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Specs are compiled from manufacturer listings and verified buyer reviews and can change over time — please confirm the key details on the product page before buying.
You do not kill scorpions by chasing them. You kill them by removing the crickets, roaches and spiders they hunt — and then leave a residue on the walls and foundation that keeps working for weeks. That is the whole strategy, and it is why the picks below are concentrates and dusts you mix and apply yourself rather than a can you point at one bug at night.
This guide is built by comparing the manufacturers’ published specifications and the patterns across verified customer reviews, so you get each pick’s real strengths and trade-offs instead of marketing spin.
A scorpion is a slow hunter that lives on other bugs, so the product that wins is the one that stays put on your foundation, your door frames and your crawl space long after the spray dries. Below you will find the application methods, residual windows and honest limits that matter when you shop for the best insecticide for scorpions.
Top Picks
How To Choose The Best Insecticide for Scorpions
The biggest mistake people make is buying a fast knockdown spray and expecting the scorpions to stop coming. Scorpions do not live where there is no food. Kill the crickets and roaches around your foundation and the scorpions either starve or move on. So you want a product that kills on contact, then keeps killing on the surface for weeks — not one that only works at the moment you pull the trigger.
Residual beats instant every time
A scorpion walks across a treated surface and picks up the chemical on its body. A concentrate that keeps working for weeks catches the ones you never see, including the ones slipping in through a crack behind the trim. A contact-only spray kills the bug in front of you and nothing else.
Concentrate or dust — pick by where you are treating
Liquids mixed with water go on walls, foundations, door frames and baseboards. A dust goes into cracks, along sill plates and into voids where you cannot spray. Many scorpion problems get fixed with both: a liquid perimeter and a dust barrier in the gaps.
The mix-and-apply reality
Every concentrate on this list needs water and a sprayer. Read the per-gallon ratio on the label before you buy anything. That ratio — not the bottle size — is what decides how many gallons of ready-to-spray solution you actually get, and how far one purchase stretches.
Indoor safety means reading the label, not guessing
Most residual concentrates are applied indoors once people and pets are out of the room and the surface has dried. That drying step is the safety line. Follow the label for each product and treat it as a hard rule.
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Model | Best For | Format | Volume | Indoor Use | Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Onslaught FastCap (MGK)★ Best Overall | Serious scorpion pressure | Liquid concentrate | 19.21 fl oz | Broadcast treatment option | Amazon |
| Bonide Diatomaceous EarthPet-First Pick | Pet-safe dust barrier | Powder dust | 5 lb | Yes | Amazon |
| Martin’s Eraser Max | Yard and vegetation clearing | Liquid concentrate | 32 oz | — | Amazon |
| Martin’s Permethrin 13.3% | Mixed pest control around the house | Liquid concentrate | 32 fl oz | Yes | Amazon |
| Paragon Conquer | Long residual, low smell | Liquid concentrate | 16 fl oz | — | Amazon |
Detailed Reviews
1. Onslaught FastCap Spider Scorpion Insecticide (MGK)
Our pick — 4.5+★ from 500+ verified ratings; the strongest balance of quality and price.
The label names scorpions outright — and the 19.21 fluid ounces inside goes further than the bottle suggests.
Onslaught FastCap is the one product here that is built around scorpions by design rather than by accident. The maker calls its core technology “controlled release” — meaning the active ingredient is held in a form that keeps seeping onto the treated surface instead of flashing off in a day. That is exactly what a scorpion problem needs, because the bug that wanders onto your foundation late at night is often not the bug you saw last week.
What wins people over is raw killing power, and the reports back it up in plain numbers. One Arizona homeowner counted 27 scorpions in the 15 days before treating, then saw none for 6.5 months after applying it. Another, using it for four years, said it has “consistently helped with scorpions and spiders out in the country.” A Las Vegas user made one bottle last more than a year of perimeter spraying. The same slow-kill quality means it also takes out the crickets and wasps that feed a scorpion population — it is not a fast knockdown, so do not expect bugs to drop the instant you spray.
The 32 g item weight and 19.21 fluid ounces make this a small bottle, so your cost per treatment depends entirely on how faithfully you dilute it. Mix it correctly and treat every 3 months and the math works out well — one reviewer’s comparable professional service cost four figures. This is the strongest pick in the lineup for anyone facing real scorpion pressure, not a stray sighting.
What earns it the top spot
- Label targets spiders, scorpions and a broad-spectrum of other insects
- Controlled release chemistry keeps working on the surface instead of fading
- Rated for in and around livestock facilities, turf, ornamentals and landscapes
- Has an indoor broadcast treatment option
Terms you should accept going in
- It is a slow kill — bugs do not drop on contact
- 19.21 fluid ounces is a small bottle, so dilution discipline matters
Built for: anyone in Arizona, Nevada or Texas hill country who has found more than one scorpion indoors and wants the perimeter to keep killing between treatments.
Know this first: patience is part of the kit — expect it to work on the population over days, not in front of your eyes.
2. Bonide Diatomaceous Earth Crawling Insect Killer, 5 lbs
Five pounds of powder that works by scratching the bug, not poisoning it — and your dog can walk through it.
Diatomaceous earth is fossilized shell material ground to a fine powder. On a scorpion it works mechanically: the particles cling to the body and insects that contact or ingest the powder die within 48 hours. There is no chemical for a scorpion to build resistance to, which is a real advantage over repeated sprays.
Pet safety is what the buyers talk about most, and it is the strongest reason to choose this one. One owner reported their dog ate some with no harm and said they would not use anything else around their dogs. The catch is real and worth saying plainly: the effectiveness side is genuinely mixed. Slugs, ants, fleas and garden bugs come up as wins; grasshoppers and earwigs do not. Treat this as a barrier in cracks and along sill plates, not as a standalone scorpion cure.
Here is the practical part most people miss. This is a 5 lb bag of powder, not granules, and it is messy — it flies everywhere and refuses to form a neat line. It ships without a ziploc closure and, as one buyer found, without an applicator, so budget for a duster and a bag clip. The upside: at 5 pounds versus Martin’s Eraser Max at 2.6 pounds, you are getting far more material by weight, and applied lightly it lasts a long time.
Where it fits: dusted into the voids, cracks and wall-floor joints where a liquid cannot reach, it is the layer that catches the scorpion that slips past your perimeter spray.
The honest trade-off: it is not a fast or sure kill on every species, and the powder will make a mess the first time you use it. Buy a duster at the same time and you will avoid most of the frustration.
Reach for this if: you have dogs or cats, want a non-chemical barrier, and are willing to dust cracks properly rather than sprinkle it across a floor.
Look elsewhere if: you need one product to wipe out a scorpion population on its own.
3. Martin’s Eraser Max Super Concentrate, 32 oz
This is a vegetation killer, not a bug spray — and that is how it starves a scorpion population.
Read the label honestly before you buy: Eraser Max is a herbicide, with 43.68% glyphosate and 0.78% imazapyr as its actives. Its job is clearing the weeds, brush and overgrowth that crickets and roaches hide in — the food and cover that keep scorpions close to your house. Knock the brush back and you remove the habitat, so this earns its place in a scorpion plan as habitat control rather than direct contact.
The active ingredient is the same one Roundup uses, and the concentration is what makes it worth the shelf space — a little goes a long way. It is post-emergent only, meaning it kills what is already growing rather than stopping new seeds from sprouting. Most treated vegetation withers and dies over about 4-5 days, so give it time before you judge it. Keep the mist off any plants or grass you want to keep, and wear protective equipment.
Where it shines is tough, established growth. Kudzu in the South, highway ditch weeds, ivy and brush all come up as wins, and one application clears the area. Where it falls short is stubborn root crops like wild onions, which come back. At 2.6 pounds and 32 fluid ounces this is a light, easy-to-carry jug compared with the 5 lb Bonide bag, so hauling it around a yard is not a chore.
Why it earns a slot
- 43.68% glyphosate plus 0.78% imazapyr clears established brush and weeds
- Post-emergent action kills what is already growing in the habitat
- 32 oz concentrate stretches a long way at proper dilution
- Light 2.6 pound jug is easy to carry around a yard
Limits to plan around
- It is a herbicide — it does nothing to a scorpion directly
- Root-stubborn weeds like wild onions may return
Pick it for: the outer ring of the plan — clearing brush, ditch banks and overgrown fence lines that shelter the insects scorpions eat.
Skip the sprayer here: this one is not a scorpion contact kill, so pair it with a residual concentrate for the walls and foundation.
4. Martin’s 32 oz Permethrin 13.3% Concentrate
Thirty-two ounces that mix into gallons — the workhorse for foundation spraying on a schedule.
Permethrin at 13.3% is a broad-spectrum concentrate rated for use inside and outside, with control of insect pests for up to 4 weeks per application. That 4-week window is the number to build your calendar around — treat the foundation, door frames and window sills on a repeat cycle and you keep a fresh killing surface on the house all season. It will not work on every pest; the label side of this is narrow on some species, so use it for what it does well.
The economics are the real story. A 32 fluid ounce bottle makes many gallons of mixed solution, so one jug covers a lot of perimeter passes, and buying the concentrate beats ready-to-use sprays on cost. The honest side: this is a strong chemical with an odor, and users note it plainly. Plan to spray at dusk or dawn, mix to the label ratio, and keep pets and family off treated areas until dry.
For a scorpion plan, think of this as your base layer on the foundation and out to the first few feet of ground — the same idea as the Onslaught above, but aimed at broad pest pressure rather than a scorpion-specific label. If you have ticks, fleas, chiggers or earwigs around the house too, this is a more efficient buy than a narrow scorpion product, because you are treating a whole range of bugs at once.
Best-case use: a rotating perimeter program — a fresh band on the foundation and out a few feet every few weeks through the warm months, plus a barrier at the doors.
Caveat to hear now: this is not a scorpion-labeled product in the way the Onslaught is, and the smell is the most-noticed downside among buyers. Respect the mix ratio and it goes far.
Suits you if: your yard has several kinds of problem pests and you want one concentrate that sprays the whole perimeter on a repeating schedule.
Choose a dedicated label instead if: scorpions are the only target and you want the maker’s own scorpion claim on the bottle.
5. Paragon Conquer Residual Insecticide Concentrate, 16 fl oz
A 16 fl oz concentrate that keeps working after it dries — and barely smells while it does it.
Conquer is a general residual concentrate, mixed with water and applied to surfaces where scorpions travel. The category claim is a residual one: the surface keeps working after the spray has dried, not just at the moment of contact. Indoors, the smell is very light compared with a solvent-heavy spray, which matters if you are treating baseboards in a room you actually use.
Effectiveness is what owners rate highest, and the recent reports back that up: hundreds of leaf-cutter ants cleared within 2 hours at the nest openings, and cockroach infestations knocked down around the house. The same residual quality is why it holds its own on the spider and roach side of a scorpion plan, knocking back the food supply as well as the scorpion itself. It mixes easily and needs no special storage.
Set your expectations on the residual window though — a few users say the kill doesn’t stay strong on everything, so plan to re-treat rather than assume one pass does the job all season. At 16 fl oz this is the smallest bottle in the lineup, so you get fewer mixed gallons per jug than the 32 oz Martin’s, and the dilution ratio on the label decides your coverage. Wet it, let it dry, and keep people and pets off until it is fully dry.
What makes it worth a look
- Residual concentrate that keeps working after drying
- Very little smell compared with solvent sprays
- Mixes easily in a sprayer, no special storage needed
- Knocks back roaches and other pest insects that feed scorpions
Trade-offs in real use
- 16 fl oz is a small bottle — fewer mixed gallons than a 32 oz jug
- Some users find the residual fades on tougher pests, so re-treat on schedule
Go with it for: indoor baseboards, crawl space and outbuildings where you want a residual without a strong smell hanging in the air.
Think twice if: you are treating a large exterior perimeter every month and want the bigger jug — the 32 fl oz Martin’s outlasts it on volume.
Know the Specs
Residual versus contact
A contact spray kills the bug it lands on. A residual concentrate leaves a working film on the surface that catches the next scorpion to cross it. For scorpions, residual is the spec that matters — it is what keeps killing between treatments instead of stopping when you put the sprayer down.
Concentrate versus ready-to-use
A concentrate is mixed with water at a label ratio. The bottle size is not the same as gallons of mixed solution — a 16 fl oz or 32 fl oz jug can cover a lot of ground if you mix to the label. Ready-to-use sprays are convenient but run out fast on a full perimeter.
Active ingredients
The active ingredient is the chemical doing the killing. Permethrin is a broad-spectrum insecticide. Glyphosate and imazapyr are herbicides, which kill plants, not bugs. Read what is in the bottle before you buy so the product matches the job.
Dust barriers
Diatomaceous earth is a fine powder that works physically on the insect body, so there is no resistance to build. It is best used in cracks, voids and edges where a liquid cannot reach.
Common Questions
What actually kills scorpions around a house?
Should I spray scorpions directly or treat the perimeter?
Does diatomaceous earth work on scorpions?
How long does a treated surface keep killing?
Is a herbicide part of a scorpion plan?
How much concentrate do I need for a perimeter spray?
When is it safe for pets to walk on a treated surface?
Do I need a sprayer and a duster both?
Will one bottle last the whole season?
What is the difference between a scorpion-labeled product and a general concentrate?
The Bottom Line
For most scorpion problems, the best insecticide for scorpions is the Onslaught FastCap — it is the only pick here labeled for scorpions and spiders by name, and its controlled release technology keeps working after the spray dries. If pets are your first concern, dust the cracks with Bonide Diatomaceous Earth as your barrier layer. And for the yard around the house, the Martin’s Eraser Max clears the brush that shelters the insects scorpions feed on. A good plan uses them together: concentrate on the perimeter, dust in the cracks, and a cleared yard to remove the habitat.
How we choose
We do not accept paid placement. Every pick is matched to a real buyer and a real use-case; we do not hands-on test units.
Sources
Specifications: manufacturer listings and product documentation. Review insights: verified customer reviews, as of October 2026. Pricing: not shown on this page (it changes often); check the current price via the retailer link.
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