In walking, scorpions carry their pedipalps horizontally in front, using them partly as feelers and partly as raptorial organs. As regards the body the attitude varies considerably. In some cases (_Parabuthus_, _Prionurus_, etc.) it is raised high upon the legs, and the “tail” or metasoma is curved forward over the back, but in others (_Euscorpius_) the body is held low, and the “tail” is dragged along behind, the end only being slightly curled. In the daytime they hide away under wood or stone, or in pits which they dig in the sand. _Parabuthus capensis_ was observed to dig a shallow pit by means of its second and third ambulatory legs, resting on its first and fourth legs aided by the chelae and the metasoma. Those that hide under wood are usually found clinging to their shelter ventral side uppermost. In captivity the creatures, though supplied with water, were never observed to drink; indeed, they are characteristic inhabitants of arid steppes and parched wastes. Like most Arachnids they can endure prolonged abstinence from food. The only sense well developed seems to be that of touch. Notwithstanding the possession of several eyes their sight is poor. A moving object within the range of a few inches is certainly perceived, but it has to be touched before its nature is recognised. Some writers have attributed to scorpions a keen sense of hearing, and so-called “auditory hairs” are described on the tibia of the pedipalp, but Pocock came to the conclusion that _Parabuthus capensis_ and _Euscorpius carpathicus_ were entirely deaf, and Lankester could obtain no indication of auditory powers in the case of _Prionurus_. The sense of touch is extremely delicate, and seems to reside in the hairs with which the body and appendages are more or less thickly clothed. The pectines are special tactile organs. That they are in some way related to sex seems probable from the fact that they are larger in the male and sometimes curiously modified in the female, but they appear to be of use also in determining the nature of the ground traversed by the animal, being long in such species as raise the body high on the legs, and short in those that adopt a more grovelling posture. Pocock noticed that a scorpion which had walked over a portion of a cockroach far enough for the pectines to come in contact with it immediately backed and ate it. [Illustration: FIG. 167.—_Buthus occitanus_ in the mating period. (After Fabre.) ]