Jessica Coates, age 14, of Galveston, Texas, for her question:
HOW MANY KINDS OF SCORPIONS ARE THERE?
A scorpion is a small animal with a dangerous, poisonous stinger in its tail. It belongs to a class of animals called "arachnid." It is definitely not an insect. There are about 500 different kinds of scorpions in the world with about 30 of them found in the United States and Canada.
Scorpions are found mainly in warm climates. In the Americas, most of them are found from the southern United States to Patagonia. Several kinds, however, can be found living as far north as the southern part of Alberta, Canada.
Most scorpions are black or yellowish in color. They range in size from the smallest at about a half inch long to the largest which is eight inches long.
A scorpion has a pair of strong pincer claws which it uses to grasp its prey. It also has a long, thin, jointed tail which ends in a curved, pointed stinger. This stinger is connected to poison glands.
When the scorpion walks, it carries its tail arched over its body. When it grasps its prey in its pincers, it bends its stinger over its head and plunges it into its victim. The poison will kill or paralyze the insects, spiders and millipedes upon which the scorpion feeds. The poison of some scorpions can make a human ill and can sometimes even cause death.
Scorpions are active mainly at night. During daylight hours they hide in dark places such as in dark corners of buildings, under stones or in bark. Adult scorpions always live and travel alone. If two scorpions meet, they will usually fight until one is dead. Even at mating time, the female may kill and eat the male following the mating dance.
Young scorpions are born alive and cling to their mother's body with their tiny pincers. The mother does not feed the babies. She only offers a bit of protection. After several days, they go off on their own to find food.
Scorpions have from six to 12 eyes. Different kinds have different numbers. All of the scorpion species, however, have breathing pores that are located on their abdomens.
Scorpions are an ancient form of life. Fossil scorpions that look like those living today have been found in deposits of the carboniferous period.
The body of the scorpion has two parts. Its short and thick forward part is called the cephalothorax. This part is made up of the head and chest or thorax, which join together.
The hind part is the long abdomen. The last six segments of it form a slender tail.
Scorpio, or the scorpion, is the eighth sign of the zodiac. The constellation Scorpio appears in the southern part of the sky. It contains the bright star Antares, a giant star which shines with a fiery red light, and is the first magnitude of brightness. It has a companion star whose light is greenish. The scorpion was known as a constellation even before the Greeks. It appears in the mythology of the Sumerians.