Scorpions are animals that are mainly active at night, when they hunt insects, spiders, and other small animals. The preys are seized with the "claws" (called "pedipalps") and chopped with the chelicerae; the largest prey are first paralyzed with the poison of the sting. The female produces already active, semi-transparent, identical to the adults, which she carries for a few days on the abdomen.To date, in most of the Italian territory only the genus Euscorpius (family Chactidae) with 4 subgenera and 12 species of the which the most common are E. italicus and E. flavicaudis; however, the classification of the species of this genus, very similar to each other, is subject to continuous revision and updating by expert taxonomists. The size averages around 3-4 cm, depending on the species. The coloring of the species present in Italy is generally dark but E. flavicaudis can be recognized from the others by the color of the sting and the limbs, usually yellowish. For completeness, it is also appropriate to report the species Buthus occitanus (family Buthidae) since although present in Spain, southern France and other European regions has also occasionally been reported in Liguria. The sting of this scorpion is particularly painful compared to that of the genus Euscorpius.