Here are some facts about Scorpions:

• Scorpions are feared by humans because of their deadly sting. Their grasping, pincer-like appendages can be a scary sight. They have been around for over 400 million years.

• Easily identified by their venomous tail at the end of an elongated body, they also have four pairs of legs and two lobster-like claws (pincers) called pedipalps. The average size of a scorpion is 6 cm.

• The pincers are used as weapons to catch prey. Scorpions grab their prey with their pincers. Then they use their sting to inject venom, which paralyzes their victim.

• Scorpions can be tan, red, black or brown in colour. A hard exoskeleton protects the scorpion from external damage.

• The tiny sensory hairs covering the body and legs helps scorpions to detect temperature changes and movement around them.

• Scorpions have book lungs, which are gilllike structures for breathing.

• In extreme weather conditions, the extra layer of fat under the scorpion's exoskeleton helps it to survive.

• The sting is normally used to paralyze prey. It is not usually poisonous enough to kill humans and other animals. In some cases, however, it can kill. The most dangerous species of scorpion are found in Africa, the Middle East, Mexico and the United States.

• At night, scorpions use the stars to navigate and move around.

• Scorpions can store a large amount of food inside their body, which allows them to live without food for up to a year.

• Scorpions belong to the most ancient family of arachnids. Like spiders, their bodies are divided into two sections (a cephalothorax and an abdomen) and they have four pairs of legs.