Texas is home to roughly 20 scorpion species, and the one you’re most likely to find indoors is the striped bark scorpion. It’s small (1.5 to 3 inches long), yellowish-tan with two dark stripes down its back, and active primarily from spring through fall. Finding one in your house doesn’t mean you have an infestation, but it does mean your home has entry points worth closing.
Why Scorpions Come Inside
Scorpions are looking for three things: shelter, moisture, and food. When outdoor temperatures spike in a Texas summer, they move toward cooler, darker spaces. Garages, bathrooms, closets, laundry rooms, and wall voids all fit the profile. They’re especially drawn to areas near plumbing, where moisture collects.
They also follow their food supply. If you have crickets, roaches, or other small insects around your property, scorpions will hunt near those populations and eventually trail them indoors. Heavy landscaping close to your foundation, stacked firewood, or cluttered storage areas against exterior walls create a bridge between their outdoor habitat and your living space.
How They Get In
Scorpions can squeeze through any gap wide enough for a credit card. A typical Texas home has around 18 categories of potential entry points, and sealing them all takes 20 to 40 hours of work. The most common culprits fall into three tiers.
Doors and Garages
Exterior doors are the biggest offenders. Turn off your interior lights at night and look for daylight under each door. If you see any, install a commercial-grade door sweep (the $15 to $30 kind, not the flimsy adhesive strips). Sliding glass door tracks collect debris and create gaps scorpions exploit easily. Garage doors rarely seal flush against the concrete, particularly at the corners. Threshold seal strips and corner blocks close those gaps. Pet doors that don’t seal magnetically when closed are essentially open invitations.
Foundation and Exterior Walls
Walk your home’s perimeter with a flashlight at dusk and mark every cable entry, water spigot, electrical conduit, and AC line penetration. These utility openings often have gaps from settling or loose installation. Foundation cracks and expansion joints (the intentional gaps between concrete sections) are another common route. If you have brick, the weep holes need attention. You can’t seal them completely because they drain moisture, but stuffing them with coarse copper mesh keeps scorpions out while still letting water pass. The J-trim where stucco meets the foundation is designed with gaps that scorpions readily exploit.
Attic and Ceiling Pathways
Most homeowners focus on ground level and miss everything above. Recessed can lights are notorious entry points because the housing often has gaps that connect to the attic. If your attic access panel just rests in place, add weatherstripping. Bathroom exhaust fans and HVAC registers should have screens on the attic side. Fireplace dampers that don’t close tightly create a direct path from your roof to your living room.
Finding Them With a Blacklight
Scorpion exoskeletons fluoresce bright blue-green under ultraviolet light, making a UV flashlight one of the most effective detection tools you can own. A handheld blacklight in the 360 to 395 nanometer range works well. Go out after dark (scorpions are nocturnal) and sweep your exterior walls, foundation, yard, and any indoor spaces where you’ve seen them before. You’ll spot them from several feet away. This also helps you identify which entry points they’re clustering around, so you know where to focus your sealing efforts.
Pest Control Options
Scorpions are harder to kill with insecticides than most household pests. Their bodies sit higher off treated surfaces, and they can survive exposure to some common products. Research on bark scorpions found that certain residual insecticides applied as crack-and-crevice treatments caused about 80% mortality within 10 days, while other formulations killed only about 10% of exposed scorpions. The takeaway: broad spraying of baseboards and floors is far less effective than targeted applications in the specific cracks, weep holes, and wall gaps where scorpions actually shelter.
If you hire a pest control company, ask specifically about scorpion-targeted crack-and-crevice treatments rather than general perimeter spraying. Many Texas pest companies offer scorpion-specific programs that combine chemical treatment with home sealing. Reducing the insect population around your home (outdoor lighting changes, clearing debris, treating for crickets and roaches) also removes the food source that draws scorpions to your property in the first place.
How Dangerous a Sting Actually Is
The striped bark scorpion’s sting is painful but rarely dangerous for healthy adults. Typical symptoms include intense, localized pain, numbness, tingling, slight swelling, and warmth around the sting site. These usually resolve on their own within a few hours. Very few deaths from scorpion stings have been reported in the U.S.
Serious reactions are uncommon but possible, particularly in young children and older adults. Warning signs include trouble breathing, muscle twitching, drooling, sweating, slurred speech, nausea, and a racing heart. In children, inconsolable crying and restlessness can signal a systemic reaction. The venom contains neurotoxins that affect the nervous system, and in rare cases, untreated stings in vulnerable people can lead to heart or lung failure hours later. Anaphylaxis (a severe allergic reaction) is also possible, even if a previous sting caused only mild symptoms.
What to Do if You’re Stung
Clean the sting site with mild soap and water and apply a cool compress. If the sting is on an arm or leg, rest the limb in a comfortable, supported position. Over-the-counter ibuprofen can help with pain. Don’t take sedatives or anti-anxiety medications, as they can mask symptoms of a more serious reaction.
If a child is stung, contact Poison Help at 800-222-1222. For anyone experiencing difficulty swallowing, try small sips of water. If swallowing doesn’t improve within an hour, or if any of the serious symptoms listed above develop, get emergency medical care. It’s also worth checking that tetanus vaccinations are up to date. Most stings resolve without medical treatment, but antivenom is available in hospitals for severe cases.
Reducing Encounters Inside Your Home
Beyond sealing entry points, a few habits make a significant difference. Shake out shoes, gloves, and clothing that have been sitting on the floor or in a garage. Check bedding before climbing in if you live in a high-scorpion area. Move woodpiles, rock gardens, and dense ground cover at least 20 feet from your foundation. Keep grass trimmed short near the house. Inside, reduce clutter in closets, garages, and storage areas where scorpions hide during the day.
Sticky traps placed along baseboards, in closets, and near exterior doors won’t eliminate scorpions, but they reveal how many are getting in and where. If you’re catching multiple scorpions per week on traps, that’s a strong signal to invest in professional home sealing or targeted pest treatment rather than relying on general prevention alone.