Are scorpions insects?

Scorpions are arachnids. Typical features include long, thin bodies, stings, curved segments and stinging tails. There are about 1400 species of scorpions in the world. The earliest scorpions on land appeared in the Hilurian period about 430 million years ago. Let's take a look at whether scorpions are insects or not.

Are scorpions insects?

Scorpions are insects. Spiders belong to the arachnid phylum Arachnida, and taxonomically, insects belong to adjacent groups in the large family, because insects are defined as "three segments of the body, chest and abdomen, two pairs of wings and three pairs of feet, one pair of antennae, and the bones are wrapped around the outside of the body." the shape changes in a lifetime. Scorpions do not fit the above-mentioned insect characteristics, but they all belong to a large family of invertebrate arthropods, indicating that they have a lot in common.

What kind of food do scorpions eat?

Scorpion is completely carnivorous, and very few species will ingest a small amount of plant feed, such as spiders, crickets, small centipedes, larvae of many kinds of insects, nymphs and even small geckos, etc. when eating, the food is slowly torn open with chelate limbs, sucking the body fluids of the catch first, then spitting out digestive juice, and then digesting the tissue in vitro and then inhaling it.

The growth habits of scorpions

1. Gregariousness: scorpions belong to animals that sleep during the day and come out at night. Scorpions are afraid of dry weather, dark and strong light stimulation. They like to live in groups, and they are quiet and motionless. They have the habit of knowing nests and recognizing groups. Most of them settle together in fixed nests. Generally speaking, in a large group of scorpion nests, there are mostly male and female, big and small, live in harmony, and rarely kill each other, but if they are not in the same nest, they often kill each other after meeting.

2. Hibernation: scorpions have hibernating habits, usually in mid-late April, that is, after waking, they begin to hibernate slowly in early November, and the activity time for the whole year is about 6 months.

3. Variable temperature: although the scorpion is a variable temperature animal, it is still relatively cold-resistant and heat-tolerant. The external environment can survive when the temperature is between 40 ℃ and minus 5 ℃. The growth and reproduction are closely related to the temperature. The temperature drops below 10 ℃ and is less active. The temperature below 20 ℃ is less active, and the most suitable temperature is between 25 and 39 ℃. The temperature is the most active at 35 to 39 ℃, and the temperature above 41 ℃ is prone to dehydration and death. When the temperature exceeds 43 ℃, it will die quickly.

4. Photophobia: scorpions like to be afraid of light, especially the stimulation of strong light, but they also need a certain amount of light in order to absorb the heat of the sun, improve digestion, accelerate the speed of growth and development, and facilitate the hatching process of embryos in pregnant scorpions. It is observed that scorpions have a positive trend to weak light and a negative trend to strong light, and prefer to move under weaker green light.

5, avoid stimulation: scorpions have strong avoidance to all kinds of strong odors such as paint, gasoline, kerosene, asphalt and various chemicals, pesticides, fertilizers, quicklime, etc., the stimulation of these substances is very disadvantageous to scorpions, even fatal.