Columnist Barb Henderson: Scorpion sting intrigues writer to dig for facts

Barb Henderson

Friday, Aug. 8, 2003 | 9:05 a.m.

Barb Henderson is an outdoors enthusiast, freelance writer and producer/host of outdoors radio television programming. Her column appears Friday in the Sun.

We share the outdoors (and indoors) with a variety of creepy crawling creatures that bite and sting. During our adventurous journeys, it is possible to encounter spiders and scorpions lurking about.

There are around 600 different species of spiders in Nevada.

In Southern Nevada, the two species with the more harmful bites would be the Black Widow and the Desert Brown Spider (a close relative to the brown recluse).

Interestingly, there are 23 species of scorpions known to be throughout Nevada. Ten of those are found around southern Nevada.

The bark scorpion (found only in Southern Nevada) is considered to have a more serious sting than the other 22 species, because of its more toxic venom.

I was stung by a scorpion last summer while at home. Unfortunately, I had a bad reaction to the sting and ended up spending a few hours in the emergency room at a local hospital. I delivered the scorpion to the Nevada Department of Agriculture for identification, and within a week an entomologist confirmed that I had been stung by a bark scorpion (Centruroides Exilicauda).

Since that painful experience, I've discovered some interesting facts regarding the bark from Jeff Knight, an entomologist with the Nevada Department of Agriculture who has been an extremely helpful resource on the subject.

The Nevada Department of Agriculture's first collections of the bark scorpion in Las Vegas were in 1993. The experts believe that this particular species may have traveled to the valley by hitching a ride on palm trees and/or building materials from Arizona.

"Since 1993 the bark scorpion has continued to expand its range in Las Vegas. We currently have approximately 300 sites from the Las Vegas area in our database," said Knight.

A mature bark scorpion will average between 2-3 inches in length, including tail. The tail will be longer than the body. They have long slender tails and claws compared to other species. Located at the end of the tail is the stinger, which they will use as defense and for killing their prey. Their coloration varies from a light yellow to a reddish tan.

The female can give birth to 20 baby scorpions, which are born alive. The babies are born between May and October and usually will stay with the adult female for several weeks, riding around on her back.

The bark scorpion likes to climb, and is commonly found in palm trees and on cinderblock walls.

During the day the bark scorpion will usually hide in dark places -- under rocks and in cracks -- and at night it will hunt for food (insects and spiders, etc).

It is difficult to completely eliminate the bark scorpion. Knight said one way to search for them would be by using a black light at night. Under the black light the scorpion becomes fluorescent from proteins in its exoskeleton. Be careful -- these small scorpions will sting.

Knight shared these tips: "Anyone who thinks they may encounter stinging or biting arthropods should first try to avoid contact by wearing gloves, making sure gloves and shoes or boots are free of pests before putting them on, and looking carefully before reaching into areas were these pests might occur. If you are stung remain calm (very few people die from any of these pests), try to capture or kill the animal that stung you, keep the wound clean, and see a physican if any kind of reaction begins to occur."

If you have a pest that keeps bugging you, contact the Nevada Department of Agriculture office, 2300 McLeod, Las Vegas, or call 486-4690.