Making a trip to socal, anyone want to look for scorpions?

[khil]

I'm looking to take a trip to LA within the next week or two. I'd love to find some paruroctonus, or even better yet Anuroctonus. I don't know if there are any groups or such, but I'd be willing to meet up at a good spot and catch some scorpions.

Thanks!

 

[squidkid]

i don't know of any groups but both species are extremely common here. you shouldn't have any trouble finding one on your own. i find paruroctonus under logs, anuroctonus are far more common but they are burrowers so they are harder to catch. i got lucky and found a 3.5 inch male under a log a couple of weeks ago, but good luck with a female(they stay in their burrows). the burrow mouths are usually horizontal like mine the picture. i know that the anuroctonus dangle their pedipalps out of their burrows at night so they are visible with a blacklight. TL;DR try to go hiking in a canyon or something with a blacklight. anuroctonus burrow and you can find paruroctonus on the path at night or under rocks during the day.

 

[toan]

I don't know anything about scorpions, but years ago, when i was walking around salton sea, I found so many scorpions in the desert with a small black light.

 

[khil]

i don't know of any groups but both species are extremely common here. you shouldn't have any trouble finding one on your own. i find paruroctonus under logs, anuroctonus are far more common but they are burrowers so they are harder to catch. i got lucky and found a 3.5 inch male under a log a couple of weeks ago, but good luck with a female(they stay in their burrows). the burrow mouths are usually horizontal like mine the picture. i know that the anuroctonus dangle their pedipalps out of their burrows at night so they are visible with a blacklight. TL;DR try to go hiking in a canyon or something with a blacklight. anuroctonus burrow and you can find paruroctonus on the path at night or under rocks during the day.

I tried a good few places, no luck. Just a couple teeny tiny p silvestrii. I thought scorpions would be more common, oh well.

 

[Arthroverts]

You have to know where to look, and around L.A Paruroctonus and Anuroctonus are not as common or easy to find as they might be elsewhere. Paravaejovis is likely the most common genus of scorpions found in SoCal. @NYAN, @BoyFromLA, @RTTB, @chanda, @REEFSPIDER might be able to chip in with some more information though.

Hope this helps,

Arthroverts

 

[chanda]

I tried a good few places, no luck. Just a couple teeny tiny p silvestrii. I thought scorpions would be more common, oh well.

It depends on the weather, too. It's been pretty cool and wet lately, which will often keep them tucked away in their burrows. They are more likely to be out and about on warm summer evenings - which we should finally start getting pretty soon!

A good place to find scorpions is in cut banks along hiking trails. They love making their burrows in those vertical dirt "cliffs" - and are pretty easy to spot - but catching them if they're already in the mouth of their burrow can be challenging. On the other hand, if you can find one that has ventured away from the burrow a bit, they're not so hard to catch - you just have to put something behind them to block off their retreat. (And of course, don't get so focused on the scorpion (or whatever) that you're after that you fail to check for other hazards! I came uncomfortably close to putting my hand on a rattlenake last year when I was climbing a cut bank outside Phoenix, AZ to get a closer look at.... something. (It was either a spider or an amblypygid - but I don't remember which now.) The snake was coiled on the bank and I didn't even see it until just before I was about to steady myself on that particular patch of dirt. Fortunately, it was not feeling particularly defensive - but it was a good reminder for me to pay attention!)

 

[squidkid]

I tried a good few places, no luck. Just a couple teeny tiny p silvestrii. I thought scorpions would be more common, oh well.

thats too bad, they are really common around where i live.

 

[NukaMedia Exotics]

I don't know anything about scorpions, but years ago, when i was walking around salton sea, I found so many scorpions in the desert with a small black light.

Interested in buying GBB slings but your inbox is full.