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Striped Bark Scorpion | Daily Animal Facts

Animal profile

Striped Bark Scorpion

Centruroides vittatus

ArachnidaDry grassland, oak woodland, rocky outcrops and human structures across the south-central United States

Field profile

The striped bark scorpion is a tan scorpion about six centimetres long with two dark longitudinal stripes down the back. It is the most widely distributed scorpion in the United States and frequently turns up indoors. Its sting is painful but rarely dangerous.

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

2025-09-09

Striped Bark Scorpion

Scorpions give birth to live young that ride the mother

No scorpion lays eggs. Striped bark scorpions give birth to live, pale, soft-bodied young that immediately climb onto the mother's back and stay there until their first moult, a period of roughly one to three weeks.

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