Actually, we have some of the best behaved scorpions in the country. I could even go so far as to say the world.
I’ve only encountered one misbehaving scorpion in the 10 years I’ve lived here. I’ve never been stung by a scorpion (scorpions don’t bite, they sting).
If the question is are there a lot of scorpions in Tucson, depends on what you mean by “a lot”. Personally, I’ve seen a lot more killer bees than I have scorpions. Those bad boys can be down right cantankerous. It is really a lot of fun driving with your windows down when you run into a cloud of them crossing the highway.
Don’t slow down, speed up, that way when they hit the windshield and come in the open windows they are going fast enough they never know what hits them. But the scorpions, they are fine, just don’t feed them.
You did know we have killer bees in Tucson, didn’t you?
There are several types of Scorpions in Tucson. There are small yellowish-white scorpions and there are larger ones that come in various colors. The little beggar that is most commonly seen around your home and yard, the bark scorpion.
There is a Latin name for them but I don’t speak Latin and I’ve never met a scorpion that speaks Latin either. Okay, so you really want to see the Latin for Bark Scorpion. It is Centruroides exilicauda. I prefer Arizonus Stingus Badus. The Bark Scorpion is the only one whose venom is considered to be life threatening. The others just give you a good scare and a nasty sting.
However, if you are stung by a bark scorpion it doesn’t mean your life is threatened. I’ve known several people stung by them and they said it was a most unpleasant sting and burnt like they were on fire but they lived.
As you can see the bark scorpion isn’t very big, they are sandy or hay colored. Their body is little more than the size of a dime. At the other end of the spectrum for Tucson Scorpions we have Harry.
The Giant Hairy scorpion does speak Latin and his name is Hadrurus arizonensis nicknamed Hadrus. My preferred name is Arizonesis Notus Badus.
Giant by Arizona scorpion standards, he is much large than a dime. Harry is about 4 inches with his pinchers pulled back the way they are in the photo. Giant Hairy Scorpions get to be up to 6 inches in length so either Harry is of moderate size or he expired before being fully grown. They don’t like to be threatened and take the classic movie pose when they are. They strike swiftly and accurately fortunately their sting only produces mild pain and irritation.
Harry is quite the earth mover, they will dig down as much as 8 feet. He is the bulldozer of scorpions. Here he is in full length pose.
From this point of view you can certainly see why they are called hairy.
If you have never been where there are scorpions these pictures probably give you the creeps, unless you are a boy and then you probably think they are really cool. I lived in Tucson 4 years before I saw my first scorpion. Now I don’t think anything of them, they are a pest to respect and remove, once flattened.
If you don’t have scorpions where you live you probably do have wasps, or hornets, bumble bees, or brown recluse spiders, maybe even black widow spiders. You grew up around them and they seem like a normal part of life. I’ve had to deal with my share of wasps and I’ll take a scorpion over a wasp any time.
The Care and Feeding of Your Pet Scorpion
I’m kidding, well almost. Here is the idea, don’t feed them and you won’t see them, at least not as often. Scorpions feed on bugs. They don’t come into the house or garage wanting to sting anyone. They come looking for food. If they don’t find food they leave.
We have the house treated about once a month during the monsoon season and anytime we see bugs in the garage. The spay kills the bugs and any scorpions that enter the house. That’s what happened to Harry and the bark scorpion. I don’t work with live scropions they are too hard to pose.
Scorpions glow in the Dark
This is probably the coolest part about scorpions, if you shine a blacklight on them after dark, they glow. If you are a scorpion trying to hid and go about your business the worst things that can happen is for someone to show up with a blacklight and ruin your whole day.
