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Imagine lying on the floor of your tent, your sleeping bag unzipped, your hands folded behind your head. It has been a long day of hiking in the desert, and you are exhausted and so happy to be resting in the cool shade of night. All of the sudden, you hear it—an unmistakable skittering sound right outside of your tent. The bright moon provides enough light to allow for a silhouette. A scorpion. Its curled tail holds an ominous stinger. Aren’t you glad that you zipped your tent?

Scorpions are members of the Arachnida class which means that they are relatives of spiders, ticks, and mites. There are about 1,300 species of scorpions in existence today. And contrary to popular belief, they populate other areas beside the desert regions. In fact, you could come across a scorpion in a grassland, pine forest, rain forest, deciduous forest or cave. Scorpions have even been found under snow covered rocks in the Himalayas of Asia and the Andes mountains of South America. So watch out!

Scorpions come out at night, which means they are nocturnal animals. They hunt for spiders, centipedes, insects and other scorpions. Sometimes they prey on small lizards, snakes and mice. They are able to locate their prey by using sensory hairs to detect vibrations. The front claws, called pedipalps, are covered with fine sensory hairs that they use to sense airborne vibrations. The tips of their legs contain small organs which are used to detect vibrations on the ground.

The pedipalps are covered with thicker hairs which are quite sensitive to touch. These hairs, called setae, also coat the legs and body of the scorpion. On its underside, the scorpion has a pair of sense organs called pectines which are probably used to sense the texture of the surface over which they are crawling. In species of scorpions found in warmer climates, pectines are also used to detect the scent of other scorpions within their species, so that they can find each other and procreate.

But what about that stinger? Well, the abdomen of the scorpion consists of 12 segments. The last five segments form the scorpion’s “tail.” Located at the end of the abdomen is the telson which holds the bulb-shaped pod that contains the venom glands. The scorpion’s venom consists of a blend of toxins designed to damage the victim’s nervous system, and other substances. Venom varies from species to species. However, only one species in the United States, and approximately 20 across the world possess venom strong enough to harm a human.

The deadly scorpion found in the United States is called Centruroides exilicauda, and can be found in Arizona, some parts of southeastern California and southern Utah. Venomous stings from this scorpion cause severe pain, numbness, frothing at the mouth, difficulty breathing, muscle twitching and convulsions. And though it is rare for a human to die from a scorpion sting, you better believe that receiving a scorpion sting is no joy ride. The world’s most dangerous scorpions live in Mexico, India, the Middle East and North Africa. In these regions, death rates from scorpion stings are higher than in the U.S., but that may be due to lack of antivenin.

The South African Scorpion is probably the largest scorpion in the world– it can measure up to 8 inches in length. Africa and Asian Emperor Scorpions can exceed 7 inches. The largest scorpion is the U.S. is the giant desert hairy scorpion and they are about 5 inches long. Next time you are camping in the desert, make sure you’ve emptied out your sleeping bag before you get inside, and zip up that tent!