Scorpions divide cleanly by one visual rule that is worth learning before any purchase: thick pincers with a thin tail generally means mild venom and a hands-off but low-stakes animal; thin pincers with a thick tail means the venom does the work, and several of those genera are genuinely dangerous. The forest giants (emperors and their Asian relatives) anchor the mild end and are the standard first scorpion. Androctonus, Leiurus, Tityus, Parabuthus and the Indian red scorpion anchor the other end, where envenomation is a medical event and several jurisdictions restrict ownership. The Arizona bark scorpion is the one North American native on that serious list.
Everything fluoresces under UV light, which remains the best party trick in the hobby. Many species keep communally, and a few reproduce by parthenogenesis, one female becoming a colony, which permanently caps prices wherever it occurs.
Price structure follows supply type: abundant wild-collected natives sit at the accessible end, closed-border and island species run higher, and dangerous species price on specialist demand rather than volume. Size sells, drama sells, and neither correlates with risk in either direction, which is the single most useful thing to know while browsing this group.
| Species | Common name | Listings | Sellers | Market price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pandinus imperator | Emperor Scorpion | 14 | 13 | $78 |
| Androctonus australis | Yellow Fattail | 12 | 8 | $60 |
| Paravaejovis spinigerus | Devil Scorpion | 10 | 7 | $15 |
| Centruroides gracilis | Florida Bark Scoprion | 8 | 7 | $30 |
| Centruroides sculpturatus | Arizona Bark Scorpion | 8 | 6 | $18 |
| Hadrurus arizonensis | Desert Hairy Scorpion | 8 | 8 | $38 |
| Heterometrus silenus | Asian Forest Scorpion | 8 | 6 | $38 |
| Heteroctenus junceus | Blue Scorpion | 6 | 4 | $48 |
| Heterometrus sp. | Asian Forest Scorpion | 6 | 5 | $30 |
| Leiurus quinquestriatus | Deathstalker Scorpion | 6 | 4 | $30 |
| Parabuthus villosus | Black Hairy Thicktail Scorpion | 6 | 4 | $78 |
| Hadogenes paucidens | Olive Keeled Flat Rock | 5 | 3 | $108 |
| Nebo whitei | Nebo's Scorpion | 5 | 5 | $88 |
| Pandinurus exitialis | Gold Claw Scorpion | 5 | 3 | $125 |
| Parabuthus mossambicensis | Mozambique Thicktail Scorpion | 5 | 3 | $68 |
| Smeringurus mesaensis | Dune Scorpion | 5 | 5 | $20 |
| Tityus simonsi | Ecuadorian Thick-tailed Scorpion | 5 | 3 | $58 |
| Diplocentrus spitzeri | Sonoran Smoothclaw Scorpion | 4 | 3 | $30 |
| Hottentotta tamulus | Indian Red Scorpion | 4 | 4 | $48 |
| Oliverius martensii | Chinese Scorpion | 4 | 3 | $29 |
| Parabuthus schlechteri | Burrowing Thicktail Scorpion | 4 | 3 | $45 |
| Scorpiops validus | Yunnan Rock Scorpion | 4 | 3 | $55 |
| Smeringurus vachoni | Rock Scorpion | 4 | 3 | $28 |
| Tityus magnimanus | Venezuela Thick-tailed Scorpion | 4 | 3 | $31 |
| Androctonus bicolor | Black Fat-tail Scorpion | 3 | 3 | $70 |
| Androctonus gonneti | Ebony Fattail Scorpion | 3 | 3 | $48 |
| Hottentotta gentili | Gentil's Fat Tail Scorpion | 3 | 3 | $55 |
| Hottentotta sp. 'India' | Indian Black And Red Scorpion | 3 | 3 | $68 |
| Leiurus jordanensis | Black Deathstalker | 3 | 3 | $108 |
| Paravaejovis confusus | Coahuila Devil Scorpion | 3 | 3 | $17 |
| Paruroctonus baergi | Sand Swimmer Scorpion | 3 | 2 | $32 |
| Androctonus amoreuxi | Arabian Fat-Tailed Scorpion | 2 | 2 | $57 |
| Buthacus leptochelys | Egyptian Fat-Tail | 2 | 2 | $50 |
| Centruroides hentzi | Florida Striped Bark Scorpion | 2 | 1 | $15 |
| Chaerilus cimrmani | Thailand Black Scorpion | 2 | 2 | $47 |
| Chaerilus kautti | Kautti Bush Scorpion | 2 | 2 | $45 |
| Chaerilus variegatus | Javan Dwarf Scorpion | 2 | 2 | $25 |
| Diplocentrus lindo | Trans-Pecos Smooth Claw Scorpion | 2 | 2 | $40 |
| Heteroctenus princeps | Black And Gold Scorpion | 2 | 1 | $88 |
| Heterometrus petersii | Asian Forest Scorpion | 2 | 2 | $65 |
| Heterometrus spinifer | Asian Forest Scorpion | 2 | 2 | $30 |
| Hottentotta caboverdensis | Parthogenic | 2 | 2 | $50 |
| Hottentotta hottentotta | African Fattail | 2 | 2 | $30 |
| Hottentotta saxinatans | Oman Pale Alligatorback Scorpion | 2 | 2 | $78 |
| Liocheles australasiae | Dwarf Wood Scorpion | 2 | 2 | $40 |
| Parabuthus capensis | Cape Thicktail Scorpion | 2 | 2 | $98 |
| Scorpiops kautii | Thai Flat Rock Scorpion | 2 | 2 | $60 |
| Stahnkeus subtilimanus | Agile Scorpion | 2 | 1 | $24 |
| Tityopsis sheylae | Orange Cave Scorpion | 2 | 2 | $75 |
| Tityus riverai | River Thick-tailed Scorpion | 2 | 2 | $28 |
| Tityus serrulatus | Brazilian Yellow Scorpion | 2 | 2 | $28 |
| Tityus smithii | Lesser Antilles Thick-tailed Scorpion | 2 | 2 | $45 |
| Androctonus baluchicus | Fattail Scorpion | 1 | 1 | $136 |
| Androctonus finitimus | Rajasthan Fat Tail | 1 | 1 | $148 |
| Babycurus gigas | Tanzanian Giant Bark Scorpion | 1 | 1 | $78 |
| Butheolus harrisoni | Dwarf Thick Tail Scorpion | 1 | 1 | $45 |
| Buthus elmoutaouakili | Moroccan Tricolor Scorpion | 1 | 1 | $50 |
| Centruroides guanensis | Bark Scorpion | 1 | 1 | $30 |
| Centruroides margaritatus | Central American Bark Scorpion | 1 | 1 | $34 |
| Chaerilus sejnai | Malaysian Brush Scorpion | 1 | 1 | $58 |
34 more species in this group have a listing right now — open a genus above, or search the full catalogue.