My first wild bark scorpion! These scorpions possess the most potent venom of any North American scorpion. Stunning in every sense of the word... Double click to enlarge.
Bark scorpions are relatively small scorpions found throughout the Sonoran Desert. All are predaceous, eating large numbers of insects, centipedes, spiders and other arachnids including scorpions.
Bark scorpions prefer an upside down or head down orientation, and can often be found above ground on the underside of objects.
Females give birth to up to 40 young, which she carries on her back for the first 3 weeks after birth.
A sting can cause severe pain, often lasting between one and three days. Impacts vary. Some victims experience immobilization of a hand or arm. In other cases, the victim may experience convulsions. The sensation resulting from being stung been likened to experiencing jolts of electricity. Scorpion stings showing signs of anaphylactic shock, such as hives, wheezing, dizziness, chest pain or shortness of breath, require immediate emergency medical care.
This is the only scorpion species in Arizona considered life threatening. We encountered this individual on the side of the nature trail outside the Sonoran Arthropod Studies Institute in Tucson, AZ.
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