Editing Scorpion (section)

===Diet and feeding===

[[File:Scorpion eating solifugid (Marshal Hedin).jpg|thumb|right<!--left-->|Scorpion feeding on a [[solifugid]] ]]

Scorpions generally prey on insects, particularly [[grasshopper]]s, [[Cricket (insect)|cricket]]s, [[termite]]s, [[beetle]]s and [[wasp]]s. Other prey include spiders, [[solifugid]]s, [[woodlice]] and even small [[vertebrate]]s including lizards, snakes and mammals. Species with large claws may prey on earthworms and mollusks. The majority of species are opportunistic and consume a variety of prey though some may be highly specialized; ''[[Isometroides vescus]]'' specializes on burrowing spiders. Prey size depends on the size of the species. Several scorpion species are [[sit-and-wait predator]]s, which involves them waiting for prey at or near the entrance to their burrow. Others actively seek them out. Scorpions detect their prey with [[mechanoreceptive]] and [[chemoreceptive]] hairs on their bodies and capture them with their claws. Small animals are merely killed with the claws, particularly by large-clawed species. Larger and more aggressive prey is given a sting.{{sfn|Stockmann|2015|pp=35–38}}<ref>{{cite web |last=Murray |first=Melissa |title=Scorpions |publisher=Australian Museum |url=https://australian.museum/learn/animals/spiders/scorpions/#:~:text=Scorpions%20are%20nocturnal%20hunters%2C%20feeding,and%20often%20occupying%20their%20burrows |date=3 December 2020 |access-date=13 December 2020 |archive-date=8 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108102328/https://australian.museum/learn/animals/spiders/scorpions/#:~:text=Scorpions%20are%20nocturnal%20hunters%2C%20feeding,and%20often%20occupying%20their%20burrows |url-status=live }}</ref>

Scorpions, like other arachnids, digest their food externally. The chelicerae, which are very sharp, are used to pull small amounts of food off the prey item into a pre-oral cavity below the chelicerae and carapace. The digestive juices from the gut are egested onto the food, and the digested food is then sucked into the gut in liquid form. Any solid indigestible matter (such as [[exoskeleton]] fragments) is trapped by [[seta]]e in the pre-oral cavity and ejected. The sucked-in food is pumped into the midgut by the [[pharynx]], where it is further digested. The waste passes through the hindgut and out of the anus. Scorpions can consume large amounts of food during one meal. They have an efficient food storage organ and a very low [[metabolic rate]], and a relatively inactive lifestyle. This enables some to survive six to twelve months of starvation.{{sfn|Polis|1990|pp=296–298}}