Scorpion Facts

The scorpion's body is covered with a hard layer of chitin, which forms an armor to protect against desiccation and predators. The scorpion's exoskeleton contains a number of raised ridges and valleys, called "apodemes", which serve as attachment spots for the internal muscles. These muscles are attached in such a manner that they can curl the limbs and pull them inwards, but cannot pull them outward. To straighten its appendages, a scorpion must force blood into them, using hydraulic pressure to push them into a straightened position.

Now if the tail is held in readiness to sting, as one would expect, then there is probably some tension between the hydraulic pressure tending to straighten it out and the muscles, which would ten to curl it toward the body. Now alcohol could cause a sudden dehydration of the body fluids along the back, leading to a loss of hydraulic pressure. Then the already-tensed muscles would pull the tail into a tight curl, inadvertently causing the stinger to strike the scorpion. Whether the stinger is capable of penetrating the tough carapace on the top of the scorpion's main, cephalothorax section is another issue entirely.

Another possibility is that the alcohol simply causes a sharp contraction of the muscles exposed to it, which the hydraulic pressure would be unprepared to counter.

Tags: Scorpion, Alcohol, Insect, Bug, Interesting

Fact Page: Even a small amount of alcohol placed on a scorpion will make it go crazy and sting itself to death.
Date Added: 2011-02-27 08:54:54
Fact Category: Animal Fact