Influences of urban land use on the frequency of scorpion stings in the Phoenix, Arizona, metropolitan area

Between 3000 and 4000 people report being stung by scorpions each year in t he Phoenix, AZ, metropolitan area, but the frequency of stings is not distr ibuted evenly across the metropolitan area: certain areas consistently exhi bit higher numbers of scorpion stings than the other parts of the city. I o verlaid data from the Phoenix Samaritan Regional Poison Center about the nu mber of scorpion stings per ZIP Code onto a Geographic Information System c overage of land use in the Phoenix metropolitan area. I then compared the t ypes and amounts of land use among ZIP Codes that differed in the number of scorpion stings. The number and geographic location of scorpion stings in the Phoenix metropolitan area were reflected in the presence and abundance of some forms of urban land use. In particular, density of single-family ho mes and proximity to undeveloped open space were good predictors of the fre quency of scorpion stings. These results may be useful to potential home-bu yers by making them aware of areas that are at higher risk of scorpion enco unters. This information may also be helpful to land use planners and devel opers in the cost-benefit analysis of deciding how and where future develop ment in Phoenix should occur. One recommendation for future urban developme nt is to consider how high-density housing (greater than or equal to 6 dwel lings per acre) may minimize human-scorpion encounters. (C) 1999 Elsevier S cience B.V. All rights reserved.