--- title: "Arizona Bark Scorpion (Centruroides sculpturatus) | AnimalTracks.wiki" description: "North America's most venomous scorpion, and the best climber among Arizona's thirty scorpion species." image: "https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/arizona-bark-scorpion-1.webp" published: "2026-09-05" updated: "2026-09-23" --- # Arizona Bark Scorpion (*Centruroides sculpturatus*) > **Status**: Checked against 9 sources, listed under Sources below. > **Tagline**: North America's most venomous scorpion, and the best climber among Arizona's thirty scorpion species. > **Soundtrack Vibe**: Stoner Rock & Desert Groove // Acid King, "Electric Machine" > **Soundtrack Links**: [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/track/0hH154tuA2DSZT3DiWQL6N) > **Vibe Match**: Slow, heavy fuzz riffs stuck on repeat, for a scorpion whose venom drives nerve axons into prolonged and excessive firing. ## Biological Superpowers & Stats - **Taxonomy**: *Centruroides sculpturatus* - **Danger Level**: High - **Conservation Status**: Not Evaluated ([IUCN Red List](https://www.iucnredlist.org/)) - **Superpower**: The best climber among Arizona's scorpion species, paired with venom that drives nerve axons into prolonged and excessive firing. - **Habitat**: Widely distributed across the Sonoran Desert, from low, dry sites in western Arizona to cooler mountains in the east. Scorpions shelter under debris, logs and bricks, and those that do not burrow may climb trees or hide under bark or leaf litter - **Diet**: Scorpions may take an insect, a spider, or even a small mouse or lizard, grabbed with the pincers and crushed - **Tags**: arachnid, desert, venomous, climber ## Natural History & Behavior ## Small, and the Best Climber in Arizona At a glance the **Arizona Bark Scorpion** (*Centruroides sculpturatus*) looks unremarkable. It reaches only an inch and a half at maturity, comparatively small for a scorpion, and its more slender tail segments and pincers may set it apart from the state's less toxic species. Of the thirty species of scorpions found in Arizona, the Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center regards only this one as life-threatening, and calls it the best climber of the scorpion species. Scorpions are relatively inactive during daylight hours, and the majority of stings reported to the center occur at night during the warm summer months. ## A Nerve Cell Held Open Researchers who study it call the Arizona bark scorpion North America's most venomous scorpion. Scorpion venom is a cocktail of toxins, and some of them switch on voltage-gated sodium channels, the microscopic gates nerve cells use to fire, causing intense pain. A review of 670 patients stung in central Arizona in 1982 described the action of this species' venom as prolonged and excessive firing of neuronal axons, the long fibres that carry a nerve cell's signal. > **A Channel Stuck in the On Position** The venom of some scorpion species leaves a nerve cell's sodium gates incompletely closed. A slow influx of sodium follows, and the axon fires without regulation. In an experiment on single frog nerve fibres, published in 1975, the venom brought about repetitive firing, some of it spontaneous, and eventually left the fibre's membrane unable to fire. ## The Animals That Shrug It Off Not every predator is impressed. High-speed video of pallid bats hunting bark scorpions shows the scorpions stinging, sometimes multiple times, with none of the bats reacting during or after the encounter, and four of the five bats filmed consumed the scorpion at the end of it. Direct injection of venom at the mouse lethal dose, the concentration that kills half a group of mice, had no effect on bat behavior either, and at the highest dose tested three of four bats showed no effects. Grasshopper mice have their own answer. Bark scorpion venom induces pain in many mammals, house mice, rats and humans among them, by switching on a nerve channel called Nav1.7, and it has no effect on a second channel, Nav1.8. Grasshopper mice carry a changed Nav1.8 that binds bark scorpion toxins and blocks the action potential, the electrical pulse a nerve passes along, turning the venom into a painkiller. They regularly attack and consume bark scorpions, grooming only briefly when stung. ## When a Sting Turns Serious A scorpion sting can cause immediate local pain with minimal swelling, and numbness and tingling that may travel across the body. Small children are at the highest risk of severe reactions. A 2023 clinical review reports that adults are stung more often than children, that children more often develop severe illness, and that a scorpion-specific antivenom is available in the United States. In a randomized trial of fifteen children admitted to intensive care, all eight who received that antivenom had their symptoms resolve within four hours, against one of the seven who received a placebo. The same review records no reported deaths from scorpion stings in Arizona since 1968. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Is the Arizona bark scorpion North America's most venomous scorpion? Researchers who study its venom describe it as North America's most venomous scorpion. Scorpion venom is a cocktail of toxins, and some of them switch on voltage-gated sodium channels, the tiny gates nerve cells use to fire, which causes intense pain. *(Source: [Hopp, Arvidson & Razak 2017]())* ### Does an Arizona bark scorpion sting hurt a pallid bat? Researchers found that the pallid bat is stung multiple times during a hunt without any noticeable effect on its behavior. Injecting venom at the mouse lethal dose had no effect on bat behavior either, and at the highest dose tested, three of four bats showed no effects. *(Source: [Hopp, Arvidson & Razak 2017]())* ### How do grasshopper mice survive eating bark scorpions? Bark scorpion venom induces pain in many mammals, house mice, rats and humans among them, by switching on a nerve channel called Nav1.7, and it has no effect on a second channel, Nav1.8. Grasshopper mice carry a changed Nav1.8 that binds bark scorpion toxins and blocks the action potential, the electrical pulse a nerve passes along, turning the venom into a painkiller. They regularly attack and consume bark scorpions, grooming only briefly when stung. *(Source: [Rowe et al. 2013]())* ### Is there an antivenom for a serious bark scorpion sting? Yes, a scorpion-specific antivenom. In a randomized trial of fifteen children admitted to intensive care, all eight who received the antivenom had their symptoms resolve within four hours, against one of the seven who received a placebo. *(Source: [Boyer et al. 2009]())* ## Sources 1. [Scorpions. Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center, University of Arizona.]() 2. [Hopp, Arvidson & Razak (2017). Arizona bark scorpion venom resistance in the pallid bat, Antrozous pallidus. PLOS ONE.]() 3. [Rowe et al. (2013). Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel in Grasshopper Mice Defends Against Bark Scorpion Toxin. Science.]() 4. [Cahalan (1975). Modification of sodium channel gating in frog myelinated nerve fibres by Centruroides sculpturatus scorpion venom. The Journal of Physiology.]() 5. [Curry et al. (1983). Envenomation by the Scorpion Centruroides Sculpturatus. Journal of Toxicology: Clinical Toxicology.]() 6. [Boyer et al. (2009). Antivenom for Critically Ill Children with Neurotoxicity from Scorpion Stings. New England Journal of Medicine.]() 7. [Webber & Bryson (2015). Geographic variation in the thermal biology of a widespread Sonoran Desert arachnid, Centruroides sculpturatus (Arachnida: Scorpiones). Journal of Arid Environments.]() 8. [Scorpion Toxicity. StatPearls, NCBI Bookshelf, 2023.]() 9. [Scorpion. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance.]() *Published September 5, 2026. 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