Scorpion Expert Ben Holland

Ben Holland is a scorpion expert located in Phoenix, Arizona. He has a BS in biology from Arizona State University and has been studying scorpions in the Sonoran desert for over a decade. Since the early 2000’s Ben has been catching Arizona bark, striped tail and desert hairy scorpions in the desert and residential or commercial properties.

Ben has had the opportunity to speak, present or be featured in dozens of publications, books, and radio or television shows. He is happy to speak at a high level to industry professionals or to children educating them about the creature and how to stay safe.

Ben is willing to travel anywhere for an opportunity. He is also available for extended shoots for days or weeks at a time. If travel is needed we do ask for travel, lodging, and meals to be provided.

If you are in need of a full-fledged expert or just someone to answer a few questions Ben is happy to help. He loves sharing his knowledge and educating the public about these beneficial pests. They are often misunderstood, he loves doing anything can do to help the perception of scorpions.

A very polished and well-rounded public speaker Ben can speak at any type of event from TV programs, conferences, corporate presentations (especially for real-estate), educational presentation or radio interviews.

If you would like to have Ben speak at your event, please fill out our booking form and we will contact you within a week.

Ben created Scorpion Sweepers in 2006. To find the best way possible to prevent scorpions he reviewed many papers and articles to find the safest and most effective method. One article in particular by The University of Arizona’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences provided great insights.

This article along with many others where the framework Ben used to create our scorpion control service offerings.

Since inception, Ben has dedicated himself to finding new tools and ways to prevent scorpions. In our office, there is a drawer filled with over 50 ultraviolet lights that we have tested. There are many odd and or hand made tools that have been tested and implemented or moved on from. A constant scientist Ben is always going to home goods store, looking at their products and figuring out ways he can modify them to prevent scorpions.

Our team takes pride in providing the best methods possible. Studying the scorpions’ behavior and how they use the environment. Using the best tools and products for everything we do. We are constantly innovating and trying to invent new services to better serve the families of Phoenix.

In the fall of 2002, Ben moved to Tempe, Arizona to attend the Harvard of the west, Arizona State University. Studying in the College of Life Sciences Ben majored in Biology. Interested in wildlife and large animals he took classes like Vertebrate Zoology, Mammology, Animal Behavior, Organic Evolution, The Darwinian Revolution, Developmental Anatomy, Genetics, and Organic Chemistry.

His final three semesters at Arizona State University Ben was lucky enough to be selected for an internship in the Arizona State Reptile Lab, mentored by Dr. Dale DeNardo and many graduate students. While interning he had to do a lot of intern tasks like cleaning the snake, lizard, and Gila Monster cages. He was responsible for feeding the animals dead mice or eggs and ensure they had enough water. The worst part of the internship is when the Gila Monsters would regurgitate a partially digested mouse and he would have to clean it up.

After a semester Ben was asked to assist with a couple of the research projects the graduate students were doing. On the weekends he would travel down to central Arizona around Picacho Peak to look for Gila Monsters. There they would track the venomous lizards holding large radio antennas above their heads and listing to the frequency of beeps in their headphones. The close the beeps were together the closer you were getting to the Gila Monster. This study was finding the travel range of Gila Monsters and investigating their dwellings. This was a great experience and often led to many cacti pokes.

Another study Ben assisted on was to see if temperature affected the sense of smell of Gila Monsters. Using 30 Gila Monsters in an environmental room that could regulate both humidity and temperature, these creatures were submitted to each temperature for three days before having a q-tip with a quail egg on it placed in front of them. He found that the colder it got the less the Gila Monsters could smell and less interested in the food.

To support the lab the entire team would go through alleys in Tempe and collect the scorpions for pesticide studies. These studies are what funded the lab and allowed them to the research they wanted.

Ben graduated in 2006 and started Scorpion Sweepers the next month, using the techniques he learned in those alleys.

Ben grew up in a small lobstering town, on an island off the coast of Maine. Living in the middle of the forest in Cundy’s Harbor, on Sebascodegan Island (Great Island), in Harpswell Maine. Here he spent his youth fishing, sailboating, mountain biking and exploring the wilderness of his island abode.

A true outdoorsman from the start, over summer break you could find Ben wondering the woods that surrounded his home, catching frogs in one of the many nearby ponds or down in the mud flats digging up whatever he could find. After church on Sunday’s, he would visit with his family who own The Sea Escape Cottages two islands down on Baily’s Island. While his family visited he would go to the rocky shoreline and turn over rocks catching crabs, eels, small fish, sea urchins and shrimp by hand.

In school Ben excelled in mathematics and science, often taking classes with the grade above him. Biology had always fascinated him, focusing on the subject whenever he was asked to do research papers. In 7th grade, he wrote his first paper on Darwin’s Theory of Evolution and in 11th grade he wrote a paper on the mutations that were causing frogs to have extra limbs. A member of the Science Olympiad, Chess Club, Swim Team, Cross Country Team and Baseball team Ben participated in many extracurricular activities.

Once he graduated high school he attended Arizona State University to escape the cold winters of Coastal Maine.