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Animal profile

Book Scorpion

Chelifer cancroides

ArachnidaHouses, barns, beehives, bird nests and stored materials; also under bark outdoors

Field profile

The book scorpion is a pseudoscorpion three to four millimetres long, brown, flattened and pincer-bearing. It has lived alongside people for centuries in libraries, barns and beehives. It hunts booklice, mites, dust-mite-sized prey and small fly larvae.

Scope note

This is an editorial profile, not a diagnostic field-identification guide or a substitute for current conservation assessments. Follow the cited sources on each fact for the evidence trail.

Published field notes

2025-03-06

Book Scorpion

The book scorpion earned its name eating booklice

Chelifer cancroides was noticed in old libraries because it hunts the psocids and mites that live in paste, glue and damp paper. It does not eat books; it eats the animals that do, which is how a beneficial predator ended up named after the damage.

Read with evidence →

Book Scorpion | Daily Animal Facts