XI 



PHYLUM ARTHROPODA 



605 



Spiders and Insects. These they seize with their pincer-claws and 

 sting to death with their caudal spine, afterwards sucking their 



juices. 



There are a number of different species of Scorpions, divided 

 into several genera, which differ from one another in comparatively 

 unimportant points, so that the following general description will 

 apply almost equally well to any of them. 



External features. A Scorpion (Fig. 495) has a long narrow 

 body, in superficial appearance not unlike that of a Crayfish. 

 There is a small cephalothoracic shield or carapace, covering over 



IG. 495. EuscorpiO. (From 

 Cuvier's Animal Kingdom.) 



FIG. 406. Scorpion. Ventral surface of the 

 cephalothorax and pne-abdomen. chd. cheli- 

 cerge ; op. operculum ; pect. pectines ; ped. 

 pedipalpi ; stig. stigmata. 



dorsally a short anterior region or cephalothorax. This is followed 

 by a long posterior region or abdomen, the terminal part of which 

 in the living animal is habitually carried over the back (Fig. 498), 

 constituting the " tail," at the end of which the sting is placed. The 

 carapace bears a pair of large eyes about its middle, and several 

 pairs of smaller eyes on the antero-lateral margin. The anterior, 

 broader part of the abdomen, which is termed the prat-abdomen, 

 consists of seven segments, each of which is enclosed in firm, 

 chitinous, dorsal and ventral plates, or terga and sterna. The 

 tergum and sternum of each segment are separated from one 

 another laterally by intervals of soft skin, except in the seventh, 



