Diet and predators
Bark scorpions are generalist night hunters of crickets, cockroaches, beetles, spiders, and smaller scorpions, and they are in turn eaten by pallid bats, owls, snakes, grasshopper mice, lizards, and larger scorpions.[1][2][3] One predator, the southern grasshopper mouse, has evolved nerve channels that convert the venom into a pain-blocker.[2]
What do bark scorpions eat?
Insects and other arthropods: crickets, cockroaches, beetles, moths, spiders, and other scorpions, including smaller bark scorpions.[1][2] Prey is located by vibration and touch, grasped with the pedipalps, and stung if it struggles.[4] A 2013 field note documented a bark scorpion consuming a Sonoran Desert centipede nearly twice its own length.[5] Because they eat the same insects that porch lights and irrigation attract, the bugs around a house are the reason the scorpions are there.[6]
What eats bark scorpions?
Pallid bats, which seem to tolerate the venom; owls and other birds; snakes; lizards; the southern grasshopper mouse; giant desert hairy scorpions and other larger scorpions; and, occasionally, javelina and coatis.[2][3] Chickens and guinea fowl will take them in a yard, although this site found no controlled study showing they reduce populations.
The mouse that eats them for a living
The southern grasshopper mouse (Onychomys torridus) hunts bark scorpions and is stung repeatedly while doing it. It carries a variant of a pain-pathway sodium channel that binds the venom and, instead of transmitting pain, blocks it; the sting acts as an analgesic.[2] This predator-prey pair is a textbook case in the study of pain and is one reason bark scorpion venom is used in neuroscience research (see venom).[7]
What is its ecological role?
A mid-level nocturnal predator that helps regulate insect populations in both wild desert and urban landscapes, and prey for a range of desert vertebrates.[1][8] UArizona Extension makes the point that scorpions are beneficial predators, and that eliminating them from a yard is neither realistic nor necessary; the goal is to keep them out of the house.[8]
Devon "The Scorpion Guy" at ArizonaBarkScorpion.org. "What Arizona Bark Scorpions Eat and What Eats Them." 2026-09-12. https://arizonabarkscorpion.org/diet-predators/Related
Sources for this page
- Agnew J, Bowers K, Bundy S, Romero A. Distribution, biology, and management of medically relevant bark scorpions, with emphasis on Centruroides sculpturatus. Journal of Integrated Pest Management 17(1), 2026. academic.oup.com/jipm/article/17/1/pmag029/8724371Tier 1
- Wikipedia contributors. Arizona bark scorpion. Wikipedia (cross-reference; consult its citations for primary sources). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona_bark_scorpionTier 2
- Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. Animal Fact Sheet: Bark Scorpion. www.desertmuseum.org/kids/oz/long-fact-sheets/Bark%20Scorp.phpTier 2
- Keener L. Scram! Begone, Scorpion Myths! Bay Nature, October 27, 2022. baynature.org/2022/10/27/spooky-scary-scorpions-actually-not-so-much-you-arent-worth-the-venom/Tier 2
- Webber MM, Graham MR. An Arizona Bark Scorpion (Centruroides sculpturatus) Found Consuming a Venomous Prey Item Nearly Twice Its Length. Western North American Naturalist 73(4), 2013. bioone.org/journals/western-north-american-naturalist/volume-73/issue-4/064.073.0406/An-Arizona-Bark-Scorpion-Centruroides-sculpturatus-Found-Consuming-a-Venomous/10.3398/064.073.0406.shortTier 1
- University of Arizona ACIS Community IPM. Scorpions (Public Health IPM). acis.cals.arizona.edu/community-ipm/public-health-ipm/scorpionsTier 1
- He Y, et al. Deciphering Scorpion Toxin-Induced Pain. International Journal of Biological Sciences 21(7):2921-2934, 2025. www.ijbs.com/v21p2921.pdfTier 1
- Schalau J. Scorpions. University of Arizona Cooperative Extension, Backyard Gardener #184, June 13, 2024. www.extension.arizona.edu/sites/extension.arizona.edu/files/attachment/Scorpions.pdfTier 1