''Paruroctonus soda'' is a species of

scorpion Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always end ...

in the genus '' Paruroctonus''. It lives in the deserts of

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

where it is found in dry lake beds and playas of

Soda Lake A soda lake or alkaline lake is a lake on the strongly alkaline side of neutrality, typically with a pH value between 9 and 12. They are characterized by high concentrations of carbonate salts, typically sodium carbonate (and related salt complex ...

and

Koehn Lake Koehn Lake is a dry lake, and seasonally endorheic lake, in the Fremont Valley of the Mojave Desert, in eastern Kern County, California. Geography The valley is northeast of California City, and east of Red Rock Canyon State Park. The lake i ...

. ''P. soda'' is an

alkali sink An alkali sink is a salty basin land form. The term may also refer to a North American desert vegetation type (biome) characteristic of that landform.Pam MacKay, Mojave Desert Wildflowers, 2nd Ed., p. 15-16 Rainwater drains to the basin and collec ...

specialist species.

Discovery

''Paruroctonus soda'' was described alongside ''

Paruroctonus conclusus ''Paruroctonus conclusus'' is a species of scorpion in the genus '' Paruroctonus''. It lives in the deserts of Southern California where it associates with alkali clay soils in the Mojave Desert area of eastern Kern County. ''P. conclusus'' is an ...

'', both species having come to the attention of Prakrit Jain and Harper Forbes when observations uploaded to

iNaturalist iNaturalist is a social network of naturalists, citizen scientists, and biologists built on the concept of mapping and sharing observations of biodiversity across the globe. iNaturalist may be accessed via its website or from its mobile applic ...

could not be assigned to a known species. They were assisted by Lauren Esposito of the

California Academy of Sciences The California Academy of Sciences is a research institute and natural history museum in San Francisco, California, that is among the largest museums of natural history in the world, housing over 46 million specimens. The Academy began in 1853 ...

. The species was named after

where it lives.

Reference

Animals described in 2022 Vaejovidae {{scorpion-stub