Scorpions in Arkansas: where they hide and how to keep them out

Quick answer. Scorpions in Arkansas means one animal, the striped bark scorpion, and the Arthropod Museum in Fayetteville says it's the only scorpion known in the state. Adults are about two and a half inches long, with two dark lengthwise bands. They roam into houses in April, May, and early June.

Shake the shoe.

I keep a shoe shake in May. That's not a medical protocol. It's what you do when the museum says these animals enter houses in the spring and the extension sheet says stings happen when a scorpion is already in the shoe.

I wouldn't turn a woodpile with bare hands in April either. Gloves are less exciting than a story, and they hurt less.

The only scorpion the museum names

The museum names one scorpion in Arkansas.

The species is Centruroides vittatus. The museum page describes two broad dark bands down the back, a dark triangle on the head pointing backward past the eyes, and a yellowish brown color on the appendages except for a black tip on the stinger. They glow under ultraviolet light.

You don't need a black light to decide whether to call someone. You need the bands and the tail if you're telling a doctor what you saw, and you need to not pick it up to get a better photo. The photo can wait until it's in a jar, or until it isn't your problem anymore.

They live throughout Arkansas and are most abundant in the more western counties. Northwest Arkansas is in that western part of the state, so this isn't a visitor from somewhere else. The museum notes that cannibalism is common, at least in populations from northwestern Arkansas that are short on food.

That detail is local, which is a strange thing to be proud of. It's also a reason not to stack habitat against the house and then act surprised when something with a tail moves in.

By day they rest under bark, rocks, and logs. At night they come out and climb. Around homes they show up in woodpiles and crumbling foundations.

They cling to objects on the ground. People get stung turning wood or rocks with bare hands. You've done that.

Most of us have, because the board looked light until it wasn't.

The extension fact sheet Biology and Control of Spiders, Scorpions, Centipedes and Millipedes matches the animal: pale yellowish brown, usually two lengthwise dark stripes, painful sting, not life threatening. Older specimens can look darker, with the stripes faint. If you're unsure what you photographed, compare it to the museum description before the group text turns it into a different species.

Termites are a different search and a different damage pattern. They aren't hiding in the shoe. If the baseboard is the worry, use the termite list and skip the scorpion story.

One bug at a time. Your nervous system will thank you.

When they walk into NWA houses

They come inside in spring, mostly at night.

April, May, and early June are the months the museum flags for roaming and for entering houses. They're active at night, the extension sheet says, especially when temperatures are above 75 degrees. Dry weather pushes them toward moisture.

Look in damp spots, not only in the woodpile you already distrust. The bathroom that never quite dries out is a candidate. So is the utility room.

They come in around fireplaces and poorly built basement foundations, on that same sheet. Cracks in walls, loose bark, lumber, and debris piled outside are daytime hides. Crawl spaces and cellars come up because they're damp and full of the insects scorpions eat.

A wet crawl space is habitat. The dehumidifier piece is the moisture side of that problem. If the basement smells like a creek, you've got two chores, and the animal is only one of them.

Fayetteville, Rogers, Bentonville, and Springdale all sit in the region where this species is common. You don't need a rare migration story to explain the one in the garage. You need the pile of leftover deck boards against the foundation, the one you were going to haul off in March.

March was optimistic. The scorpion was not.

Most stings happen while someone is moving rocks, lumber, or other cover, or while they're putting on shoes or clothes that sat on the floor. That's the extension account. It's more useful than a horror version.

The animal isn't hunting you. It's using the same clutter you meant to deal with before company came over.

What a sting usually does

A typical sting is sharp pain and local swelling.

The museum says the venom is low toxicity. The usual result is immediate sharp pain and local swelling. The pain eases, and a local numbness or tingling can follow.

Chest tightness, nausea, vomiting, and dizziness may occur. How bad it feels depends on the person who was stung. If that's a kid, don't crowdsource the next step while they're crying.

Death and severe allergic reactions have been blamed on this species. The museum says those claims haven't been substantiated by reputable sources. Hold that sentence when the neighborhood thread gets creative.

A sting can hurt and still not be the legend somebody's cousin posted.

The extension sheet adds the rare case. A person may have an extreme allergic reaction. The symptoms they name are itching and swelling of the face, nose, and throat, with a temperature around 104 degrees Fahrenheit.

If someone shows allergic symptoms, especially a child, they should be taken to a doctor immediately. That's the line on the sheet. I'm not adding ice, drugs, or a tourniquet.

Those instructions aren't on the sheet we read.

If you're not sure it was a scorpion, say that to the doctor. A brown recluse bite is a different injury, described in the same extension publication, and it isn't this animal. Don't treat them as interchangeable because both live in clutter and both make people yell.

Cleanup that doesn't need a brand name

Clear the hiding spots before you shop for a spray.

The extension cleanup is plain, which is why it works and why people want a fancier version. Remove trash, rocks, and lumber. Store firewood and lumber off the ground and keep it dry.

Give rainwater a way to run away from the house. Use gravel next to the house instead of a wood mulch that stays damp. Seal openings in outside walls.

Screen and weather stripping on doors, windows, and vents. Repair wet spots from plumbing leaks or air conditioners. Use a dehumidifier in a damp basement.

None of that is glamorous. All of it is the job.

Inspect at night with a flashlight if you're looking on purpose. Wear gloves and boots. Check under rocks, loose bark, firewood, and lumber.

The sheet also mentions a black light as a way to spot them, which is optional and a little bit of a hobby. You can hire that step out. You don't have to start a new one.

The flashlight you already own is enough for the first pass.

Indoor and outdoor areas can be treated with sprays or dusts labeled for scorpions. Follow the label. I won't name a brand.

The extension page lists examples and says the mention isn't an endorsement, so I'm not going to turn their list into a shopping recommendation. A pest company has products the public shelf doesn't. If the infestation is heavy, the sheet says contact a professional.

"Heavy" is their word. If you're seeing them every night, you don't need me to define it.

Sanitation still does the long work. Spray on top of a woodpile you refuse to move is a short win. The insects in that pile are food.

Take the food and the cover away and the scorpion has less reason to stay. You'll feel this in your back. Do it anyway, or pay someone who already has the back for it.

Don't stack a new habitat while you're cleaning the old one. Boards "for later" against the foundation are later's sting. Haul them, or get them off the soil.

Later has a way of arriving in May, in a shoe.

Who to call in Rogers and Springdale

Use the city list when you want a local company.

The pest control trade page has the full list. City pages are where the address actually matters, because "we serve Northwest Arkansas" can mean a shop an hour from your garage.

Rogers pest control lists 31 companies. 7 have a Rogers address. 3 are listed as serving Rogers. 21 are nearby.

Nearby means within 25 miles.

Springdale pest control lists 32 companies. 7 have a Springdale address. 4 are listed as serving Springdale. 21 are nearby.

Ratings updated October 17, 2026. Read the address line before you read the slogan.

Fayetteville and Bentonville splits are in the tick piece. Use those pages if that's the house. The rating math is the same trade: 34 companies on the pest list, and the stars sit high.

Read who's based in the city before you read another decimal. The decimal is not going to crawl under your deck.

The foundation repair list has 22 companies. Crumbling foundations and damp crawl spaces are the overlap, and they're easy to ignore until something with a stinger agrees with you. Foundation repair is the trade page.

Crawl space repair is the shorter service list, and 5 companies mention that work. A pest visit doesn't replace a structural one if the foundation is the thing falling apart. It also doesn't replace the dehumidifier decision if the basement is simply wet and you've been stepping over it.

On a city list, a featured company stays first only when it serves that city, with a rating of 4.5 or higher from at least 10 reviews. Sponsored spots are labeled. None of that is a scorpion count.

Ask what the visit includes, what product is labeled for scorpions, and what you're supposed to move before they arrive. If they want the woodpile gone first, they're telling you the useful part.

If someone is short of breath, swelling at the face or throat, or a child is in that allergic picture, skip the directory and go to a doctor. The list will still be there in the morning. The shoe shake can wait too.

The doctor can't.