A scorpion's resting metabolic rate is roughly a third to a tenth of what would be expected for an arthropod of comparable mass. Its book lungs are efficient, its cuticle is highly impermeable to water loss, and it can down-regulate activity to near-standstill. A large desert scorpion may spend more than ninety per cent of its time immobile in a burrow.
That physiology converts directly into fasting tolerance. Laboratory and field observations report scorpions surviving many months without prey, with figures of six months to a year cited for several species. Water, not food, is usually the binding constraint, and much of it is obtained from prey tissue rather than by drinking.
The number is a ceiling, not a routine. A fasting scorpion loses mass, its reproduction stalls, and juveniles are far less tolerant than adults. Reported records also come mostly from captivity, where temperature is stable and the animal is not spending energy on defence or escape.