Pincher came to us as a personal pet. His person was going off to college and could no longer keep him. Animal Tracks has always been a friend to the arachnid. Pincher is a powerful scorpion and we’ve been told he can pinch a pencil in half though, I’ve never seen it nor do I want to. His job is to educate the general public on the fact that scorpions are shy by nature, and only want to eat your bugs. He is an amazing creature that has been villainized due to his appearance.
ORDER: Scorpiones
FAMILY: Scorpionidae
GENUS: Linnaeus
SPECIES: Arachnida
Scorpions are arthropods, they have eight legs, two pedipalps, and a tail with a venom-injecting barb. Scorpions have two venom glands that produce venom used in hunting and self defense. Scorpions do not have bones instead they have an exoskeleton made of chitin, which is similar to the shell of a shrimp.
Scorpions are found worldwide except for Antarctica. There are over 2,000 different species found on six of the seven continents. They prey on insects, arthropods and in some cases small vertebrates. Because scorpions can live in such hash environments they have adapted the ability to slow their metabolism to as little as one-third the rate for most arthropods. This enables some species to use little oxygen and live on a single insect a year.
Threats
Not endangered.
Conservation Status
LC - Least Concern