Last week, I fed one of the emperor scorpions we use in the insect outreach program I’m working with and I was surprised to see him grab the cricket with his claws, crush it, pop it into his mouth, and start chewing moments after I dropped the cricket in. I hadn’t ever watched a scorpion eat up close before, so instead of a photo this week, I give you this short video so you can share my experience. Note the movement of the mouthparts as he grinds up his meal:
How completely awesome is it to see those claws emerging from his head to help him pulverize and manipulate his food? I was blown away!
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The Dragonfly Woman 
Wow. I did not realize that scorpions had another set of claws inside their heads. It is reminiscent of the double-jaw business in “Alien”, except that there are two of them.
That’s exactly what I thought! Super cool.
How awesome! I don’t really have anything else to add, except, COOL! I love this kind of thing. I lost several minutes of my morning to watching the mantises eat.
And I LOVE the “helper claws.”