Powerful pincers.

Paralyzing venom.

Armor fortified with iron and  zinc.

They’re totally metal.

The scorpion has a fierce reputation  that’s lasted through the ages.

Its ancestors were some of  earth’s earliest predators.

But this beast has a secret – a softer side.

If you flip over a scorpion – don’t try  this at home – its belly is sensitive,   and not just because its armor is thinner there.

Right behind its legs, you’ll  see a couple of comb-like organs.

These are pectines, and every scorpion has a pair.

The comb-teeth are covered in  tiny sensors called peg sensilla.

Every peg sensillum has a slit-shaped pore that  takes in chemical traces from the ground and air.

Each is attached to roughly a dozen nerve cells.

This helps the scorpion’s brain read the  chemicals, to understand its environment.

It’s similar to how we taste and smell.

That’s useful, because even though it has many  eyes, a scorpion’s vision is not the best.

When two scorpions meet, they use  their pectines to sense each other’s   pheromones -- invisible chemical signals  they release into the world around them.

This helps them determine who’s a  menace, a meal, or a potential mate.

Looks like these two are a match.

They’re not fighting, they’re – well –  holding hands and kissing, scorpion style.

And this is their version of a slow dance.

The male deposits a packet of sperm on the  ground inside a casing called a spermatophore.

She picks up what she needs, and just like  that, this brief but sweet courtship is over.

The peg sensilla are also  sensitive to physical cues.

They brush the ground as the scorpion walks,  deciphering textures that help it navigate.

But the pectines aren’t its  only specialized sensors.

The scorpion’s dainty feet and hairs all over its  body also help it pick up minuscule vibrations.

Mmm!

dinner!

Fossils show, scorpions have existed in some  form or other since before the dinosaurs.

At night, researchers can find scorpions  because they glow under a simple UV flashlight.

Why this is, is a mystery.

Today there are more than 2000  species found all over the planet.

And scientists are still discovering more.

There’s so much pressure out  there to be tough, smart, fast.

Maybe the real trick to survival   is cultivating your sensitive side,  for hundreds of millions of years.