskeleton. Scientists think it helps to attract insect prey, as most insects see UV light and are attracted to it.
• Large scorpions like the Emperor Scorpion are popular in the pet trade as they tend to be fairly docile and are not very venomous.
• Emperor Scorpions are communal, sometimes found living in large groups.
• The Asian Forest scorpion looks very similar.
• The hairs on a scorpion’s body are called vibrissae and help them to sense vibrations.