Centruroides gracilis

I have been stung by this species twice. The first time I was trying to remove one from a piece of bark by grasping the scorp by the teslon with my fingers. Bad idea, esensially I envenomated myself! The pain was like having my finger slammed in a car door. I freaked a little bit, since Centruroides are a buthid, but I knew that C. gracilis wasn't known to be "medically significant". I didn't go to the doctor, but I did use ice to ease the pain. It went away after 3-4 hours.

The second time I got nailed I was moving the bark around in my colony's tank, and accidently put my hand right on one. The sting hurt, but this time I had to much to do to sit around with an ice pack, so I kept on working with my collection. The pain went away after 30-45 minutes. I wonder if the ice actually prolonged the pain?

Wade

I too was stung by C.gracilis. It happened when a friend of mine had left a critter carier open in his room and lost the little guy. After tearing the house apart and finding nothing we gave up. About one month later when I sat on the couch I got a nice surprise, right in the butt. It didn't hurt all that bad. Maybe it was because of the lack of nerves in the area. Anyway the pain went away in about an hour. And the scorpion came through the whole ordeal unharmed other than a few emotional scars.
Marcus-Sparkus

I also have been stung by this species but only suffered intense "hot" or "burning" sensation that lasted only moments afterwards with no swelling or other systematics.

The incident occured during the removal of an adult male C.gracilis (4.5") from a pill bottle.

DC

I was recently stung by one of these as well. Lifted the cork bark and bang, she got the tip of my thumb. My thumb got hot and went numb for about 4 hours. No other effects.

Rav

I stepped on one bare-footed in the yard not too long ago. Got me right in the crease where my big toe meets the foot. Hurt like hell for about a half hour. I was a little freaked since i dont know much about scorpions and the veins on the top my toe swell a bit. Swelling and pain were completely gone in 45 minutes.

The attached image was taken 3 minutes after my first, and hopefully last, scorpion envenomation. I was stung on the middle of the first segment of my middle finger. The generous lady who poked me was a mature, WC female from Florida. She reached her ultimate molt a little over 4 months ago. In spite of what you've heard about Central American C. gracilis being much more potent and those from the states being softies, let me be the first to tell you that these aren't to be disrespected, by any means. The attached image was sub-3 minutes after the fact. The entire [middle] finger resembled my thumb in about ten minutes; my left ear, right arm pit, and right hand all felt horrible at the 13-20 minute mark. I'd go into deep descriptions, but I really don't think it can be comprehended; it has to be felt first-hand since it's like nothing else. At the 40-50 minute mark, my lips, tongue, and, to a lesser degree, my throat all became numb yet tingly. After 5-5.5 hours or so of ice, cold water, and elevation, the pain subsided. The swelling was gone the next day and only a mild bruise remained, accompanied by a friendly dose of tingling that lingered around and inside my mouth. I was stung on 4/27/06.

Initiated

Well yeah... had to happen sometime, i was doing some late night, half awake (thats the bad part) tank maintanence. I slightly lifted the bark in my comunal tank and use a chopstick to herd them off the underside and onto the substraight, once cleared I lifted the bark slightly and in order to manuvor it out of the tank without trashing my live plants i needed two hands so i glanced over my shoulder as i placed the chopstick on the desk. When i turned my head back (0.5 second later) and went to regrip the bark to turn and lift it out of the tank i found that one of the scorps had come back aboard the bark and was hiding under my slightly lifted finger and when i applyed slight pressure it kindly reminded me that i was on it. I found it more amusing than anything, being my first sting experience He sank his telson straight into the end of my first finger just below the nail. He definetly meant business and was not happy. Venom injection was no doubt. First was just the being stuck with a pin feeling then in about 3-5 seconds later it felt like i lowered my finger into near boiling water up to the first nuckle and was holding it there. I felt this intense burning sensation for about 2 hours then nothing at all. Have a slight mark where its telson entered my finger this morning but nothing else. Lesson learned... Not to be too worried about but wouldn't want to repeat it if i knew it was coming. The sensation it induced was quite amazing... but that is the bio degree in me doing the talking.

~Josh

i was biten by a Centruroides gracilis Friday 11.3.06 at about 10 am. The bite was the most painful insect bite i've ever had. i was operating a bulldozer clearing land for a new school in central Florida. I screamed and momentarily lost control of the bulldozer. the pain lasted the rest of the day with the swelling slowly increasing.

jump forward in time.... it is now sunday evening 11.5.06 at about 10 pm. the pain is still there, the swelling on my knee is still increasing slowly. my knee resembles something like the state puff marshmellow man. around the bite site is numb and tingly, the actual bite area has increased in size the red burning itchy area is now the size of the bottom of a coffee cup. It feels on fire, hot to the touch, itches like %$#@ and is starting to appear greenish at the sting mark. the only relief i can find is by putting an icyhot patch on it. i need some advise. every post ive read says these bites go away in a few hours and at most a day. it has been over 60 hours now and it is still getting worse. please help. my email is wilsonbb30@yahoo.com and my IM is wilsonbb30 (with yahoo).

thanks,
Ben

Just got tagged by a 4i C. gracilis about 15 minutes ago. The sensation only lasted about 3-5 minutes. It actually wasn't painful at all, nothing close to a wasp sting. Totally my fault too lol. I was trying to push it away from the water dish with my finger (yeah I know, ingenious, isn't it) and it tagged me.

I got tagged by adult male last night at 9pm. He got me on the end of my index finger on my left hand. It happened while I was transporting him to a new container. I had grasped him by the tail at the second to last segment before the telson(real bright, I know). I have done this in the past by grabbing the last segment with no problems. I felt the burning pain almost imediately, accompanied with swelling up to the joint closest to the end of my finger within 3 minutes. There was a drop of blood where the telson entered my skin. The pain was like an intense electrical shock, comparable to a hornet sting, but more initial pain. The pain lasted approx. 30 minutes, followed by complete numbness of the end of my finger. The numbness lasted approx 2 hours. After 2 hours, the numbness turned to a tingling, and the swelling started to subside. I went to bed at this point. When I woke up this morning, there are no more side effects, except for a slight red bump at the sting site.

Adult male tonight. He's never even flicked as a warning. got me good when i went to handgrab a lateralis running around. pain sensation of 3/10, hot burning needle that turned to burning sensation of 1.5/10 for another couple minutes, then tingly sensations around the site, then nothing.

I would say worse than a wasp, more like a hornet or a bad bumblebee sting.

Got tagged 2 days ago adult "gravid" female..
This one was more aggressive than my female Cobalt blue im holding in my avatar.
It was much more painful than a B. jacksoni sting. Also, the irony was a friend of mine was asking "can they sting you when their tail is curled and laying on it's side ( was like that being in a small deli when bought). I was like mostly they go from the top and lunge it. So we both learned something Though not nearly as bad as my bite from my adult female Heteroscodra maculata I had long ago. It was a instant "my finger is melting" sensation. Followed by intense sweating, Light-Headedness (mostly because I suffer from panic attacks). Ice got rid of the pain, so long as it stayed on it. Then the tingly numb is my bone still there sensation started after a few hours. I had to take a xanax to sleep because every time I started falling a sleep my arm felt like someone was smashing my funny bone. The next day I was a tad nauseous and had a headache until bed time. I would not recommend testing this one, I'm not sure if it was the local Florida species or the one from elsewhere in the world since the Florida one is rated 2/5 and the one from elsewhere is rated 4/5 on the venom/pain scale.

I got tagged once on my finger by a baby one, my fault, didnt see it and almost squished her! Anyway, Im allergic to bees and wasps so honstly it didnt even compare to a bee or a wasp to me. Maybe a 3/10 on the painskill for about ten minutes, continued to throb for about an hour. No other symptoms.

I was just stung by a 4i whil trying to get a runner back into his hme. Long story short, I had lost I lost him, and when I bent down to look for him on the ground, he stings me right in the leg armpit. He is okay and back in his cage. I never was trying to handle him, but that guy/girl just kept running.

The sting itself is comparable to a Babycurus jacksoni, but less intense. Sharp pain at first, a red spot, some throbbing/dull pain, but nothing more.

Happened again. This time I was looking for my 6th instar female yesterday and when I tried to move her, she got my right at the first joint from the tip of my pointer finger. Sharp initial pain, numbness, no swelling or red spot, sweating around the area, tingling, and for about 5 minutes after there was the feeling of slamming your finger in a door around the area. Not what I expected, but she was bigger than the last time I got stung, so she probably put more into me. She most likely stung me because i grabbed her wrong.