---
title: "What the sources say about the Striped Bark Scorpion | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "48 claims from the Striped Bark Scorpion profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
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---

# What the sources say about the Striped Bark Scorpion (*Centruroides vittatus*)

> 48 claims from the Striped Bark Scorpion profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Striped Bark Scorpion](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/striped-bark-scorpion/)

## Centruroides vittatus. Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.

https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Centruroides_vittatus/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Not Evaluated | IUCN Red List No special status (note: GBIF's copy of the Red List returns NOT_EVALUATED for Centruroides vittatus (species key 7455866, checked 2026-09-26), and Crossref has no 10.2305 assessment DOI for the name. ADW's own page (quoted here) also lists no special status under the IUCN Red List, the US Federal List, and CITES.) |
| Texas and eleven other US states, north to Colorado and Nebraska and east to Tennessee, plus five states of northern Mexico | The striped scorpions' range radiates outward from Texas, where it is most heavily concentrated, into Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. It is also found in the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Chihahua, and Durango |
| hiding under rocks, boards, fallen logs, and dead vegetation, and inside homes | They hide in damp, cool areas under rocks, boards, fallen logs, dead vegetation, and inside human dwellings |
| Mostly spiders, centipedes, crickets, flies, beetles, and other small insects, grabbed and crushed with the pincers, then stung | consuming mostly spiders, centipedes, crickets, flies, beetles, and other small insects ... catch their food by grabbing and crushing them with their powerful pinchers. They then bring their tail over their body and sting the victims |
| Its cuticle, the waxy outer layer that helps keep it from drying out, fluoresces under ultraviolet light, which helps people collect or watch these scorpions at night | waxy cuticle that helps prevent dessication. The scorpion cuticle flouresces under ultraviolet light, which helps when collecting or observing them at night |
| seldom more than 3 inches | The striped scorpion seldom attains lengths greater than 3 inches |
| The body is yellowish to tan, with two broad blackish stripes along the top of the abdomen | Body color varies from yellowish to tan for adults ... two broad blackish stripes on the upper surface of the abdomen |
| Its range spreads outward from Texas into eleven other US states, from Colorado and Nebraska east to Tennessee, and into five states of northern Mexico | The striped scorpions' range radiates outward from Texas, where it is most heavily concentrated, into Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. It is also found in the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Chihahua, and Durango |
| It hides in damp, cool spots under rocks, boards, fallen logs, and dead vegetation, and inside homes | They hide in damp, cool areas under rocks, boards, fallen logs, dead vegetation, and inside human dwellings |
| It stalks its prey mostly at night, by touch and smell | The scorpion stalks its prey mostly at night and depends on its senses of touch and smell |
| Comb-like chemical sensors on its underside touch the ground as it walks, which helps it track prey | Comblike chemical receptor organs on their undersides contact the ground as they walk, which helps them track prey |
| Once its pincers grab hold, it curls its tail over its body and stings the prey, which jerks compulsively and is paralyzed by the venom; the scorpion then chews it into a semi-liquid state it can suck up | catch their food by grabbing and crushing them with their powerful pinchers. They then bring their tail over their body and sting the victims. The prey jerk compulsively and are paralyzed by the venom. They die in the scorpions' rigid grasp. The scorpions then chew the prey into a semi-liquid state, that they can suck up |
| Hunting by Touch and Smell | The scorpion stalks its prey mostly at night and depends on its senses of touch and smell |
| tags: adaptable | Centruroides vittatus can be found indoors or outdoors in an array of habitats. (note: task #807; ADW also: 'Human presence has given them new places to find shelter.') |

## Scorpions of Colorado. Colorado State University Extension.

https://webdoc.agsci.colostate.edu/bspm/Arachnida%20(Arachnids)/Scorpions%20of%20Colorado.pdf

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| One of America's Most Common Scorpions | This species is one of the most common scorpion that occurs in the US |
| One of the most common scorpions in the United States | This species is one of the most common scorpion that occurs in the US |
| Adults average about 2.5 inches fully stretched out | Adults of the common striped bark scorpion (Figure 1) average about 2.5 inches when fully extended |
| a V-shaped dark patch on the head around the eyes | a V-shaped dark area on the head surrounds the eyes |
| in Colorado, about Interstate 70 marks its northern edge | The common striped bark scorpion (Centruroides vittatus) is widespread in southeastern Colorado, with 1-70 about its most northern range (note: '1-70' in the cached PDF text is Interstate 70.) |
| It takes 3 to 4 years to mature and can live another 2 to 3 years as an adult | the common striped bark scorpion requires 3-4 years. These scorpions can live another 2-3 years as an adult |
| Colorado State University Extension says a sting from Colorado's scorpions, this one included, is a sharp, often burning pain that usually fades within a few minutes to an hour and is no more painful than a bee or wasp sting, and that none of the state's species has venom linked to dangerous complications | Among the Colorado species this can be felt as a sharp, often burning pain. However, usually this rapidly dissipates within a few minutes to an hour and is no more painful than a bee or wasp sting. No species that occur in the state have venom associated with dangerous complications (note: C. vittatus is one of the three species the Extension confirms in Colorado. This replaces the ADW sting sentence (15 to 20 minutes; deaths from anaphylaxis), a student account citing 1982 to 1996 sources, which is not enough on its own for a medical outcome.) |
| Courtship starts when the female makes abrupt advances toward a potential mate and retreats | In the common striped bark scorpion the female initiates the mating, making abrupt advances and retreats to a potential mate that it encounters |
| A receptive male answers with a back-and-forth rocking called "juddering," and the two clasp claws for a "cheliceral massage," which the Extension calls a scorpion version of a kiss | A receptive male then responds with a back and forth rocking moving known as “juddering”. The scorpions then clasp each other with their pedipalp claws and draw near enough to engage in a “cheliceral massage” - a scorpion version of a kiss |
| Young are born live and ride on their mother's back through their first molt | Young scorpions are born live by the mother and then carried on her back through the first molt |
| Litter size varies, and 13 to 47 young have been reported for this species | Litter size varies, in part due to the nutrition of the mother. A range of 34-52 young is reported for the northern scorpion; 13-47 for the common striped bark scorpion |
| The young leave their mother after about a week and forage on their own | leave the mother after about one week and then forage on their own |
| dangerLevel: Medium | Among the Colorado species this can be felt as a sharp, often burning pain. However, usually this rapidly dissipates within a few minutes to an hour and is no more painful than a bee or wasp sting. No species that occur in the state have venom associated with dangerous complications. (note: task #807; ADW adds that the sting 'is very rarely fatal, and even then, death is due to anaphylactic shock, not the direct toxic effects of the venom', the bee-sting case, so Medium ('Can injure, but rarely seriously') rather than Deadly) |
| A receptive male striped bark scorpion courts the same way, answering a female's advances with a back-and-forth rocking called juddering | A receptive male then responds with a back and forth rocking moving known as “juddering” (note: vibe.reason, task #807) |

## Carlson, McGinley & Rowe (2014). Meek Males and Fighting Females: Sexually-Dimorphic Antipredator Behavior and Locomotor Performance Is Explained by Morphology in Bark Scorpions (Centruroides vittatus). PLoS ONE.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0097648

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| In lab tests, its females stung at a faster rate than its males | Female scorpions stung at a significantly faster rate overall (8.0±0.97 stings per 2 s, mean ± one standard error) than males (6.5±0.62 stings; p = 0.034; Table 1 ). (note: Tested in the lab on scorpions collected in the Organ Mountains, New Mexico. The paper did not check the females' reproductive status ('We did not evaluate the reproductive status of females but note that most appeared to be at some stage of gestation'), so the page says 'females', not 'gravid females'.) |
| plus a defense split by sex: in lab tests males sprinted faster and females stung faster | Female scorpions stung at a significantly faster rate overall (8.0±0.97 stings per 2 s, mean ± one standard error) than males (6.5±0.62 stings; p = 0.034; Table 1 ). ... Overall, males sprinted faster (22.4±0.67 cm/s) than females (17.6±0.98 cm/s; p = 0.0002; Table 1 ) |
| The researchers who measured it propose that body weight is the key | We propose that reproductive roles have driven sexually dimorphic body mass in this species which produces sex differences in locomotor performance |
| Heavier scorpions stung at a faster rate, and once body mass was counted, sex itself had no separate effect on sting rate | Body mass was positively associated with sting rate (p = 0.003), but no other morphological variables (or sex itself) had significant independent effects on sting rate |
| A female's weight is likely strongly affected by the embryos she carries | variation in relative body mass in females is likely substantially affected by the presence and size of the developing brood |
| Females of this species sprint faster once their young have been born and dispersed | female C. vittatus sprint faster after the birth and dispersal of their offspring |
| weigh 300 to 700 milligrams | Centruroides vittatus are medium-sized (300v700 mg) lithophilic buthid scorpions (note: 'v' is the PDF's rendering of an en dash; the paper's figure is 300-700 mg.) |
| Bark scorpions roam rather than burrow, and rely more on fleeing than on fighting back | Bark scorpions ( Centruroides spp.) are errant, non-burrowing scorpions ... actively moving about on the surface rather than remaining in or near burrows. They therefore rely more heavily on fleeing threats than active defense |
| When researchers tested scorpions collected in New Mexico, the sexes defended themselves differently | Scorpions in this study were collected in the Organ Mountains, New Mexico, USA, in July 2011 |
| Males sprinted faster, at 22.4 compared with 17.6 centimeters a second, while females stung faster, averaging 8.0 stings in two seconds against the males' 6.5 | Female scorpions stung at a significantly faster rate overall (8.0±0.97 stings per 2 s, mean ± one standard error) than males (6.5±0.62 stings; p = 0.034; Table 1 ). ... Overall, males sprinted faster (22.4±0.67 cm/s) than females (17.6±0.98 cm/s; p = 0.0002; Table 1 ) |
| Females of this species are gravid (carrying embryos) eight months of the year, and the researchers suggest that burden likely slows their sprint and may push them toward stinging instead, while male scorpions, known to be more mobile and to range farther, may rely on speed as their main defense | The reduced sprinting speed of females is likely caused by the burden of carrying developing embryos while gravid ... Gravid eight months of the year [29] , female C. vittatus may be poor at sprinting from predators and might rely more on aggressive defense as a form of behavioral compensation ... hence the faster stinging. Male scorpions, on the other hand, are known to be more mobile and range farther than females ... and may be the primary antipredator defense |
| A Sting Split by Sex | Female scorpions stung at a significantly faster rate overall (8.0±0.97 stings per 2 s, mean ± one standard error) than males (6.5±0.62 stings; p = 0.034; Table 1 ) |

## Rowe et al. (2011). Isolation and Characterization of CvIV4: A Pain Inducing α-Scorpion Toxin. PLoS ONE.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0023520

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| A venom peptide, CvIV4, that slows the closing of Nav1.7, a sodium channel in pain-sensing nerves | CvIV4 slowed the fast inactivation of Na v 1.7, a Na + channel expressed in peripheral pain-pathway neurons (nociceptors) |
| In mice, one venom peptide on its own, CvIV4, caused as much paw licking as the scorpion's whole venom | CvIV4 produced paw licking in Mus equivalent to the effects of whole venom |
| In lab tests on cells, it kept a channel called Nav1.7 from shutting as quickly as normal, and Nav1.7 is found in the nerve cells that sense pain | CvIV4 slowed the fast inactivation of Na v 1.7, a Na + channel expressed in peripheral pain-pathway neurons (nociceptors) (note: Tested on human Nav1.7 expressed in human embryonic kidney (HEK) cells: 'We tested CvIV4 on hNa v 1.7 expressed in HEK cells and on dissociated rat DRG'.) |
| One of its venom peptides, CvIV4, slows the closing of Nav1.7, a sodium channel (a gate that lets sodium into a cell) carried by pain-sensing nerve cells, but it did not affect a second channel in those cells, Nav1.8 | CvIV4 slowed the fast inactivation of Na v 1.7, a Na + channel expressed in peripheral pain-pathway neurons (nociceptors), but did not affect the Na v 1.8-based sodium currents of these neurons (note: Nav1.8 was tested on dissociated rat dorsal root ganglion neurons; the page says 'did not affect', not that it never touches Nav1.8 in every animal.) |
| A Slow-Closing Gate | CvIV4 slowed the fast inactivation of Na v 1.7 |

## Farley (2004). Developmental changes in the embryo, pronymph, and first molt of the scorpion Centruroides vittatus (Scorpiones: Buthidae). Journal of Morphology.

https://doi.org/10.1002/jmor.10227

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| That molt makes the metasoma, the tail-like rear section, relatively longer and turns the sting sharp and functional | In the first molt the metasoma becomes relatively longer, and the sting (aculeus) becomes sharp and functional |
| Armed After the First Molt | In the first molt the metasoma becomes relatively longer, and the sting (aculeus) becomes sharp and functional |

## McElroy et al. (2017). Differential toxicity and venom gland gene expression in Centruroides vittatus. PLOS ONE.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0184695

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| in a test on crickets, venom from adults and near-adults was about 2.7 times as potent as venom from young scorpions | Venom toxicity was evaluated by probit analysis and returned ED 50 values of 50.1 μg/g for class IV compared to 134.2 μg/g for class I-II 24 hours post injection, suggesting size class IV was 2.7 fold more potent (note: Size class IV is 'adults/penultimate instars', class I-II 'immature'; 'The biological activity of collected venom was measured in crickets.') |