SPECIES HELP!

[TeachEdward]

Hey all. My friend gave this lil' dude to me today from the grocery store they work at. Was found wandering down a hallway. Problem is, we live in NW Oregon with no native scorpions. We assume it came in on produce or a pallet, so likely from California or Mexico where we get so much of our produce this time of year. I'm assuming and hoping it's a scorpling, because I've heard the smaller they are the worse the venom. I keep tarantulas so I was naturally the first choice to call. I'm totally willing to keep it, just hoping to get a species identification so I can set it up appropriately. It's about a 3/4" long. Thanks y'all!!

 

[Andrew Clayton]

Not sure on the species but definitely looks like a HOT scorpion. Just by how fat the tail is compared to how skinny it's pincers are so be careful.

 

[TeachEdward]

Thank you! Weirdly my wife thinks she recognizes this from the desert valley in southern California where her family lives. She said the same thing "I hate those things they are mean" and apparently can pack an ouch. Still unsure of specie as i still don't think it's a desert hairy, maybe?

 

[Andrew Clayton]

Thank you! Weirdly my wife thinks she recognizes this from the desert valley in southern California where her family lives. She said the same thing "I hate those things they are mean" and apparently can pack an ouch. Still unsure of specie as i still don't think it's a desert hairy, maybe?

Nah it's definitely not an Hadrurus. Looks a bit like a devil scorpion with the reddish colour on the pincers

 

[TeachEdward]

Honestly I thought a Hadrurus of some kind was a guarantee here given locale....hmmmm.

 

[Andrew Clayton]

Honestly I thought a Hadrurus of some kind was a guarantee here given locale....hmmmm.

There a load of different species in the areas you said. Hadrurus have lighter legs too

 

[MorbidArachnid]

We definitely do have native scorpions in Oregon, on the west side we have Uroctonus mordax, and in the east we have Paruroctonus boreus. There are even some Paruroctonus beckii and Paruroctonus silvestrii closer to the California border but those aren't as common. There are also some Hadrurus spadix from Idaho that come over. That being said it probably isn't any of those.

Throwing in an EDIT here because I asked around, someone I trust very highly on scorpion ID says juvenile Paruroctonus. I still think the front's a bit too notched for that but also might be seeing it wrong/might just be more indented because it's a juvenile.

I also don't think this is a hot scorpion, definitely looks to be more in the Vaejovidae family, the tail to pincers thumbrule is only a thumbrule and there are a lot of exceptions (just look at Paravaejovis spinigerus). If it's from California/Mexico, the only hot species are going to be Centruroides, I don't think it's that based on the thickness of the tail, but this scorpion appears to have a fairly heavily notched front of the prosoma. This rules out most Vaejovidae, because most of them have a relatively straight or only slightly notched leading edge. Serradigitus have a notched front, but the pedipalps don't look right for that either. This scorpion also doesn't look mature to me so it might look different as it gets older.

That being said I am in Portland and I specialize in US native scorps, so I'd be happy to take it (alive or dead) to see if I can get a better ID.

 

[TeachEdward]

Thanks that's extremely helpful, and I now must go seeking these Oregon scorpions, cool!
As far as this little one, someone else suggested the exact same type you have, so I do believe it to be a Vaejovidae of some kind as well. I do appreciate the offer to take, but I might hang onto it a bit longer at least to see how it looks once it's a bit bigger. Had some extra tarantula acrylics so I've got er set up pretty good for the time being.
If I run into trouble I'll gladly reach out to you and give it up. Thanks again, I'm excited to learn more about our locals!

 

[fcat]

Hey all. My friend gave this lil' dude to me today from the grocery store they work at. Was found wandering down a hallway. Problem is, we live in NW Oregon with no native scorpions. We assume it came in on produce or a pallet, so likely from California or Mexico where we get so much of our produce this time of year. I'm assuming and hoping it's a scorpling, because I've heard the smaller they are the worse the venom. I keep tarantulas so I was naturally the first choice to call. I'm totally willing to keep it, just hoping to get a species identification so I can set it up appropriately. It's about a 3/4" long. Thanks y'all!!

My pops used to find scorps growing up in Madras. You sure it's not a native Oregon species?

Edit sorry just saw morbid's response

 

[Joey Spijkers]

Looks like some Vaejovis/Paravaejovis species to me, but must admit I am not very familiar with all the different species and their distrubutions.

 

[darkness975]

Looks like some Vaejovis/Paravaejovis species to me, but must admit I am not very familiar with all the different species and their distrubutions.

I agree with that.

Can you get some better pictures in better lighting?

@TeachEdward