Animal Crossing Scorpion Island: How To Catch And Farm Scorpions

Tarantulas left Animal Crossing: New Horizons in May, and they have been replaced by something that is arguably more terrifying: scorpions. Alongside new May fish and bugs, the scorpions have arrived and will remain through October. By catching them, you'll be able to earn tons of bells in the Northern Hemisphere, but it isn't easy to do. Is there a scorpion island? How much is a scorpion worth? We'll answer these questions, and more, in our guide below.

When Do Scorpions Spawn?

Scorpions spawn on the ground between the hours of 7 PM and 4 AM. They will not spawn if you have guests on your island. They can appear on your own island or a deserted island. Like most creatures in New Horizons, scorpions are seasonal, so they will only appear a few months out of the year. Here's when scorpions spawn, depending on what kind of island you have:

Northern Hemisphere

May, June, July, August, September, October

Southern Hemisphere

November, December, January, February, March, April

How To Catch A Scorpion

Requires: 1x net, shovel (optional)

Catching a scorpion in Animal Crossing: New Horizons is pretty much the same as catching a tarantula. Both creatures are hostile when provoked, which means running too close to them or approaching with your net. Scorpions will enter into a defensive position when they see you and may give chase if you aren't careful. There are a few ways to approach catching them, which we've outlined below.

The Easiest Way To Catch A Scorpion

The easiest and safest way to catch a scorpion just requires a net and some patience. When you see a scorpion, approach it slowly with your net raised. If it sees you, it will immediately enter the defensive position. At this point, stop in your tracks and wait (with your net still raised) until it calms down. Once that happens, start to approach it again. It will enter its defensive position again. You're going to have to repeat this until you get close enough to use your net on it. You can only take a few steps each time, otherwise the scorpion will give chase. If it catches up to you and stings you, you'll pass out and wake up in front of your house, or the dock if you're on a Mystery Tour. You won't lose anything, but the scorpion you're trying to catch may not be there when you return, so it can be annoying.

The Safest Way To Catch A Scorpion

If you're afraid or don't have the patience for the standard approach to catching scorpions, you can make scorpion "traps" by digging holes with the shovel. Scorpions can't jump over holes like you can. The trick is to dig four holes all around you, hop out, then engage a scorpion. When it starts to chase you, run back to the holes and jump into the middle. The scorpion won't be able to reach you, but it will still be within range of your net, so you can safely catch it from the other side of the trench.

The Fossil Glitch

According to the Animal Crossing Wiki, there's a "glitch" you can exploit involving fossils that may make scorpions easier to catch. If you dig up a fossil in the middle of a chase, the scorpion will "freeze" and eventually wander off. Use this at your own risk--we haven't verified this trick yet, so it might be patched out. Not only will your timing and aim also have to be flawless, it requires planning ahead to either locate buried fossils or strategically rebury fossils, so we can see this getting tedious even if it still works.

A little patience goes a long way--we recommend the standard method or the trench method to catch scorpions. If you're feeling extra daring, you can also let the scorpion give chase and, once you get enough distance, turn around and scoop it up with your net, but this requires solid timing.

Scorpion Island: How To Spawn And Farm Scorpions

• Requires: Nets, shovels, axes, ladder, vaulting pole, Nook Miles tickets

Scorpions can be farmed in the same way you can farm tarantulas. We have not verified how May's new water bugs like the diving beetle and pondskater (not to mention the giant water bug, which threw tarantula farming off-balance back in April) might affect scorpion spawn rates, but we will update as soon as we know.

The way farming scorpions (and tarantulas) works in Animal Crossing is by manipulating spawn rates by adjusting the conditions that certain bugs spawn. Some bugs require trees and flowers to spawn, while some spawn on the ground or in the air regardless of surroundings. To farm scorpions, you have to force spawn them.

Your first step is to buy a Nook Miles ticket and have several nets, shovels, and axes on hand. You will probably find enough raw materials to craft extra if you run out and you can buy more with Nook Miles tickets while you're on a Mystery Tour, so don't fill up your inventory with too many tools.

Next, head to the airport and sign up for a Mystery Tour. (Remember that scorpions only spawn between 7 PM and 4 AM!) You'll be dropped off at a random deserted island--some will have conditions that are ripe for scorpion farming, while others might be too tricky to deal with. We'll talk about that more later. Once you're on the island, you can begin spawning scorpions. You might also get lucky and end up on the rare scorpion island, in which case you won't have to worry about the next part. Just start catching! (The same goes for tarantula island if you're on a Southern Hemisphere island.)

How To Spawn Scorpions

To spawn scorpions, you have to clear out the conditions for other bugs to spawn. That means chopping down every tree (watch out for wasps), digging up every tree stump, shattering every rock, and picking every flower. Dump all the raw resources you collect on the beach so that the island is completely barren. If the conditions are right, scorpions should begin to spawn at faster rates than they would otherwise. From there, you can follow our instructions on how to catch a scorpion above to start collecting.

The most effective way to create a scorpion island to farm scorpions is by landing on the rare bamboo island, which is completely flat and contains no freshwater for water bugs to spawn on, but that can only happen by complete chance.

Scorpion Sell Price

Once you've caught a scorpion for the first time, it will register in your Critterpedia. You will also want to donate the first scorpion you've caught to Blathers at the museum, if you care about that. But if you're looking to make money, you're in luck. Scorpions are one of the more valuable bugs in New Horizons. They sell for quite a lot at both Nook's Cranny and to special visitor Flick, who will buy your bugs at 150% market value.

• Nook's Cranny price: 8,000 bells each
• Flick price: 12,000 bells each

More Rare Bugs

There are tons of rare bugs in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Some don't sell for much, but have weird spawn conditions that make them tricky to find. Others might just be hard to catch. If you're looking to fill up your Critterpedia and your museum and need some help with the tricky ones, check out some of our specialized bug guides below.

• How To Catch A Fly
• How To Catch A Flea
• How To Catch A Wasp
• How To Catch An Ant
• How To Catch A Mole Cricket
• How To Catch A Tarantula

For more general Animal Crossing guides, check out what we have below.