Jul 1, 2012 – Scorpions Are Bad House Guests

QUESTION:

Do you have any ideas on how to keep scorpions out of a home that was recently built and has hardly any grass around the home yet, but has lots of sand? I know closing all holes and weather stripping will help a lot, but any other ideas would help.

ANSWER:

Well dang it. You already know about the importance of exclusion, so there goes a lot of my normal preaching on scorpion management. However, one thing to keep an eye on is branches and other overhead items that are contacting the structure and the roof, as some scorpions do climb trees and find a way in through upper areas. Since this is a relatively new home it is possible that a natural area has been disturbed and all of the former residents of that natural area are now looking to find new places to live and hide and find food. It is common for bugs to be active and getting into structures for awhile after new construction. 

Since scorpions are all predators that eat mostly other bugs, this is another consideration. If they are living and foraging on this property it is because they are finding things to eat, so elimination of the crickets and beetles and other crawling bugs will reduce the ability for the scorpions to survive on site. They also are nocturnal and hide all day long in some dark place. Are there a lot of things piled on the ground around this new home and close to the structure? If the people recently moved in they may still be finding places to put everything and leaving stuff outside. Anything that can be done to expose the soil by elevating materials will greatly reduce the harborage opportunities for scorpions, and for the other bugs they eat as well. This is particularly important adjacent to the structure where hiding scorpions are that much closer to the structure and more likely to find a way inside. 

Insecticides can be successful as a stop-gap measure, but I always hate relying completely on chemicals if there are other contributing conditions to resolve first. Pyrethroids should work very well to kill scorpions if you treat them directly or treat directly into their hiding places. You need the maximum contact time with these large and hardy critters to be successful. Treating around the perimeter of the foundation may kill those that wander along there that night, and formulations that leave "particles" behind may be more successful as these will adhere to the passing scorpion. This includes wettable powders and micoencapsulated products. 

But, for the long term you need to focus on eliminating the conditions that bring the scorpions onto the property, which is food and harborage. The further you can push them away from the structure the better chance you have that they will not wander close to the home itself. 


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