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Feeding and Digestion
Scorpions are very efficient feeders and can increase their body weight by one third when feeding. They have low metabolic rates and low energy needs because they have a very efficient energy transferring ability. Because of this they only feed about 5 to 50 times per year and can potentially live without food for up to 12 months (Encyclopedia Britannica). Some of the primary taxon of prey include: tenebrionid beetles, Orthoptera, Hymenoptera, other scorpions, and even small mammals and reptiles. Prey with a large biomass is a much more important part of the diet than prey with a smaller biomass (Polis abstract). Once captured by the pedipalps, venom is injected by the aculeus to paralyze the prey.
When the scorpion possesses food with its chelicerae, it is grinded externally and digestive juices are supplied to the outside of the mouth so the food may be partially digested, both mechanically and chemically, before entering. Food then passes through the pharynx, which acts as a pump and pushes it through the esophagus to the midgut where further chemical digestion takes place due to enzymes produced from the cecal glands. Absorption also begins to take place here. The food then passes to the hindgut where absorption is furthered before being expelled through the anus. Food is stored inside the hepatopancreas in the form of a carbohydrate called glycogen (Encyclopedia Britannica). |