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Animal Crossing New Horizons: How to Catch a Scorpion

We explain how to catch a scorpion, one of the most dangerous bugs in Animal Crossing New Horizons.

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Guide by Joel Franey Contributor
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Found wandering islands under cover of darkness in Animal Crossing New Horizons, the scorpion is one of the most difficult bugs to find and catch. But we'll show you how to catch a scorpion, what they're worth when sold and how you can make them appear.

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How to Catch a Scorpion in Animal Crossing New Horizons

You can catch a scorpion in Animal Crossing New Horizons by grabbing it with the standard bug net before it stings you and knocks you unconscious. Scorpions also only spawn at certain times and dates, shown below:

  • Scorpions only appear between May and October (North) and November to April (South).
  • They only appear during night, between the hours of 7:00 PM to 4:00 AM. There is no way to make them spawn during the day.
  • Scorpions can appear on your island or on Mystery Islands. They tend to move about randomly until a player gets too close, whereupon they will freeze, then charge the player attempting to sting them, similar to tarantulas (shown here).
  • Scorpions also do not spawn while you have other players on your island.
  • To catch one, approach it with net drawn until it freezes. Hold down A to move in slowly, because at this point the scorpion will charge at you if you move any faster or miss with the net swing. Get as close as you can, then swipe at it when you feel assured you'll get it.
  • If stung, the player will pass out and respawn at their house or at the Dodo plane, depending on their location. The scorpion will have vanished by this point.
  • Scorpions are very rare, even when it's their time to spawn. It may take you a while to find one.
Get over here! | Joel Franey/USgamer, Nintendo

How to Find and Farm Scorpion Island

Scorpion island is a possible mystery island in New Horizons that players can come across when exploring. The chances of coming across it are very low, but if they do find it, players can then perform several tricks to increase the spawn rate of scorpions, allowing farming. To make your own farmable scorpion island, do the following:

  1. Buy numerous Nook Miles Tickets and fly to various islands between 7:00 PM and 4:00 AM (this is when you can find it).
  2. Explore each island until you find one that has a scorpion. Catch it.
  3. Afterwards, use your tools to destroy and dig up every tree, rock and flower. Keep them in your inventory or drop the item versions of them on a beach if you want.
  4. The idea is that all islands have to have a certain amount of bugs on them, and removing all these objects means that bugs associated with them can't spawn in (i.e., butterflies attracted to flowers, centipedes that hide under rocks, etc).
  5. With no other option, the game will start spawning mainly scorpions, which only need normal land to appear.
  6. This will allow you to start swiping up scorpions whenever they appear. It may take some time, but they will spawn in.
  7. Fill your inventory before returning home.

It's worth mentioning that we tested it, and this method is not as effective as it has been previously for tarantulas, as there are many more bugs now that can spawn in open land or on water, lowering the chance of a scorpion. However, it does still technically increase your chances, so follow it if you're determined to get more.

We've been busy plugging away on a bunch more Animal Crossing New Horizons guides. You can find close to 100 guides right here on USG, and if you head to our AC: New Horizons Walkthrough you'll see them all in one handy place. From guides on the different kinds of buildings, to detailed breakdowns of how to catch specific bugs and fish, we've got you covered.

How Much Do Scorpions Sell For?

Scorpions are very valuable and are worth 8000 bells each, or 12,000 when sold to Flick the Chameleon (who we've explained here). However, their rarity means you should definitely give one to Blathers at first opportunity, or you might not be able to get another one for a while.

Cover image for YouTube videoAnimal Crossing New Horizons - How to Catch a Mole Cricket
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Before we tail off, why not sting us a couple more views on some of our great Animal Crossing content? Caty's thoughts on New Horizons' one month legacy can be found here, or see how Hirun finds peace and stability in his island when the world fails to provide.

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