Food and feeding

Scorpions are opportunistic predators that eat any small animal they can capture. Common

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prey includes insects as well as spiders and other arachnids, including other scorpions. Less-common but regular prey includes pill bugs, snails, and small vertebrates such as lizards, snakes, and rodents. The only known specialist scorpion is the Australian spiral burrow, or spider-hunting, scorpion (Isometroides vescus), which feeds solely on burrowing spiders.Most scorpions are sit-and-wait predators that remain motionless until a suitable victim has moved into an ambush zone. Scorpions can sense tiny ground vibrations, and some can detect airborne vibrations of flying insects. These behaviours are sophisticated to the extent that scorpions can determine the precise distance and direction of their prey. Once the prey has been detected, the scorpion turns, runs to the prey, and seizes it. The prey is stung if it is relatively large, aggressive, or active. Otherwise it is simply held by the pedipalps as it is eaten. Many of the thick-tailed scorpions (family Buthidae), however, actively search for prey. These species usually have long, slender bodies and pincers (chelae). Many have powerful venoms to compensate for their small pincers.