Why Scorpions Get Indoors, And What Keeps Them Out
They are not looking for you. They are following water, food and a gap the width of a credit card.
Scorpions come inside for the same three reasons anything does. It is cooler, there is water, and something they eat is already in there. Understanding that makes exclusion far more effective than chasing individuals.
The gap is smaller than you think
A bark scorpion can pass through a space around the thickness of a credit card. That includes the gap under a door, the space where a pipe enters a wall, weep holes, and the seam where a garage door meets the frame.
What draws them
- Moisture, so irrigation, condensation lines and leaks matter
- Insects, since scorpions follow their food, which is why a general pest problem becomes a scorpion problem
- Harbourage against the house: block walls, wood piles, loose stone, thick ground cover
What actually helps
- A proper door sweep on every exterior door, including the door into the garage
- Sealing where pipes and cables pass through walls
- Moving stored wood and stone away from the foundation
- Keeping irrigation from running against the wall of the house
- Cutting back plants that touch the roof or the walls
About sightings
Scorpions fluoresce under an ultraviolet light, which is why inspections often happen after dark. A sighting indoors is worth reporting when you book, because where they are getting in is a more useful question than how many you have seen.
Want somebody to take a look?
Desert Shield Pest Control covers this every week in Phoenix.