''Buthacus'' is a
genus of
scorpion of the family
Buthidae. It is distributed across northern and western
Africa,
Israel,
Palestine
__NOTOC__
Palestine may refer to:
* State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia
* Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia
* Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
,
Jordan,
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
, the
Arabian Peninsula
The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate ...
,
Iraq,
Iran,
Afghanistan, and
Pakistan.
Taxonomy
The genus was introduced in 1908 by
A.A. Birula, originally as a
subgenus
In biology, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus.
In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between t ...
of the genus ''
Buthus
''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, Somali ...
''.
[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.] It was elevated to genus rank by
M. Vachon in 1949.
[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.]
Diversity
Species of ''Buthacus'' are very similar to each other and have been considered
subspecies
In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
in some examples.
[Vachon, M. 1952. ''Etudes sur les Scorpions.'' 482 pp. Alger (Institut Pasteur d’Algérie]
Fulltext
/ref>[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]
/ref> At least 22 species are known, some of them are disputed:[Rein, J.O. 2010. The Scorpion Files]
ast accessed: 11MAR2010/ref>[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]
/ref>
* '' Buthacus arenicola'' (Simon, 1885)
* '' Buthacus birulai'' Lourenço, 2006
* ''Buthacus buettikeri
''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.
Taxonomy
The genus was ...
'' Hendrixson, 2006
* ''Buthacus calviceps
''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.
Taxonomy
The genus was ...
'' (Pocock, 1900)
* ''Buthacus clevai
''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.
Taxonomy
The genus was ...
'' Lourenço, 2001
* ''Buthacus ehrenbergi
''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.
Taxonomy
The genus was ...
'' Kovařík, 2005
* ''Buthacus foleyi
''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.
Taxonomy
The genus was ...
'' Vachon, 1949
* ''Buthacus huberi
''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.
Taxonomy
The genus was ...
'' Lourenço, 2001
* ''Buthacus leptochelys
''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.
Taxonomy
The genus was ...
'' (Ehrenberg, 1829) (Also Known As "Egyptian green scorpion ")
* ''Buthacus macrocentrus
''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.
Taxonomy
The genus was ...
'' (Ehrenberg, 1828)
* ''Buthacus mahraouii
''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.
Taxonomy
The genus was ...
'' Lourenço, 2004
* ''Buthacus maliensis
''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.
Taxonomy
The genus was ...
'' Lourenço & Qi, 2007
* ''Buthacus nigerianus
''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.
Taxonomy
The genus was ...
'' Lourenço & Qi, 2006
* ''Buthacus nigroaculeatus
''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.
Taxonomy
The genus was ...
'' 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
A chela ()also called a claw, nipper, or pinceris a pincer (biology), pincer-like organ at the end of certain limbs of some arthropods. The name comes from Ancient Greek , through New Latin '. The plural form is chelae. Legs bearing a chela are ...
very gracile and elongate. Cephalothorax
The cephalothorax, also called prosoma in some groups, is a tagma of various arthropods, comprising the head and the thorax fused together, as distinct from the abdomen behind. (The terms ''prosoma'' and ''opisthosoma'' are equivalent to ''cepha ...
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.[Kleber, J.J., Wagner, P., Felgenhauer, N., Kunze, M. & Zilker, T. 1999. Vergiftung durch Skorpionsstiche. Deutsches Ärzteblatt, 96(25): A1710-A1715. ]
Habitat
Most species live in arid, rocky and sandy desert
A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...
habitats, some in semi-arid steppe
In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes.
Steppe biomes may include:
* the montane grasslands and shrublands biome
* the temperate grasslands, ...
environments. As most other scorpions they shelter from daylight in rock crevices or burrows.
References
External links
Images of ''Buthacus leptochelys'' and ''Buthacus'' sp.
Exotics.nl
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2928832
Buthidae
Scorpions of Africa