Who or what hitchhikers in the bathroom are? Read the text to find out and do the tasks below to check yourself.
Hitchhikers in the Bathroom
Imagine this. You step up to the sink, wet your toothbrush, and begin cleaning your pearly whites. Out of the corner of your eye, you see something moving on the wall. Suddenly, you realize you're not alone in the bathroom. Your heart pounding, you turn toward the tiny intruder to get a better look. You're horrified to see that it has eight legs, and a pair of oversized pincers on its front end. Is it some kind of miniature octopus, or a bizarre crab? Is it going to sting you? Actually, it's a bug, and it's no more harmful to you than a housefly. This tiny bathroom bug is called a pseudoscorpion (SOO-dohSCOR-pee-uhn). But don't be fooled by its name. It's not really a scorpion; it's just a relative. The pseudoscorpion is a kind of arachnid (uh-RAK-nid), which means it is closely related to spiders, scorpions, and mites. Like scorpions, pseudoscorpions have a segmented body and two enormous pincers. But pseudoscorpions lack the curved stinger that all true scorpions have.
Pseudoscorpions usually live outside in mulch, under tree bark, and in leaf litter. So how do they end up in the bathroom? They use those pincerlike claws to hitch a ride on other bugs, such as flies and beetles. When these insects come in, so do the pseudoscorpions - attached to their legs! These tiny arachnids prefer moist places. Since the bathroom tends to be humid after bathing and showering, it's a likely place to find them. But they are easily overlooked. Most pseudoscorpions are only about two to eight millimeters long. Pseudoscorpions don't bite or sting humans, and they can even be helpful. These bugs feed on common household pests, such as carpet beetle larvae, ants, mites, and small flies. Welcoming this hitchhiker into your home may mean there are fewer household pests to "bug" you!
1.How can pseudoscorpions be helpful to humans? ______________________
2. If you wanted to find a pseudoscorpion outdoors, where would you look? ___________________
3. Use the pictures and the Venn diagram to show how pseudoscorpions and real scorpions are alike and how they're different.
4. Match each vocabulary word from the article with the correct definition.
| 1. bizarre |
a. the immature forms of an insect |
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2. moist |
b. having a very small size |
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3. enormous |
c. strange, unusual |
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4. miniature |
d. extremely scared or shocked |
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5. larvae |
e. somewhat wet or damp |
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6. intruder |
f. divided into sections |
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7. segmented |
g. very large in size; huge |
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8. horrified |
h. invader |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
5. What will probably happen if all scorpions on Earth disappear? Explain your answer.
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ANSWER KEY
1. How can pseudoscorpions be helpful to humans?
Pseudoscorpions feed on common household pests, such as carpet beetle larvae, mites, and small flies.
2. If you wanted to find a pseudoscorpion outdoors, where would you look?
Pseudoscorpions usually live outside in mulch, under tree bark, and in leaf litter.
3. Use the Venn diagram to show how pseudoscorpions and real scorpions are alike and how they're different.
Pseudoscorpions: no curved segmented body, does not sting, helpful (eats bugs).
Real scorpions: curved stinger, stings humans.
Both: segmented body, 8 legs, two pincers.
4. Match each vocabulary word from the article with the correct definition.
| 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
|
c |
e |
g |
b |
a |
h |
f |
d |
5. Students own answers.