Leiurus abdullahbayrami

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Leiurus abdullahbayrami
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Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Scorpiones
Family: Buthidae
Genus: Leiurus
Species:
L. abdullahbayrami
Binomial name
Leiurus abdullahbayrami
Lowe, Yagmur & Kovaric, 2009

Leiurus abdullahbayrami is a species of scorpion in the family Buthidae. Its venom is highly toxic to humans, but can be used in medical development. [1]

Contents

Taxonomy

Leiurus abdullahbayram was originally considered conspecific with the deathstalker (L. quinquestriatus), but was reclassified in 2009 based on mitochondrial DNA analyses. [2]

Description

Leiurus abdullahbayrami predators (1)Ghost bats-5.jpg
Leiurus abdullahbayrami predators

Leiurus abdullahbayrami has a brown cephalothorax, yellow legs, head, and tail. One of the very end segments of the tail is brown instead of yellow.

In scientific terms, the background color of the prosoma, mesosoma, and segment V of metasoma is black and the appendages of the Leiurus Abdullahbayrami are yellowish. The centrolateral and posteriomedian carinae (at the end of the pinchers) are fused together and lyre-shaped is formed. It has fixed fingers with 11 oblique granule rows. It has movable fingers of pedipalps with 4 distal and 11 oblique granule rows. The ventrolateral carinae of metasomal segment V have large and rounded granules. The anal arch has 6 small lobes posteriorly and 3 rounded lobes laterally. The pedipalp length/width ratio average differs between the males and the females. In females the ratio is around 4.49, and in males the ratio is around 4.54. Legs I-III have bristlecombs, and legs IV do not have bristlecombs. Their pectinal tooth counts also differ in males and females. In males the tooth count is 37-38, and in females the tooth count is 30-34. [1] Leiurus abdullahbayrami has shorter segments than those seen in the Deathstalker. [3]

Distribution and habitat

Typical L. abdullahbayrami habitat. They may be found under rocks or in small rock cavities. Cryptobiotic soil Arches National Park Utah USA.JPG
Typical L. abdullahbayrami habitat. They may be found under rocks or in small rock cavities.

Leiurus abdullahbayrami can be found in rocky areas with short and scattered vegetation, in semi-arid regions on dry calcareous soils. They tend to keep away from human settlements. Leiurus abdullahbayrami was found to share the same habitat with Scorpio maurus . [1] [4]

Diet

Leiurus abdullahbayrami prey Desert Stink Beetle - Flickr - treegrow.jpg
Leiurus abdullahbayrami prey

Scorpions will eat anything they can hold onto long enough to paralyze it. They can eat enough in one meal to not eat again for weeks or months. This means that they can eat small snakes, lizards, or rodents if they can hold onto them long enough to inject their venom and kill them. The most common food scorpions eat in the desert is beetles. They also eat grasshoppers, Locusts, centipedes, spiders, and ants. They hunt their prey by catching or crushing it and then injecting their venom. They are nocturnal, and tend to be more active on moonless nights because birds, bats,and mice prey on them. [5]

Reproduction

Scorpions reproduce sexually. The first phase of the reproduction cycle begins in late spring and early autumn. It begins with finding a mate. The male will leave his den and begin searching for a mature female. The male will dig at the entrance of her den until she appears. The combination of pheromones and vibrations are what makes the female appear. Once she appears, she is not ready for physical contact with the male, and he calms her by injecting slight doses of his venom into her pedipalp or cephalothorax. After this, the male will hold onto her pedipalp and take control of her. They will move in all different directions and look like they are dancing in perfect harmony. The male then find the perfect place on the ground to deposit his spermatophore, and then he guides the female to stand over it to introduce it to her genital opening. After this, the male quickly leaves to avoid being eaten by the female. [6] The scorplings are born after 122–277 days, and the mother can deliver 35-87 of them. [7]

Venom

Scorpions have two venom glands that produce venom. This venom is used for hunting and self-defense. [8] Only a small portion of scorpions are considered harmful to humans, but life-threatening symptoms are caused from only one sting. [9] There are about 50 species of scorpions that cause fatal scorpionism worldwide. [10] The venom from Leiurus abdullahbayrami can be very toxic. The venom of this species is one of the most potent venoms of the Turkish scorpions, and it provokes severe symptoms in the victims. Proteins make up half of the dry weight of the crude venom. The venom in this species stimulates voltage-gated sodium and potassium channels. [11] This venom is very toxic in humans. A 30-year old male was stung by a female L. abdullahbayrami on the tip of his right thumb. Upon arrival to the hospital he had local pain at the site of the bite. He received sodium chloride and a local painkiller. After one hour, the site was reddened, severe pain would come in waves and last about four minutes, and seizures started to occur. After two hours small pimples and blisters started to occur at the site. The patient was in pain for about 6 hours and was sent home. He was unable to vertically move his arm. The pain and blisters went away after ten days. [12] The sting and venom is much worse in children. In children the venom causes severe systolic dysfunction and Pulmonary edema. The sting impairs the left ventricle contractility and heart failure occurs. It is very important that early echocardiographic examination is done in patients who have been stung. [13] [14] The venom was tested in rats, and its effects were compared to the effects of Arabian fat-tailed scorpion ( Androctonus crassicauda ) venom. It was found that the venom of L. abdullahbayrami had a greater effect on the rats. These findings suggest that L. abdullahbayrami might pose a serious health threat to infants due to their smaller body weight. [15]

Medical uses

The venom of scorpions in general and of this species in particular has been employed in research on treating nervous, immune, infection, cardiovascular and neoplastic diseases. [16] [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deathstalker</span> Species of arachnid

The deathstalker is a species of scorpion, a member of the family Buthidae. It is also known as the Palestine yellow scorpion, Omdurman scorpion, and Naqab desert scorpion, as well as by many other colloquial names, which generally originate from the commercial captive trade of the animal. To eliminate confusion, especially important with potentially dangerous species, the scientific name is normally used to refer to them. The name Leiurus quinquestriatus roughly translates into English as "five-striped smooth-tail". In 2014, the subspecies L. q. hebraeus was separated from it and elevated to its own species Leiurus hebraeus. Other species of the genus Leiurus are also often referred to as "deathstalkers". Leiurus quinquestriatus is yellow, and 30–77 millimetres (1.2–3.0 in) long, with an average of 58 mm (2.3 in).

<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>Hottentotta tamulus</i> Species of scorpion

Hottentotta tamulus, the Indian red scorpion, also known as the eastern Indian scorpion, is a species of scorpion of the family Buthidae. It occurs in most of India, eastern Pakistan and the eastern lowlands of Nepal, and recently from Sri Lanka.

<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>Buthus</i> Genus of arachnids

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.

<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.

<i>Isometrus maculatus</i> Species of scorpion

Isometrus maculatus, commonly as the lesser brown scorpion, is a species of scorpion in the family Buthidae. Its distribution is pantropical; it is an introduced species in Hawaii.

Reddyanus basilicus is a species of scorpion in the family Buthidae.

<i>Reddyanus besucheti</i> Species of scorpion

Reddyanus besucheti is a species of scorpion in the family Buthidae endemic to Sri Lanka.

Reddyanus loebli is a species of scorpion in the family Buthidae.

<i>Charmus laneaus</i> Species of scorpion

Charmus laneaus is a species of non-venomous scorpion in the family Buthidae endemic to Sri Lanka.

Srilankametrus gravimanus is a species of scorpion belonging to the family Scorpionidae. It is native to India and Sri Lanka.

<i>Srilankametrus indus</i> Species of scorpion

Srilankametrus indus, commonly known as the giant forest scorpion, is a species of scorpions belonging to the family Scorpionidae. It is native to India and Sri Lanka.

<i>Leiurus hebraeus</i> Species of scorpion

Leiurus hebraeus, the Hebrew deathstalker, is a species of scorpion, a member of the family Buthidae. It is also known as the Israeli yellow scorpion, It was once considered as a subspecies of Leiurus quinquestriatus but recently it was elevated to the rank of a species. It is currently known from Israel, but it may live in other countries in the Middle East. Other species of the genus Leiurus are also often referred to as "deathstalkers".

<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.

Reddyanus ceylonensis is a species of scorpion in the family Buthidae endemic to Sri Lanka.

Reddyanus jayarathnei is a species of scorpion in the family Buthidae endemic to Sri Lanka.

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

Androctonus kunti is a species of scorpion in the family Buthidae. It was described by Ersen Aydın Yağmur in 2023.

References

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