We found this guy outside the house in the Salt Lake area. It's supposedly too far North for Bark Scorpions, but it looks a lot like the pictures I'm pulling up. Not great photos from the phone, I can probably get better pics later if needed.

https://plus.google.com/photos/111877134175598230421/albums/5740214116521278721?authkey=CJXx1p727qnimgE

Paruroctonus boreus the Northern Scorpion. Bark scorpions look very streamlined nothing "Chunky" about them and they only occur near the Arizona border in Utah. 13 species of scorps in Utah soon to be revised to 15. I have never found one in the Salt Lake Valley that is interesting (which area did you find this guy I wonder) the nearest I has seen them is Tooele Valley and the Great Salt Lake or Utah valley around Utah Lake.

Reddish pincer tips, chunky pedipalps and mesosoma, general color and size (I am guessing 1 to 1 1/2 inches) and general location it can only be a boreus. Further south or west there are many very similar confusing little straw/lemon yellow green scorps that need to be keyed out to identify (of course I have the key)

I just added a better picture, I'm sure you're right...aside from the fact I know very little and you have the key.

I hadn't taken a good look at it at home and only had the fuzzy pictures and a bit of concern from work when I asked the question. So, thanks for ID'ing.

We found this guy and a sibling on the highland drive easement at about 1800 S. The boys were trying out their new scorpion lights, which obviously worked very well. Both were found under 2 different flipped pieces of plywood.

Now that is interesting indeed. I have never seen any scorps along the East side Wasatch front I was thinking you were gonna say Herriman or Magna. Not that surprising though I have found several arid species like Jerusalem crickets and tarantulas etc. along the foothills so it was only a matter of time. I think areas like Dimple Dell Rec area and the mouth of Parley's etc. likely have populations. Boreus get clear up to Canada and might just be Utah's most common scorpion as they occur in vast areas of the state. Vaejovis confusus the Yellow Ground Scorpion and other similar species are the most common farther south. We have 3 large (greater than 3 inches) scorps in Utah: Dusky Claws in the West Desert, Desert Hairy's again west desert, and Northern Desert Hairy scorps in the Colorado Plateau.

Utah
Bark Scorpion Centruroides sculpuratus
Dusky Clawed Scorpion Anuroctonus phaiodactylus
Desert Hairy Scorpion Hadrurus arizonensis arizonensis
Northern Desert Hairy Scorpion Hadrurus spadix
Superstitionia donensis
Paruroctonus becki
Northern Scorpion Paruroctonus boreus
Paruroctonus utahensis
Serradigitus wupatkiensis
Yellow Ground Scorpion Vaejovis confusus
Hairy tailed Scorpion Vaejovis hirsuticauda
Vaejovis jonesi

Yup, we are about 3 blocks from Dimple Dell. My boys do a lot of exploring on the hill and see what they get. Last year they got several wind scorpions (Solifugae). Ugly, but fascinating creatures.


[Edit]...you can't really trust google image search when looking to ID an animal, can you? I just looked up the Dusky Clawed Scorpion and got crawdads (crayfish, mudbugs...whatever). Meh...close enough.