Any arachnid of the order Scorpiones, common in the tropics and subtropics. Scorpions have four pairs of walking legs, large pincers, and long tails ending in upcurved poisonous stings, though the venom is not usually fatal to a healthy adult human. There are about 600 different species. They are nocturnal in habit, hiding during the day beneath stones and under the loose bark of trees.
Scorpions sometimes prey on each other, but their main food is the woodlouse.
They seize their prey with their powerful claws or palpi. A new species of cave-dwelling scorpion was found 1995 in Northern Territory, Australia.