Are Las Vegas Scorpion Stings Dangerous?

Is a bark scorpion sting dangerous?

A sting from an Arizona bark scorpion can need medical attention, and stings in the Southwest can be serious. That is as far as this page can responsibly go. It is not medical advice, and it cannot tell you how a given sting will go. Contact a clinician or Poison Control.

The honest answer to the question in the title is that it depends on things a web page cannot assess, and a person who has just been stung should not try to settle it by reading. The sources behind this guide say that stings in the Southwest can be serious and may need medical attention. They do not give a way for a layperson to sort one sting from another, so this page does not try to.

If you or someone in your home is stung, contact a clinician or Poison Control. In the United States, Poison Control can be reached by phone and can talk you through the next step. If you are worried and cannot reach anyone, treat that as a reason to seek care, not to wait.

The rest of this page covers what a pest article can responsibly cover: how to recognize the scorpion, where it lives in a valley house, how it gets in, and how to lower the chance that anyone meets one.

Why is the Arizona bark scorpion the one people worry about?

In the Southwest, the Arizona bark scorpion is the species whose stings can be serious and may need medical attention. It is also the scorpion that has spread through Las Vegas homes since around 1990. That combination, a medically significant species living near people, is why the valley treats it as the main scorpion concern.

The bark scorpion is not native to the valley. It first appeared in Southern Nevada about 1990, arriving with plants imported from Arizona and spreading through palm trees and new track-home construction. Today it is more likely to be found on block walls and in houses than out in open desert.

That matters for how you think about risk. The scorpion is not lurking only in remote rocks. It lives in the wall beside the patio, in the garage and in the stucco gap by the back door. The scorpions in Las Vegas guide traces how it got here and why block walls suit it.

How do you recognize an Arizona bark scorpion?

Bark scorpions are small, slender and pale tan to yellowish, with thin claws and a thin tail. They climb walls, which many other scorpions do not do well. At night they glow under UV light. Identification by photo can be unreliable, so a technician or an expert should confirm a species.

The bark scorpion is typically described as a slim, light-colored scorpion with thin pincers. A heavy-clawed, thick-tailed scorpion is more likely to be a different species. The bark scorpion's habit of climbing block and stucco is a real clue, since you may find one on a wall or ceiling instead of on the floor.

A UV flashlight makes the search easier. Scorpions fluoresce, so a blacklight at night shows them as a glow against dark walls and gravel. That is a good way to learn where they are active. It is not a replacement for expert identification.

If you catch one, you can put it in a jar and show it to a technician. Do it with a long tool, closed shoes and care, or leave it to someone else. Do not handle one barehanded.

• Slim body and thin pincers instead of heavy claws
• Light tan or yellowish color
• Climbs block walls and stucco
• Glows under a UV blacklight at night
• Often found near block walls, garage corners and door frames

Where do bark scorpions live in a Las Vegas home?

They live in hollow-block walls, under stacked wood and rock, in garage corners, in door and window gaps, and in places that stay shaded and quiet. Around the valley they are more likely to be on block walls and inside houses than in open desert. Look first along the wall and at the house base.

A hollow concrete block wall can hold large numbers of scorpions, and they reach the cores through narrow cracks. From there, the stucco face and the base of the house are an easy next step. So a wall that touches the house is a place to look carefully.

Inside, scorpions favor the places people use less: the garage, a laundry room, closets with a floor-level gap, the space behind appliances and the area under a bathroom sink. A scorpion indoors usually came in through a gap, and it may be sheltering by day and moving at night.

Warm weather is when they are most visible. Sightings climb from spring through early fall and are lowest in winter, when scorpions are inactive.

How do you lower the chance of being stung?

Lower the chance of contact. Shake out shoes and clothing left on the floor, keep bedding off the floor, wear closed shoes at night outdoors, and avoid reaching into wood piles, rock piles and block-wall gaps. Seal the gaps that let scorpions in, because fewer entries mean fewer meetings.

Most of the prevention that matters is simple habit. A scorpion is looking for a dark, snug place, and a shoe on the floor qualifies. Shake out footwear and clothing that sit on the ground, particularly in the garage and in the warm months. Keep the bed from touching the walls if you have seen scorpions inside.

Outdoors, use gloves and a long tool when you move a board, a stack of pavers or a woodpile. Wear closed shoes at night, especially along block walls and gravel beds. A blacklight walk can show you what you are stepping near.

These steps lower contact but do not remove the source. The source is the gaps and the walls. That is why the lasting answer is sealing, covered below.

• Shake out shoes, towels and clothing left on the floor
• Wear closed shoes outdoors at night
• Use gloves and a long tool when moving boards, wood or rock
• Keep bedding off the floor and away from walls if scorpions have been seen inside
• Do not reach into block-wall gaps or under objects without looking

What should you do about a scorpion found indoors?

Keep your distance, and keep children and pets away. Cover it with a jar or cup, slide a card underneath and carry it outside, or leave it for a technician to remove. Then look for the gap it used. If anyone was stung, contact a clinician or Poison Control right away.

Finding a scorpion on the wall is startling, and a calm response helps. Do not swat it with your hand. A jar or a cup and a stiff piece of paper let you move it without touching it. Wear shoes while you do it.

After that, work out how it got in. A scorpion found near an exterior door suggests the sweep or weather stripping. One found near a window points to the screen. A scorpion in the garage may have come under the garage door. Writing down where you found it gives a technician a head start.

One scorpion is a sign, not a diagnosis. If you see more than one in a season, or you see them regularly, the wall or a gap near the house is likely supplying them. That is the point at which sealing a house starts to make more sense than catching them one at a time.

When is exclusion the answer, rather than spraying?

Exclusion is the answer when scorpions keep appearing even after treatment, because new ones are still getting in. Sealing doors, screens, weep screeds and block-wall caps removes the entry points, while spraying only lowers the number you see. Most homes with recurring scorpions need both, with sealing doing the lasting work.

Treatment kills scorpions that touch it. It does not stop new ones from arriving from a wall that holds many. If you spray and still see scorpions a month later, the source is probably still feeding them in.

The control advice from pest-industry sources is built around exclusion: tight window screens, weather stripping, door sweeps, and stuccoing and capping hollow-block walls. These are physical fixes. They work for as long as they stay in good repair.

For a look at the work itself, see scorpion exclusion and home sealing. Treatment is on the scorpion control page, and sourced price estimates are in the pest control cost guide. A technician can look at the house and confirm what it needs on site.

Who should you contact after a sting?

Contact a clinician or Poison Control. A web page, including this one, is not a safe way to judge a sting. Poison Control gives guidance by phone, and a clinician can examine the person. Tell them it was a scorpion and, if you saw it, what it looked like.

This is the part where a pest company's website should step back. We do not describe symptoms, we do not compare a sting to anything else, and we do not tell you what is likely. The only claim we can support is that stings in the Southwest can be serious and may need medical attention.

Practical help you can give a clinician is simple. Say when it happened, where on the body, and whether you saw the scorpion. If you caught it in a jar, mention that.

When the immediate situation is over, a technician can help with the cause. Phones are answered 24/7 at (855) 974-4733, and a technician looks at the house to find the entry points and quote the work, confirmed on site.