Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!asuvax!anasaz!qip!anasaz.uucp
From: john@anasaz.uucp (John Moore)
Newsgroups: sci.bio
Subject: Help! The Invasion of the Living Scorpions
Message-ID: <5021@qip.UUCP>
Date: 14 Oct 90 18:55:06 GMT
Sender: john@qip.UUCP
Organization: Anasazi, Inc.  Phoenix, Az
Lines: 24

I live in a mountainous desert area near (1 mile) Phoenix, AZ. It
is at 1700 ft. MSL in the upper Sonoran desert.

My problem is that my house being invaded by scorpions. Most of these
are of the "bark scorpion" variety, which is very poisonous and even
potentially fatal (to babies or allergic people). So far, we have
not been stung by one, although a friend ended up in the emergency
room with respiratory distress after stepping on one of these.

I would like to STOP the invasion. We have lived here four years, and
normally see one scorpion a year. Lately, it has been one or two per week.
I found two this morning when I got up.

The house cannot be sealed - it is slump block with cracks in the bricks,
has lots of sliding glass doors, and is quite large. I spray Diazanon
inside and outside about once every month or two. A number of the scorpions
found were already dead from the poison. However, this is not a terribly
happy solution - it is slightly toxic, and the fumes are terrible after
spraying (my wife is allergic to them). The Diazanon reduced the
population when I first moved in, but lately there seem to be more than
I have ever seen. I understand that they eat crickets, but the Diazanon has
killed all the indoor crickets.

Anyone got any good ideas?