Bug Wiki
Bug Wiki / All bugs / Scorpions, ticks and friends
Sticker of California swollenstinger scorpion
Bug card No. 0772 of 4,939

California swollenstinger scorpion

Anuroctonus pococki
Eats: Other bugs and small animalsScorpions, ticks and friendsDeserts and dry places8 legsNot an insect, but a bug cousin

It spends most of its life in a burrow and waits at the door for food to walk by.

Fun fact: this one is not an insect. It is an arachnid with eight legs, a cousin of the spiders.
Lives in
Southern California and Baja California in Mexico, in dry hills near the coast
Length
6.5 cm (2.6 in)
Top speed
about 2.1 km/h (1.3 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Dangerous: look, do not touch

Watch out! Read about its close cousin on Venom Wiki →

What does it eat?
It eats small animals that pass by its burrow. It hunts at night.
For real!Photo of California swollenstinger scorpion
Picture by (c) kclarksdnhmorg, some rights reserved (CC BY). CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

California swollenstinger scorpion about 6.5 cm long (2.6 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)A crayon about 9 cm (3.5 in)A banana about 18 cm (7.1 in)
as long as 2 toy building bricks in a rowcould run across a dinner table in 1.7 seconds

How big is California swollenstinger scorpion compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

It is about 6.5 centimetres long, which is big for scorpions in its area.

2

The girls dig burrows up to 60 centimetres deep. The boys' burrows are much shallower.

3

The swollen part of the tail is biggest in grown-up boys.

4

Scientists gave it its official name only in 2004.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Anuroctonus pococki
Group
Scorpions, ticks and friends
Family
Chactidae
Classification
Arachnida > Scorpiones > Chactidae
Lives on
North America
Also known as
California swollen-stinger scorpion

Where the facts come from

  1. Anuroctonus pococki (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by (c) kclarksdnhmorg, some rights reserved (CC BY). CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

Bug Wiki honey jar For grown-ups: Bug Wiki is free, with no ads and no tracking. A small tip helps keep it online.Leave a tip

More from the same group: Scorpions, ticks and friends

Emperor scorpionScorpions, ticks and friendsLone star tickScorpions, ticks and friendsDeathstalkerScorpions, ticks and friendsItch miteScorpions, ticks and friendsEyelash miteScorpions, ticks and friendsDeer tickScorpions, ticks and friends

Also at home here: Deserts and dry places

California harvester antAntsMallow skipperButterfliesSouthern swallowtailButterfliesKern's flower scarabBeetlesBicolored pyramid antAntsLarge pugnacious antAnts
Honey jarfor grown-ups