Are you seeing more scorpions skittering about? What you should know
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Phaedra Trethan, USA TODAYJuly 5, 2025 at 5:01 AM
They have a venomous stinger on one end, pincers on the other and a segmented body with eight legs and a bunch of eyes in the middle.
They're spiders' even more frightening arachnid cousins.
And as they crawl out of caves, rocks and crevices to escape wicked heat waves, they might be coming to a basement near you this summer: Scorpions.
Cue the ewwwwww.
But maybe these creaters are not the mini-monsters people often think they are. Here are some facts about scorpions, including some that may be surprising.
Poisonous predators? Not here.
Jacob Gorneau, a researcher with California Academy of Sciences who specializes in biodiversity and conservation, studies arachnids including spiders and scorpions. He said scorpions found in the United States aren't generally dangerous to humans.
Scorpions are generally associated with the desert Southwest − places such as Utah, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Southern California and Texas.
Gorneau said they can actually be found in arid regions like that, but also along the East Coast as far north as Virginia and along West Coast as far as Southern Canada.
According to Orkin, the pest control company, scorpions come indoors in search of food. Sometimes, they seek a cooler, shaded place − like our homes − to escape extreme temperatures like those that have recently blanketed parts of the U.S. They skitter under the gaps in doors, pipes and plumbing and can even cool off in pools and ponds, submerging for as long as 48 hours.
Want to know more?: Do scorpions have 12 eyes? Can a scorpion regrow its stinger? Fun facts about AZ scorpions
Gorneau, who lives in the Bay Area of California, said he's in a very "outdoorsy" region and people are often surprised to hear there are scorpions there.
"They are fine in hot, tropical environments like rain forests, but they are also pretty hearty," Gorneau said. "They'll live under something and burrow so they can regulate their environment."
A scorpion is pictured at the Scorpion Kingdom laboratory and farm in Egypt's Western Desert near Dakhla on Feb. 4, 2021.
Even in environments where snow falls, scorpions can be found. Or not, since they tend to avoid people.
While there are about 2,800 species of scorpions, there is only one in the U.S. that's dangerous to humans, according to the University of Arizona Health Sciences: the Arizona bark scorpion. Gorneau said most scorpions in the U.S. have a sting about as painful as a bee sting.
Scorpions are 'quite shy'
Gorneau said people in the U.S. needn't be fearful of scorpions. While they are carnivorous, they don't see us as prey, but as predators, so they'll generally avoid us.
On the rare occasions when a scorpion stings a person, he said, it's usually accidental: "Someone might step on one while wearing flip flops," and scorpions here can't usually pierce most shoes.
"They're very unwilling to strike unless they feel like their life is in danger," Gorneau explained. "They're generally quite shy and engage in gatekeeping," waiting at the head of their burrow for prey to come. They can hear people approaching or feel the vibrations of our footfalls, recognizing us by our size as something to fear, and then will usually retreat back into the burrow.
"I've probably handled several hundred (scorpions) to a few thousand," said Gorneau, who admitted he was afraid of spiders and arachnids until he began studying entomology as an undergraduate at Cornell University. "I've only been stung maybe twice, and both times it was definitely my fault," as he wasn't handling them with the appropriate care.
Egyptian pharmacist Nahla Abdel-Hameed catches a scorpion at the Scorpion Kingdom laboratory and farm in Egypt's Western Desert on Feb. 4, 2021.Scorpions haven't changed much through the years
Gorneau said scorpions are "remarkable" creatures that haven't changed much over millions of years of evolutionary history.
Scorpions can be found in fossils going back 400 million years, he said, "and they look very similar to the way they look today."
"Their habits and their bodies have served them well," he added. While they might be found in extreme climates, they insulate themselves from hot, cold and arid conditions by burrowing deeply enough to have their own microenvironment − not too hot, not too cold, not too dry or too wet.
"They're like Goldilocks," Gorneau said.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: More scorpions seem to be out this summer. Are they dangerous?
Source: AOL General News
