Florida Bark Sting

[Gillian Pajor]

I'm just curious about how painful/side-effects of a Bark Scorpion are. I have 2 baby ones and I don't plan on getting stung, but I also would like to be prepared if I do and google does not really help with what could happen and signs that I would start to see showing if I need to seek medical attention.

 

[darkness975]

I'm just curious about how painful/side-effects of a Bark Scorpion are. I have 2 baby ones and I don't plan on getting stung, but I also would like to be prepared if I do and google does not really help with what could happen and signs that I would start to see showing if I need to seek medical attention.

They're not lethal to most people. An exception might be the sick, elderly, extremely young, and those with heightened sensitivity to the venom (you can call it being allergic to it I suppose).

That being said, you'll know you've been stung. It does hurt. But to the average healthy adult it's not much more than a bad experience.

If you start showing signs of distress like difficulty breathing, cold/clammy skin, delirium/dizziness, or anything concerning like that then you should seek help.

For the average person that I know of a sting is nothing more than a painful nuisance.

Check out the sting reports for some more personal accounts of being stung.

 

[miss moxie]

I've read that the ones from outside North America have more potent venom than their native cousins.

This scorpion can inflict very a painful sting, but it is not considered as potent as some of its relatives. Some information indicates that individuals from North America are less venomous than their relatives from Central and South America. C. gracilis from Cuba have a reported LD 50 value of 2.7 mg/kg, which is quite potent. This species should be handled with care.

via https://www.ntnu.no/ub/scorpion-files/c_gracilis.php

So I suppose if you're really worried about venom, be sure to find North American C. gracilis specimens.