family
Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
of
scorpion
Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always end ...
s, containing about 100
genera
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...
and 1339
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
as of 2022. A few very large genera (''
Ananteris
''Ananteris'' is a little-known genus of rare scorpions. It contains 84 species found in South America. Species include:
*'' Ananteris balzanii'' Thorell, 1891
*'' Ananteris dacostai'' Ythier, Chevalier & Lourenço, 2020
*'' Ananteris pydanieli'' ...
'', ''
Centruroides
''Centruroides'' is a genus of scorpions of the family Buthidae. Several North American species are known by the common vernacular name bark scorpion. Numerous species are extensively found throughout the southern United States, Mexico, Centra ...
'', ''
Compsobuthus
''Compsobuthus'' is a genus of buthid scorpions.
Species
''Compsobuthus'' contains many species, including:
*'' Compsobuthus abyssinicus'' (Birula, 1903)
*'' Compsobuthus acutecarinatus'' (Simon, 1882)
*'' Compsobuthus afghanus'' Kovarik & Ahm ...
'', or '' Tityus'') are known, but a high number of species-poor or
monotypic
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...
ones also exist. New
taxa
In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...
are being described at a rate of several new species per year. They have a osmopolitandistribution throughout tropical and subtropical environments worldwide. Together with four other families, the Buthidae make up the
superfamily
SUPERFAMILY is a database and search platform of structural and functional annotation for all proteins and genomes. It classifies amino acid sequences into known structural domains, especially into SCOP superfamilies. Domains are functional, str ...
Buthoidea
Buthoidea is the largest superfamily of scorpions. Its members are known as fat-tailed scorpions and bark scorpions. A few very large genera (''Ananteris'', ''Centruroides'', '' Compsobuthus'', or '' Tityus'') are known, but a high number of spec ...
. The family was established by
Carl Ludwig Koch
Carl Ludwig Koch (21 September 1778 – 23 August 1857) was a German entomologist and arachnologist. He was responsible for classifying a great number of spiders, including the Brazilian whiteknee tarantula and common house spider. He was bo ...
in 1837.
Around 20 species of medically important (meaning potentially lethal to humans) scorpions are known, and all but one of these (''
Hemiscorpius lepturus
''Hemiscorpius lepturus'' is a species of scorpion in the family Hemiscorpiidae. It is found in deserts of the Middle East, especially in southern Iraq and Iran. These scorpions have long, thin tails and wide bodies and grow to 8 cm in males and ...
'') are members of the Buthidae. In dead specimens, the spine beneath the stinger, characteristic for this family, can be observed.
List of genera and number of species
The following genera are recognised in the family Buthidae:
* '' Aegaeobuthus'' Kovarik, 2019 (4 sp)
* '' Afroisometrus'' Kovarik, 1997 (1 sp)
* ''
Afrolychas
''Afrolychas'' is a genus of scorpion in the family Buthidae. There are two species in this genus, both of which used to belong to the genus ''Lychas''. The genus was described in 2019 by František Kovařík. The genus name ''Afrolychas'' is a r ...
Ananteris
''Ananteris'' is a little-known genus of rare scorpions. It contains 84 species found in South America. Species include:
*'' Ananteris balzanii'' Thorell, 1891
*'' Ananteris dacostai'' Ythier, Chevalier & Lourenço, 2020
*'' Ananteris pydanieli'' ...
Androctonus
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.Hendrixson, B. E. 2006. Buthid scorpions of Saudi Arabia, with notes ...
Apistobuthus
''Apistobuthus'' is a genus of scorpions in the family Buthidae. It was described by Susan Finnegan in 1932, and was for a long time considered to be monotypic, containing the single species '' A. pterygocercus''. In 1998, a second species, ...
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...
,
Burmese amber
Burmese amber, also known as Burmite or Kachin amber, is amber from the Hukawng Valley in northern Myanmar. The amber is dated to around 100 million years ago, during the latest Albian to earliest Cenomanian ages of the mid-Cretaceous period. The ...
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 ...
'' Leach, 1815 (65 sp)
* ''
Centruroides
''Centruroides'' is a genus of scorpions of the family Buthidae. Several North American species are known by the common vernacular name bark scorpion. Numerous species are extensively found throughout the southern United States, Mexico, Centra ...
'' Marx, 1890 (93 sp)
* ''
Charmus
Charmus of Kolyttus ( mid-6th century BCE) was an Athenian polemarch (557/6) during the Pisistratid dynasty, and also ''eromenos'' of Pisistratus.Plutarch''Life of Solon'' 1.4/ref>
He is known for being the father of Hipparchus of the deme Cholar ...
Hottentotta
''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, I ...
Isometrus
''Isometrus'' is a genus of scorpion belonging and being eponymous to the family Buthidae. Some species are currently assigned to the genus ''Reddyanus''.
Distribution
The species of this genus are found in south and southeast Asia and in Oceani ...
Leiurus
''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 ...
Lychas
''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.
Des ...
Mesobuthus
''Mesobuthus'' is an Asian genus of scorpions in the family Buthidae
The Buthidae are the largest family of scorpions, containing about 100 genera and 1339 species as of 2022. A few very large genera (''Ananteris'', ''Centruroides'', '' Comps ...
Parabuthus
''Parabuthus'', commonly known as the thick-tailed scorpion, is a genus of large and highly venomous Afrotropical scorpions, that show a preference for areas of low rainfall. Their stings are medically important and human fatalities have been re ...
Eocene
The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene' ...
,
Green River Formation
The Green River Formation is an Eocene geologic formation that records the sedimentation in a group of intermountain lakes in three basins along the present-day Green River in Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah. The sediments are deposited in very fine ...
Few Buthidae scorpions are among the larger scorpions; on average the members of this family are mid-sized tending towards smallish. '' Microtityus'' and '' Microbuthus'' barely reach 2 cm (0.8 in). The largest members are found among ''Androctonus'' (
fattail scorpion
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.Hendrixson, B. E. 2006. Buthid scorpions of Saudi Arabia, with notes ...
s), ''
Apistobuthus
''Apistobuthus'' is a genus of scorpions in the family Buthidae. It was described by Susan Finnegan in 1932, and was for a long time considered to be monotypic, containing the single species '' A. pterygocercus''. In 1998, a second species, ...
'', ''
Centruroides
''Centruroides'' is a genus of scorpions of the family Buthidae. Several North American species are known by the common vernacular name bark scorpion. Numerous species are extensively found throughout the southern United States, Mexico, Centra ...
'', and ''
Parabuthus
''Parabuthus'', commonly known as the thick-tailed scorpion, is a genus of large and highly venomous Afrotropical scorpions, that show a preference for areas of low rainfall. Their stings are medically important and human fatalities have been re ...
''; and can reach 12 cm (about 5 in). Most of them have between two and five pairs of eyes. Some resemble the
Vaejovidae
Vaejovidae is a family of scorpion
Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic for ...
. The
Chaerilidae
Chaerilidae is a family of scorpions. It contains two genera, the extant ''Chaerilus'' (Simon, 1877) and the extinct ''Electrochaerilus'' (Santiago-Blay, Fet, Soleglad & Anderson, 2004).
References
External links
*
Scorpion familie ...
and
Chactidae
The Chactidae are a family of scorpions established by Reginald Innes Pocock in 1893. They make up the Taxonomic rank, superfamily Chactoidea.
Genera
Chactidae contains the following genera:
*''Anuroctonus'' Pocock, 1893
*''Auyantepuia'' (Gonz ...
have one pair of eyes at most, and the former show a yellowish spot between and to the rear of these.
Their vernacular name refers to the thick tails found in many Buthidae, especially in the
Old World
The "Old World" is a term for Afro-Eurasia that originated in Europe , after Europeans became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia, which were previously thought of by the ...
. The
pedipalp
Pedipalps (commonly shortened to palps or palpi) are the second pair of appendages of chelicerates – a group of arthropods including spiders, scorpions, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. The pedipalps are lateral to the chelicerae ("jaws") and ...
s, though, tend to be weak, slender, and
tweezer
Tweezers are small hand tools used for grasping objects too small to be easily handled with the human fingers. Tweezers are thumb-driven forceps most likely derived from tongs used to grab or hold hot objects since the dawn of recorded history. ...
-like. The Buthidae are generally rather cryptically colored, quite uniformly ochre to brown, but some are black or (like ''Centruroides'' and '' Uroplectes'') more vividly colored. More conspicuous patterns and shapes occur, e.g., in ''
Isometrus
''Isometrus'' is a genus of scorpion belonging and being eponymous to the family Buthidae. Some species are currently assigned to the genus ''Reddyanus''.
Distribution
The species of this genus are found in south and southeast Asia and in Oceani ...
'' or ''
Lychas
''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.
Des ...
''.
Toxicity and relationship with humans
Scorpions from the genera ''
Androctonus
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.Hendrixson, B. E. 2006. Buthid scorpions of Saudi Arabia, with notes ...
'', ''
Centruroides
''Centruroides'' is a genus of scorpions of the family Buthidae. Several North American species are known by the common vernacular name bark scorpion. Numerous species are extensively found throughout the southern United States, Mexico, Centra ...
'', ''
Hottentotta
''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, I ...
'', ''
Leiurus
''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 ...
'', ''
Parabuthus
''Parabuthus'', commonly known as the thick-tailed scorpion, is a genus of large and highly venomous Afrotropical scorpions, that show a preference for areas of low rainfall. Their stings are medically important and human fatalities have been re ...
'', and '' Tityus'' are notorious for their strong venom. Human fatalities have been recorded from fewer than two dozen species; identification of a particular ''Tityus'' is likely problematic and detailed data on the venom exists only for a small fraction of the Buthidae (see
BmKAEP BmKAEP (or anti-epilepsy peptide) is a neurotoxin from the venom of the Manchurian scorpion ''(Mesobuthus martensii)''. It is a β-toxin, which shift the activation voltage of sodium channels towards more negative potentials.
Etymology
BmK is ...
from the venom of ''
Mesobuthus martensii
''Olivierus martensii'' is a species of scorpion in the family Buthidae. Its common names include Chinese scorpion, The venom of '' Rhopalurus junceus'' is used in Cuban traditional medicine and has been tested as a medication for cancer.
Mechanism of toxicity
Studied Buthidae toxins have been found to hyperpolarize nerves and slow inactivation, causing painful nerve firing that can last for hours. Many toxins trigger Na+ channels to open prematurely, causing excess sodium ion leakage that triggers nerve signal transduction. Rowe,A.H., Xiao, Y., Scales, J., Linse, K.D., Rowe, M.P., Cummins, T.R., Zakon, H.H. (2011): Isolation and Characterization of CvIV4: A Pain Inducing α- Scorpion Toxin Retrieved June July 20, 2020.
Other toxins have been found to bind K+ leak channels to prevent the flow of potassium ions, disallowing the hyperpolarized nerve membrane from depolarizing and returning to its resting state.
The Na+ channel toxins of both Old World and New World Buthids (from Africa/Asia and the Americas, respectively) have a similar protein homology and mechanism of action. It is speculated that toxins from these two groups are derived from the evolutionary ancestor before divergence 150 million years ago.