Buthus

Last updated

Buthus
Buthus occitanus.jpg
Buthus occitanus (Amoreux, 1789)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Scorpiones
Family: Buthidae
Genus: Buthus
Leach, 1815
Type species
Buthus occitanus
Amoreux, 1789
Diversity
At least 75 species

Buthus is a genus of scorpion belonging and being eponymous to the family Buthidae. It is distributed widely across northern Africa, including Morocco, Mauritania, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Nigeria, Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti, as well as the Middle East, including Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, and possibly Saudi Arabia and southern Turkey. Its European range includes the Iberian Peninsula, southern France, and Cyprus. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

Contents

Taxonomy

The genus was introduced by W.E. Leach (1815: 391). [8] It was only the second genus of scorpion as all species known to this date were included in the sole genus Scorpio Linné, 1758. Leach found Scorpio occitanus Amoreux, 1789 to differ from the other species of Scorpio known to him by having eight eyes (two median eyes and six lateral eyes) instead of six (two median eyes and four lateral eyes). C.L. Koch (1837) [9] expanded this concept and subdivided the scorpions in four families according to the number of their eyes. He named his second family, the "eight-eyed scorpions", Buthides. The use of the number of eyes in the classification of scorpions has been discarded since, however the name Buthidae is still in use for the most diverse family of scorpions.

Diversity

The content of this genus may vary, depending on the authority. The best known species, B. occitanus, was once thought to be widespread from southern France, throughout Spain and Morocco, along the southern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, and eastwards as far as Israel. [1] However, recent research has shown that it forms a highly diverse cluster of closely related but separate species. A number of taxa formerly considered as subspecies or "varieties" have been granted full species status, others have been described as entirely new. [10] [11] [12] [13] The Moroccan Atlas region is a hot-spot of diversity with at least 14 species. [14] This diversity is explained by the topography which led to a high degree of speciation in populations which are separated from others by mountain ranges. [15] Four species are considered to occur in Europe: B. occitanus (southern France, eastern and southern Spain), B. montanus (mountain ranges of southeastern Spain), B. ibericus (western Spain and Portugal), and B. kunti (Cyprus). [6] [16] [17] At least 75 species are known, many of which are quite similar in appearance: [18]

General characteristics

Members of Buthus are generally medium-sized scorpions (40–85 mm total length). Coloration is generally yellow, with different tones of brown to red-brown. Darker patterns may occur on various parts of the body. The pedipalps (pincers) are relatively gracile with slender digits and a globose base. The cephalothorax bears strong ornamentation with small granules arranged to form carinae (ridges). The most prominent carinae form a lyra-shaped pattern behind the median eyes in many species. The mesosoma is also often granulated and commonly bears three ridges on the tergites. The metasoma is slender but not thin with well developed carinae of granules, and some short spines in some species. A large vesicle terminates in a sharp and long aculeus (stinger). [1]

Toxicity

Though generally not considered lethal, the venom of Buthus species is considered of medical importance. They form a considerable part of scorpion envenomation cases, especially in northern Africa. [19] According to a study by Touloun et al. (2001) [20] scorpions of the B. occitanus complex caused 26% of all recorded cases in southwestern Morocco, but none of them resulted in death.

Habitat

Species of Buthus live in semi-arid to arid climate in various terrains, from mountain valleys to coastal plains mostly with sparse vegetation, even in deserts. As most scorpions they are predominantly nocturnal and hide in shallow burrows, most commonly below stones.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fattail scorpion</span> Genus of scorpions

Fattail scorpion or fat-tailed scorpion is the common name given to scorpions of the genus Androctonus, one of the most dangerous groups of scorpion species in the world. The genus was first described in 1828 by Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buthidae</span> Family of scorpions

The Buthidae are the largest family of scorpions, containing about 100 genera and 1339 species as of 2022. A few very large genera are known, but a high number of species-poor or monotypic ones also exist. New taxa are being described at a rate of several new species per year. They have a [cosmopolitan] distribution throughout tropical and subtropical environments worldwide. Together with four other families, the Buthidae make up the superfamily Buthoidea. The family was established by Carl Ludwig Koch in 1837.

<i>Euscorpius</i> Genus of scorpions

Euscorpius is a genus of scorpions, commonly called small wood-scorpions. It presently contains 65 species and is the type genus of the family Euscorpiidae – long included in the Chactidae – and the subfamily Euscorpiinae.

<i>Ananteris</i> Genus of arachnids

Ananteris is a little-known genus of rare scorpions. Scorpions belonging to the genus can be found from Costa Rica to Paraguay.

<i>Androctonus maroccanus</i> Species of scorpion

Androctonus maroccanus is a species of scorpion of the family Buthidae. Along with other members of the genus Androctonus it is also known by the collective vernacular name fat-tailed scorpion. A. maroccanus is endemic to the Atlantic coast of central Morocco.

Buthacus is a genus of scorpion of the family Buthidae. It is distributed across northern and western Africa, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Syria, the Arabian Peninsula, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

<i>Hottentotta</i> Genus of scorpions

Hottentotta is a genus of scorpions of the family Buthidae. It is distributed widely across Africa, except for most of the Sahara desert. Species in the genus also occur in the Middle East, the Arabian Peninsula, southeastern Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Cape Verde Islands, and Sri Lanka (introduced).

<i>Heterometrus</i> Genus of scorpions

Heterometrus, whose members are also known by the collective vernacular name giant forest scorpions, is a genus of scorpions belonging to the family Scorpionidae. It is distributed widely across tropical and subtropical southeastern Asia, including Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, India, and China (Hainan). It is notable for containing some of the largest living species of scorpions.

<i>Leiurus</i> Genus of scorpions

Leiurus is a genus of scorpion of the family Buthidae. The most common species, L. quinquestriatus, is also known under the common name Deathstalker. It is distributed widely across North Africa and the Middle East, including the western and southern Arabian Peninsula and southeastern Turkey. At least one species occurs in West Africa.

<i>Chaerilus</i> Genus of scorpions

Chaerilus is a genus of scorpions in the family Chaerilidae. They live in tropical parts of South Asia and Southeast Asia. A fossil genus Electrochaerilus is known from the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) aged Burmese amber.

<i>Isometrus</i> Genus of scorpions

Isometrus is a genus of scorpion belonging and being eponymous to the family Buthidae. Some species are currently assigned to the genus Reddyanus.

Mesobuthus is an Asian genus of scorpions in the family Buthidae.

Hottentotta jabalpurensis is a species of scorpion, belonging to the family Buthidae. It was first found in Madhya Pradesh, India.

Hottentotta stockwelli is a species of scorpion of the family Buthidae. It was first found in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, India.

Wilson R. Lourenço is a French-Brazilian arachnologist specializing in scorpions.

<i>Buthoscorpio</i> Genus of scorpions

Buthoscorpio is a genus of scorpions in the family Buthidae.

<i>Lychas</i>

Lychas is a genus of scorpions belonging to the family Buthidae. It is one of the most widespread genus of the scorpions, where the species are found throughout in Africa and Seychelles, and in the Oriental region from India to Melanesia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charmus (scorpion)</span> Genus of scorpions

Charmus is a genus of buthid scorpions native to India and Sri Lanka.

<i>Reddyanus</i> Genus of scorpions

Reddyanus is a genus of buthid scorpions native to Oriental region from India, Sri Lanka, China: Tibet, to Melanesia. The genus was previously described as a subgenus of Isometrus.

Orthochirus is a genus of scorpion in the family Buthidae, first described by Ferdinand Karsch in 1891.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Vachon, M. (1952). Études sur les Scorpions (in French). Algiers: Institut Pasteur d'Algérie. pp. 482 pp.
  2. ↑ Kovařík, F. (2006). "Review of Tunisian species of the genus Buthus with descriptions of two new species and a discussion of Ehrenberg's types (Scorpiones: Buthidae)" (PDF). Euscorpius . 34: 1–16.
  3. ↑ Kaltsas D, Stathi I, Fet V (2008). "Scorpions of the eastern Mediterranean" (PDF). Advances in Arachnology and Developmental Biology. Papers Dedicated to Prof. Dr. Božidar Ćurčić (S.E. Makarov & R.N. Dimitrijević, Eds. Monographs, 12: 209–246.
  4. ↑ Lourenço, W.B. (2008). "About the presence of the genus Buthus Leach, 1815 in the Arabian Peninsula and description of a new species (Scorpiones, Buthidae)". Entomologische Mitteilungen aus dem Zoologischen Museum Hamburg . 15 (179): 45–52.
  5. ↑ Lourenço WB, Yağmur EA, Duhem B (2010). "A new species of Buthus Leach, 1815 from Jordan". Zoology in the Middle East . 49: 95–99. doi:10.1080/09397140.2010.10638395. S2CID   82471734.
  6. 1 2 Yağmur EA, Koç H, Lourenço WA (2011). "A new species of Buthus Leach, 1815 from Cyprus (Scorpiones, Buthidae)" (PDF). ZooKeys (115): 27–38. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.115.1135 . PMC   3187665 . PMID   21976999.
  7. ↑ Kovařík, F. (2011). "Buthus awashensis sp. n. from Ethiopia (Scorpiones: Buthidae)" (PDF). Euscorpius . 128: 1–6.
  8. ↑ Leach, W.E. (1815). "A tabular View of the external Characters of Four Classes of Animals, which Linné arranged under Insecta; with the distribution of the Genera composing Three of these Classes into Orders, &c. and Descriptions of several new Genera and Species". Transactions of the Linnean Society of London . 11 (2): 306–400. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1813.tb00065.x.
  9. ↑ Koch, C.L. (1837). Übersicht des Arachnidensystems. Erstes Heft (in German). Nürnberg (Nuremberg): C.H. Zeh. p. 51.
  10. ↑ Lourenço, W.A. (2002). "Considérations sur les mode-les de distribution et differentiation du genre Buthus Leach, 1815, avec la description d´une nouvelle espèce des montagnes du Tassili des Ajjer, Algerie (Scorpiones, Buthidae)". Biogeographica . 78 (3): 109–127.
  11. ↑ Lourenço, W.A. (2003). "Compléments á la faune de scorpions (Arachnida) de l'Afrique du Nord, avec des considérations sur le genre Buthus Leach, 1815". Revue Suisse de Zoologie . 110 (4): 875–912. doi: 10.5962/bhl.part.80218 .
  12. ↑ Lourenço, W.A. & Slimani, T. (2004). "Description of a new scorpion species of the genus Buthus Leach, 1815 (Scorpiones: Buthidae) from Morocco". Entomologische Mitteilungen aus dem Zoologischen Museum Hamburg . 14 (169): 165–170.
  13. ↑ Lourenço, W.A. & Geniez, P. (2005). "A new scorpion species of the genus Buthus Leach, 1815 (Scorpiones, Buthidae) from Morocco" (PDF). Euscorpius . 2005 (19): 1–6. doi: 10.18590/euscorpius.2005.vol2005.iss19.1 .
  14. ↑ Touloun, O. & Boumezzough, A. (2011). "Une nouvelle espece du genre Buthus Leach, 1815 (Scorpiones: Buthidae) du Maroc". Boletín de la S.E.A. 48: 183–187.
  15. ↑ Hofreiter, Michael; Habel, Jan C.; Husemann, Martin; Schmitt, Thomas; Zachos, Frank E.; Honnen, Ann-Christin; Petersen, Britt; Parmakelis, Aristeidis; Stathi, Iasmi (2012). "Microallopatry caused strong diversification in Buthus scorpions (Scorpiones: Buthidae) in the Atlas Mountains (NW Africa)". PLoS ONE . 7 (2): e29403. Bibcode:2012PLoSO...729403H. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0029403 . PMC   3287997 . PMID   22383951.
  16. ↑ Lourenço, W.R. & Vachon, M. (2004). "Considérations sur le genre Buthus Leach, 1815 en Espagne, et description de deux nouvelles espèces (Scorpiones, Buthidae)" (PDF). Revista Ibérica de Aracnología . 9: 81–94.
  17. ↑ Sousa, Pedro; Froufe, Elsa; Alves, Paulo Célio; Harris, D. James (2010). "Genetic diversity within scorpions of the genus Buthus from the Iberian Peninsula: mitochondrial DNA sequence data indicate additional distinct cryptic lineages". Journal of Arachnology . 38 (2): 206–211. doi:10.1636/H08-98.1. S2CID   73551273.
  18. ↑ Rein, J.O. (2022). "Buthidae C.L. Koch, 1837". The Scorpion Files. Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Universitet . Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  19. ↑ Bahloul M, Chabchoub I, Chaari A, Chtara K, Kallel H, Dammak H, Ksibi H, Chelly H, Rekik N, Ben Hamida C, Bouaziz M (2010). "Scorpion Envenomation Among Children: Clinical Manifestations and Outcome (Analysis of 685 Cases)". The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene . 83 (5): 1084–1092. doi:10.4269/ajtmh.2010.10-0036. PMC   2963974 . PMID   21036842.
  20. ↑ Touloun O, Slimani T, Boumezzough A (2001). "Epidemiological survey of scorpion envenomation in southwestern Morocco". Journal of Venomous Animals and Toxins . 7 (2): 199–218. doi: 10.1590/s0104-79302001000200006 .
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.