Everybody loves to see animals in the wild! Especially the cute and fuzzy mammals like bunnies or river otters. We even have an understanding and a love for the bigger mammals like bears and wolves. We love to watch the fun antics of beaver and groundhogs. But not many people have a great love for arachnids. You know the ones. Spiders, big and small or even a scorpion. But in a complete and healthy ecosystem, all creatures and organisms matter. They each play a role in keeping the balance of nature. For Earth Day, we are featuring our Desert hairy scorpion, Ringo and hopefully we can sway some of you to at least understand why we need these animals as well as the cute and fuzzies.

The Desert hairy scorpion ( Hadrurus arizonensis) can be found in the Sonoran and Mohave deserts of North America and is the largest species of scorpion in the U.S. They are in the same class as spiders, Arachnida, having eight legs, two body parts and no antennae. The Desert hairy scorpion can survive harsh weather climates of extreme heat during the day and cold temperatures during the night. They are a nocturnal hunter, spending most of their time in burrows underground to escape the scorching heat. Their diet consists of insects and spiders. DYK, scorpions can be found on every continent except Antarctica? There are fossil records of scorpions from 420 million years ago, including one species that was over three feet long! But it’s their contribution to their different ecosystems that makes them important. As an insectivore, they keep populations of insects in check. They are also a food source for animals in their ecosystems, such as owls, mongoose, meerkats and even shrews. Swipe right to find an experiment that will explain how scorpions and even spiders mange to eat insects with thick, exoskeletons!

How a scorpion and spider eat their prey?

How do we digest our food? We start the digestion process by chewing our food with our teeth. Our saliva starts the process of breaking food down further. We then swallow and the small chunks end up in our stomach which churns them around, turning them into a slushy liquid. Then other organs in our body get in on the action and send enzymes to that slushy mess to break it down even more and divvy up the vitamins, minerals, proteins, carbohydrates and fats into the places they need to go to help your body stay healthy!

Arachnids, like spiders and scorpions eat other arthropods, like insects, that have a hard, outer shell called an exoskeleton. Scorpions lack teeth like you have, so they use their pinchers to first crush their prey. They then need to dissolve the exoskeleton before eating the prey.

In this instructable we will do an experiment that will help us understand how an arachnid digests its food!

Supplies

· Small container of clean water

· 1 sugar cube or 1 tsp. of granulated sugar

· An eye dropper, pipette or drinking straw for dropping water-

(SUBSTITUTION FOR EYE DROPPER)·

Drinking straw instructions: Dip one end of the straw into the water. While one end is in the water, place your thumb over the other end of the straw. Keeping your thumb over the end of the straw, pull the straw out of the water and aim it over the sugar. Very carefully and in small increments, pull your thumb off the top of the straw and then replace it, dropping water on sugar.

· A bowl or small lid to place the sugar cube or granulated sugar in

Step 1: Prepare

Using the eye dropper, pipette or straw, you will drop individual drops of water on the sugar cube or sugar. What do you think will happen?

Step 2: Place the Sugar Cube or Tsp of Sugar in the Bowl or Lid.

Step 3: Using the Eye Dropper, Draw Up Clean Water From the Container.

IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A EYE DROPPER: Drinking straw instructions: Dip one end of the straw into the water. While one end is in the water, place your thumb over the other end of the straw. Keeping your thumb over the end of the straw, pull the straw out of the water and aim it over the sugar. Very carefully and in small increments, pull your thumb off the top of the straw and then replace it, dropping water on sugar.

Step 4: Aim the Tip of the Dropper Full of Water Over the Sugar.

Step 5: Squeeze Drops of Water Onto the Sugar. Count How Many Drops It Takes to Break Down the Sugar.

Step 6: Analyze

What do you notice about the sugar cube?

In this experiment, the sugar cube represents the insect and the water represents what’s called enzymes. An enzyme is a biological catalyst and is almost always a protein. A catalyst speeds up the rate of a specific chemical reaction in the cell. In this case, the spider or scorpion injects the insect with an enzyme which breaks down and melts the hard exoskeleton of the insect and allows the scorpion or spider to “slurp up” his dinner. You have enzymes inside your stomach that do the same thing with the foods you eat! The scorpion and spider just do it on the outside of their bodies, but your stomach does it on the inside!