Emperor Scorpions live in the rainforests of West Africa. They can be found throughout: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Congo, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Togo, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal and Sierra Leone.. It is one of the largest scorpions in the world.
It is a carnivore! Adults Emperor Scorpions eat ground-dwelling insects and small animals – young eat fruit flies and small crickets.
Emperor scorpions hunt at night. They use sensory hairs on their body to make up for poor vision. Their venom is mild. They defend themselves against predators with their large claws.
Emperor Scorpions rarely burrow, but instead hide under logs or rocks.
Females give birth to live young, which they carry around on their backs. It will take a seven to nine-month gestation before the scorpions are born. Mother and young often share a nest chamber dug into a termite mound. As they grow they molt their old skin replacing it with a new one. This gradually darkens from white to black as they grow.
Young may live together for an extended period as they have safety from being in a group.
Emperor scorpions help control insect populations in desert habitats.
To conserve energy in times of famine, scorpions can slow down their metabolism. Certain scorpions can survive almost a year without food. Scorpions do not need to drink water. They get all the water they need from their food. Because of this adaptation, their feces is a dry powder-like substance.
Due to their extreme habitat, scorpions can withstand temperature to below freezing, or endure the blistering heat of the desert.
Scorpions fluoresce under ultra violet light.