Scorpions confuse me. They don't have fangs, like spiders do. They have clawlike chelicerae instead. It looks like they should be able to physically eat their bugs, but I have been very clearly taught that scorpions can only imbibe liquids. So how do they eat?The internet hasn't been hugely helpful in this matter - there were many articles discussing what scorpions eat, but very few regarding how. And the ones that were tended to be locked behind paywalls. Not helpful. Obviously, I know that scorpions use their stinger to paralyse prey. But then what?
In the image above, the chelicerae can be seen. In spiders, the chelicerae and fleshy, muscular appendages which the fangs are attached to. Spiders can move their fangs independently of each other using these chelicerae. In scorpions, the chelicerae are modified into pincer like appendages - so once the scorpion has caught and paralysed it's prey, it holds the prey in it's pincers, and the chelicerae set about shredding the body. Tearing chunks off. This led me to wonder whether scorpions in fact eat chunks of their food, but it seems not.The scorpion makes a little piles of these chunks, exposing the gooey insides of its prey (usually an insect, so encased in a hard exoskeleton). It then vomits gastric juices, containing digestive enzymes over the piles. It's very similar to a fly from this point, as it slurps up the pre-digested goo of the insect from the pile it has made.
I did feel a little disappointed at this point. Not only did this seem a little bit underwhelming given the massive claws, and the ripping and shredding that the scorpion does, but I also could not find an image of the scorpions mouthparts responsible for slurping up the goo. Maybe one day, but not yet. What I did find, however, was this lovely diagram: What intrigued me about this image is that the anus of the scorpion, rather than being at the base of the tail like a dog or a cat, was right up by the stinger. The tail is therefore an extension of the scorpions abdomen. I understand that scorpions aren't vertebrates, so the tail wasn't likely to be an extension of the spine, but I still found it interesting. In most biological groups we often see comparative anatomy - creatures evolve similar structures to each other to combat the issues that come with survival - compare a birds wing with a bat wing for example. They are both the same answer to a mobility problem, but with very different anatomy. And that's what we see with the scorpion tail, though I never really thought about it before now.
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