How much does it cost to exterminate scorpions?

Reviewed by Irene Pomares remodeling expert. Written by Fixr.com.

The scorpion inhabits every continent on the planet except Antarctica. With more than 1,700 species of scorpions identified globally, 90 of them live in the United States. All species of scorpion sting and produce some level of venom. While the Arizona Bark Scorpion is the only species in the U.S. that’s considered deadly to humans, every scorpion stings when threatened. Your home is no place for scorpions.

If you suspect that you have scorpions in your home, it’s important to call a professional to fix the problem. The national average cost ranges from $200 to $300, with most homeowners paying $250 for a one-time inspection and treatment for scorpions in a 2,000 sq.ft. house. Costs can be as low as $100 to treat a home that is less than 2,000 sq. ft. Homeowners with houses that are larger than 2,000 sq.ft. or have an infestation that requires follow-up services can expect to pay as much as $500.

Scorpion Pest Control Cost

Scorpion Extermination Cost per Square Foot

The most significant factor that determines the cost of scorpion extermination is the size of your home. Like many other types of extermination, the treatment method involves an inspection of the house to determine the extent of the problem and an application of insecticide to the property. The more space there is to inspect and treat, the higher the cost.

Bark Scorpion Control

The Bark Scorpion (aka Arizona Bark Scorpion) is the only scorpion in the United States that is considered deadly to humans. Bark scorpions are 2.5 inches long with a tan body that is slightly darker on its back. They are nocturnal and, therefore, most active at night.

Bark Scorpions are found throughout Arizona, New Mexico, southern Utah, southern Nevada, and the Mexican states of Sonora and Chihuahua. They are desert-dwellers and can thrive in extreme heat and cold. However, the Bark Scorpion’s preferred environment is a streamside habitat. When they wander into homes looking for insects to eat, they’re usually also in search of water.

For homeowners in the southwestern U.S., Bark Scorpions are the most common species to encounter in the home. They are a crafty species because they’re one of the only scorpions to be able to climb vertical surfaces and squeeze into narrow entry points by tucking up their tail against their body.

In the home, Bark Scorpions are most likely to be found in the bathroom and kitchen at night. The nocturnal insects are looking for damp areas and standing water. Sinks, bathtubs, and showers are common places to find them hunting for insects at night. The average homeowner will pay $200 for the one-time extermination of the Arizona Bark Scorpion from homes that are around 2,000 sq.ft.

Scorpion Extermination Cost

When a professional arrives to exterminate scorpions in your home, they inspect the property to determine the extent of the infestation. The cost of extermination will be the same regardless of the type of scorpion in your home. Exterminators will spray entry points on the exterior of the home with a scorpion insecticide and use insecticide dust on the interior. The exterminator places glue traps along the home’s perimeter to catch any pests that weren’t killed by the insecticides. The treatment will only take a few hours. The insecticide used for scorpions is toxic until it dries. Be sure to keep young children and pets away from the treatment area.

Most exterminators that deal with scorpion control are in the Southwest. Routine servicing is needed in Arizona and Nevada to handle the scorpion problem. Some companies service on a monthly or quarterly basis. These treatments include scorpion insecticides that kill other pests that scorpions eat. When there is no food source, scorpions have no reason to enter your home.

The one-time cost for scorpion extermination from a home around 2,000 sq.ft. is $200. Larger homes cost a bit more based on the exterminator’s hourly rate of $50 to $100 per hour. If follow-up appointments are needed, they follow the same method as the initial treatment. It includes an inspection, applying insecticide, and laying sticky traps. The cost of one follow-up appointment is $50 to $100. This cost is typically a reflection of the exterminator’s hourly rate of $50 to $100 per hour.

Scorpion Inspection

Exterminators do not typically charge to inspect your home or property for scorpions. An inspection is part of the treatment session, and it’s free. Inspecting your home is necessary before treatment is discussed.

An exterminator locates the potential areas where scorpions might be found. On the exterior of the home, they’ll look for gaps in the building materials. Scorpions get inside your home through these small spaces.

The exterminator will note all areas that need treatment. They’ll note any entry points on the exterior and mark them for exclusion. Exclusion is a common treatment for exterminating mice and other rodents and insects. The process involves closing or sealing gaps (usually with caulk) to protect against scorpions getting in your home in the future.

Where Do Scorpions Live in Your House?

Scorpions are attracted to both desert and riparian zones in nature. Riparian zones are areas near streams and other bodies of water. When they wander into homes looking for insects to eat, they are attracted to similar environments. At night, during their hunting time, it’s common to find scorpions in the bathtub and drains because these are damp areas.

Scorpions are nocturnal hunters, which means that for the most part, they rest during the day. They hide in dark places that provide cover. In storage closets, under piles of clothes, and inside boxes are ideal environments for these resting insects. Scorpions are commonly found in the attic. The attic is one of the least used areas in your home yet offers many hiding places.

All About Scorpions

The earliest scorpions appear in the fossil record 450 million years ago. Evolutionary biologists believe that scorpions were water-dwelling insects with gills during the Carboniferous period. Once they moved to the land, they preferred the warm deserts around the globe. In the U.S., most scorpions are found in the southern portions of Arizona, California, and New Mexico.

Scorpions perform an elaborately choreographed mating dance before the male fertilizes the female. During this special courtship event called the “promenade à deux,” the male leads the female around by her pedicalps (pincers) before fertilizing her eggs. After a gestation period of a few months to a year (depending on the species), female scorpions give birth to broods of 25 to 30 young. The babies are born two at a time and immediately climb onto their mother’s back. She’ll carry them around like this for two to three weeks until their first molt. They’ll then be strong enough to lead a life of their own.

More than 1,700 species of scorpions worldwide use venom to subdue their prey and fight off predators. However, the venom’s chemical composition is different because it’s meant for the prey and predators in the scorpion’s specific habitat. Scorpions can regulate their venom when deployed so that they don’t waste it on relatively small prey or predator.

Scorpions do not typically cause any damage to homes. They do not eat anything that humans eat or that a house is made from, so they do not destroy building materials. The only damage that they can exert is in the form of a painful but almost always not lethal sting with its tail.

What Do Scorpions Look Like?

Scorpions are members of the arachnid family of insects. Spiders, mites, and ticks are also arachnids. All members of the arachnid family have eight legs. The scorpion’s body looks like a tiny lobster with two large pincers in the front and a segmented tail that runs along its back before curling upward. The most distinctive feature of scorpion identification is its telson, the poisonous tip of its tail used to strike and kill prey.

What Does a Scorpion Sting Look Like?

A scorpion sting looks like a minor bug bite. The area may be slightly red, raised, and swollen. Pain at the site can be intense and will feel warm. If you don’t see the scorpion sting you, concluding where the bite came from may be difficult. Luckily, the vast majority of scorpions in the U.S. do not produce a venom strong enough to make an adult human severely ill. However, if a child or older adult is stung by a scorpion, they should immediately seek medical attention.

What Do Scorpions Eat?

Scorpions enjoy a variety of insects such as spiders, cockroaches, and crickets. Like the highly venomous Bark Scorpion, some species eat lizards, rodents, and even other scorpions. Each species has a level of venom that is perfectly suited for killing the type of prey available to them. Bark Scorpion can be dangerous to humans, especially children. They eat larger prey, and therefore, their venom is more potent than most other scorpions that eat insects smaller than themselves.

What Attracts Scorpions?

Scorpions are attracted to places in your house that make them feel like they’re living in their natural environment. In nature, they live under rocks, leaves, sand, and soil where they’re protected from predators like snakes, lizards, and birds. They will also live in relatively close proximity to a water source like a stream.

In your home, scorpions are attracted to dark, damp hiding places that can offer a food source. Attics are a great place for scorpions to hide because there are usually boxes and other crevices to enjoy without being noticed. Other insects like silverfish and termites, as well as mice, also prefer attics for the same reasons. Bathroom sinks, bathtubs, and drains are attractive spots for scorpions. These are damp areas that also harbor other insects. Scorpions will follow their prey. Where you find other insects, you’ll likely find scorpions.

Are Scorpions Dangerous?

To adult humans, scorpions are not life-threateningly dangerous. They will sting you if they feel threatened, but out of the more than 1,700 scorpions in the world, only 30 of them produce venom that is toxic enough to kill a human. And only one of those species, the Bark Scorpion, resides in the U.S.

A scorpion sting can be very painful, but it is not lethal for adults. Unlike other pests that can infest homes, such as mice, neither the scorpion nor its venom carries any diseases. Young children and older adults are at a higher risk for serious illness after being stung by a scorpion. Children don’t yet have the immune system to fight the toxins effectively. Older adults can be too weak to fight the effects of the venom.

Signs of Scorpion Infestation

Unlike mice, rats, or termite infestations, scorpions do not leave any tell-tale signs that they’ve moved into your home. Adults do not shed their skin, and they do not leave droppings. It’s nearly impossible to conclude that you have a scorpion infestation until you start seeing scorpions.

If you do see a scorpion, you should look around your home and property to determine if the environment seems attractive for the insect. Look for dark hiding spaces, lots of shade outside, open water sources, and an abundance of insects. If you see a scorpion and can identify several attractive areas for scorpions, you should call an exterminator.

Interesting Facts About Scorpions

Scorpions are curious creatures. They have some characteristics that are unique to them. These ancient arachnids have been around for more than 300 million years thanks to some of these interesting facts:

• When they’re born, baby scorpions look like miniature versions of their parents and contain an adult-sized dose of venom.
• The Bark Scorpion glows under ultraviolet light.
• Some scorpion species are cannibals.
• When resources are scarce, they can slow their metabolism by ⅔ and survive on one insect for an entire year.
• When they hibernate in this slow metabolic state, they do so in large groups of about 30, laying on top of each other.

How to Prevent Scorpions

The best way to prevent any pest is to remove anything that attracts them. For scorpions, this means removing food sources and environmental factors that they like. Around your property, remove any standing water since scorpions like to be near a water source. Clean up any fallen trees, accumulated brush, and other organic matter that would provide a perfect cover during the daytime. Seal with caulk all potential entry points to your home, including gaps between building materials.

In your home, keep clutter to a minimum in spaces such as closets, attics, and basements. Inspect these areas regularly for scorpions. Keep other pests at bay with professional treatment and deterrent measures before there’s a problem that would attract scorpions.

Additional Considerations and Costs

• If you do not have a full-blown infestation, there are DIY options for getting rid of a few scorpions in your home. Place sticky traps around the perimeter of the rooms in which you’ve seen the insect. Glue traps are a particularly inhumane way to die because the insects very slowly perish from lack of water and food. Practice “capture and release” far away from your home by pouring vegetable oil onto the trap. The oil breaks down the adhesive on the trap and releases the scorpion. Sticky traps cost around $2 for a 2-pack. You can also wet a burlap sack and leave it open in areas where you suspect scorpion activity. Carefully check the bag every day until you no longer see them.
• The Integrated Pest Management program at the University of California, Davis also recommends the capture and release method with a quart mason jar. Put the jar over the scorpion, slide a heavy-duty piece of cardboard underneath, flip the jar, and release the insect away from your home. If you have tongs at least 10 inches long, you can also gently pick up a scorpion at its middle and move it.
• Natural deterrent methods include spraying scorpion-attracting spaces in your home with cedar or lavender essential oils. The insects do not like the smell of these oils.

References

• Cedarcide. “8 Ways to Get Rid of Scorpions Without Harsh Chemicals."
  https://www.cedarcide.com/bugs-pest-control/8-ways-get-rid-scorpions-naturally/
• Desert Museum. “Animal Fact Sheet: Bark Scorpion."
  https://www.desertmuseum.org/kids/oz/long-fact-sheets/Bark%20Scorp.php
• DesertUSA. “Scorpions.”
  https://www.desertusa.com/insects/scorpion.html
• EMedicineHealth. “Scorpion Sting."
  https://www.emedicinehealth.com/wilderness_scorpion_sting/article_em.htm
• FIXR Cost Guides and Cost Database.
• Mayo Clinic. “Scorpion Sting.”
  https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/scorpion-stings/symptoms-causes/syc-20353859
• National Geographic. “Scorpions."
  https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/invertebrates/facts/scorpions
• National Geographic Kids. “Scorpion Facts!"
  https://www.natgeokids.com/uk/discover/animals/general-animals/scorpion-facts/
• National Park Service. “Bark Scorpion.”
  https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/nature/bark-scorpion.htm
• Solutions Pest & Lawn. “Scorpion Control: How To Get Rid of Scorpions."
  https://www.solutionsstores.com/scorpion-control
• University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources. “How to Manage Pests."
  http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74110.html