Buthacus

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.

Buthacus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Subphylum:
Chelicerata
Class:
Arachnida
Order:
Scorpiones
Family:
Buthidae
Genus:
Buthacus

Birula, 1908
Type species
Androctonus (Leiurus) leptochelys
Ehrenberg, 1829
Diversity
About 22 species

Taxonomy

The genus was introduced in 1908 by A.A. Birula, originally as a subgenus of the genus Buthus.[1] It was elevated to genus rank by M. Vachon in 1949.[2]

Diversity

Species of Buthacus are very similar to each other and have been considered subspecies in some examples.[3][4] At least 22 species are known, some of them are disputed:[5][6]

  • Buthacus arenicola (Simon, 1885)
  • Buthacus birulai Lourenço, 2006
  • Buthacus buettikeri Hendrixson, 2006
  • Buthacus calviceps (Pocock, 1900)
  • Buthacus clevai Lourenço, 2001
  • Buthacus ehrenbergi Kovařík, 2005
  • Buthacus foleyi Vachon, 1949
  • Buthacus huberi Lourenço, 2001
  • Buthacus leptochelys (Ehrenberg, 1829) (Also Known As "Egyptian green scorpion ")
  • Buthacus macrocentrus (Ehrenberg, 1828)
  • Buthacus mahraouii Lourenço, 2004
  • Buthacus maliensis Lourenço & Qi, 2007
  • Buthacus nigerianus Lourenço & Qi, 2006
  • Buthacus nigroaculeatus Levy, Amitai & Shulov, 1973
  • Buthacus occidentalis Lourenço, 2000
  • Buthacus pakistanensis Lourenço & Qi, 2006
  • Buthacus spatzi (Birula, 1911)
  • Buthacus striffleri Lourenço, 2004
  • Buthacus villiersi Vachon, 1949
  • Buthacus williamsi Lourenço & Leguin, 2009
  • Buthacus ziegleri Lourenço, 2000

General characteristics

Small to moderately sized scorpions (40–75 mm). Most species are yellow, some are brownish, yellow-grayish or yellow-greenish colored. They show a rather slim habitus with long walking legs and a slender metasoma; pedipalp chelae very gracile and elongate. Cephalothorax smooth or with very weak carinae.

Toxicity

As in other buthids the venom in at least some species of Buthacus is relatively potent and can be of medical importance to humans.[7]

Relative toxicity in species of Buthacus
Species Median lethal dose (LD50 [mg/kg]mice)
B. arenicola 0.99 - 3.50 [8]
B. leptochelys 0.77 - 5.62 [8]

Habitat

Most species live in arid, rocky and sandy desert habitats, some in semi-arid steppe environments. As most other scorpions they shelter from daylight in rock crevices or burrows.

References
  1. Birula, A. A. 1908. Ergebnisse der mit Subvention aus der Erbschaft Treitl unternommenen zoologischen Forschungsreise Dr. F. Werner’s nach dem Anglo-Aegyptischen Sudan und Nord-Uganda. XIV. Skorpiones und Solifugae. Sitzungsberichte der kaiserlich-königlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien, 117(1): 121-152.
  2. Vachon, M. 1949. Etudes sur les Scorpions. III (suite). Description des Scorpions du Nord de l’Afrique. Archives de l’Institut Pasteur d’Algérie, 27(1): 66-100.
  3. Vachon, M. 1952. Etudes sur les Scorpions. 482 pp. Alger (Institut Pasteur d’Algérie).Fulltext
  4. Lourenço, W.R. 2004. New considerations on the Northwestern African species of Buthacus Birula (Scorpiones, Buthidae), and description of a new species. Revista Ibérica de Aracnología, 10: 225-231.
  5. Rein, J.O. 2010. The Scorpion Files [Last accessed: 11MAR2010]
  6. Kovařík, F. 2005. Taxonomic position of species of the genus Buthacus Birula, 1908 described by Ehrenberg and Lourenço, and description of a new species (Scorpiones: Buthidae). Euscorpius, 28: 1-13.
  7. Kleber, J.J., Wagner, P., Felgenhauer, N., Kunze, M. & Zilker, T. 1999. Vergiftung durch Skorpionsstiche. Deutsches Ärzteblatt, 96(25): A1710-A1715. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-01-12. Retrieved 2010-04-07.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. Chua Kian-Wee. 1997-2000. Relative toxicity of scorpions [Last accessed: 11MAR2010]

Images of Buthacus leptochelys and Buthacus sp.. Exotics.nl

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