''Pandinus'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of large scorpions belonging to the family

Scorpionidae The Scorpionidae (burrowing scorpions or pale-legged scorpions) make up the Taxonomic rank, superfamily Scorpionoidea. The family was established by Pierre André Latreille, 1802. Genera Scorpionidae contains the following genera: * ''Aops'' V ...

. It contains one of the most popular pet scorpions, the emperor scorpion (''P. imperator''). The genus is distributed across

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Taxonomy

The genus was introduced in 1876 by

Tamerlan Thorell Tord Tamerlan Teodor Thorell (3 May 1830 – 22 December 1901) was a Sweden, Swedish arachnologist. Thorell studied spiders with Giacomo Doria at the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale de Genoa. He corresponded with other arachnologists, such as Oc ...

. Subsequent research subdivided the genus into five

subgenera 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 ...

. In 2015 all five subgenera were raised to genus level.

Diversity

Currently, 4 species are recognized within this genus: *''

Pandinus gambiensis ''Pandinus'' is a genus of large scorpions belonging to the family Scorpionidae. It contains one of the most popular pet scorpions, the emperor scorpion (''P. imperator''). The genus is distributed across tropical Africa. Taxonomy The genus wa ...

'' Pocock, 1899 *''

Pandinus imperator The emperor scorpion, ''Pandinus imperator'', is a species of scorpion native to rainforests and savannas in West Africa. It is one of the largest scorpions in the world and lives for 6–8 years. Its body is black, but like other scorpions it ...

'' (C. L. Koch, 1841) *'' Pandinus ugandaensis'' Kovarik, 2011 *''

Pandinus ulderigoi ''Pandinus'' is a genus of large scorpions belonging to the family Scorpionidae. It contains one of the most popular pet scorpions, the emperor scorpion (''P. imperator''). The genus is distributed across tropical Africa. Taxonomy The genus wa ...

'' Rossi, 2014

General characteristics

Members of ''Pandinus'' are generally large scorpions (about 120–200 mm total length), which are dark to black colored, sometimes with paler

metasoma The metasoma is the posterior part of the body, or tagma, of arthropods whose body is composed of three parts, the other two being the prosoma and the mesosoma. In insects, it contains most of the digestive tract, respiratory system, and circula ...

and legs. The pedipalp pincers are massive, while the metasoma is proportionally thin with a small vesicle and stinger (aculeus). They possess a

stridulatory organ Stridulation is the act of producing sound by rubbing together certain body parts. This behavior is mostly associated with insects, but other animals are known to do this as well, such as a number of species of fish, snakes and spiders. The mech ...

, composed of a rough area on the first segment (coxa) of the pedipalps and a 'scraper' made of bristles on the first segment of their first pair of walking legs. Scraping these bristles on the rough zone produces a scratching sound. Genera of the subfamily Scorpioninae are extremely similar to each other and ''Pandinus'' is especially close to the

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

n genus ''

Heterometrus ''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, in ...

''. They differ mainly in details of the stridulatory organ and sensory bristles (

trichobothria Trichobothria (singular trichobothrium) are elongate setae ("hairs") present in arachnids, various orders of insects, and myriapods that function in the detection of airborne vibrations and currents, and electrical charge. In 1883, Friedrich Dahl ...

Toxicity

As in other Scorpionidae, the venom of ''Pandinus'' species is rather mild, and human fatalities are unknown.

Symptoms Signs and symptoms are the observed or detectable signs, and experienced symptoms of an disease, illness, injury, or condition. A sign for example may be a higher or lower temperature than normal, raised or lowered blood pressure or an abnormali ...

are mostly restricted to local pain, described similar to those of a

bee Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyly, monophyletic lineage within the ...

sting. At least ''P. imperator'' rarely stings at all, and often prefers to use its massive pincers for prey capture and even for defense. The defensive behavior of the other species is not yet studied in detail.

Habitat

Most species live in

humid Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present. Humidity depen ...

low-land regions. They occur in rain forest, gallery forest near rivers and other woodlands aside of

savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the Canopy (forest), canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to rea ...

habitats. Arabian species also occur in semiarid climates. Soft, loamy soils seem to be preferred by most species, but ecology is only well known for the forest-living ''P. imperator''.

Conservational status

Two species of ''Pandinus'' (''P. imperator'', and ''P. gambiensis'') are the only scorpions listed by the

CITES CITES (shorter name for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of interna ...

Appendix II since 1995, due to

overexploitation Overexploitation, also called overharvesting, refers to harvesting a renewable resource to the point of diminishing returns. Continued overexploitation can lead to the destruction of the resource, as it will be unable to replenish. The term app ...

for pet trade from the wild. CITES

export quota Non-tariff barriers to trade (NTBs; also called non-tariff measures, NTMs) are trade barriers that restrict imports or exports of goods or services through mechanisms other than the simple imposition of tariffs. The Southern African Development C ...

s have been issued for ''P. imperator'' by several countries in West Africa (including

Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesChad Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...

). The CITES listing has been conceptually criticized for protecting two species, of which only one (''P. imperator'') is frequently exported for international pet trade. Even in countries with effective quotas, the origin of traded specimens either from farms or from the wild is hardly traceable. Beside of overharvesting, the species are most endangered by habitat destruction due to

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated d ...

. Traded specimens are sometimes labelled ''"Pandinus africanus"''. This name is an invalid

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

for ''P. imperator'' and apparently used to avoid CITES regulations for this species. However, other - unlisted - species were also traded under this name.

In captivity

The large size, its docile and

gregarious behaviour Sociality is the degree to which individuals in an animal population tend to associate in social groups (gregariousness) and form cooperative societies. Sociality is a survival response to evolutionary pressures. For example, when a mother wasp ...

, partly diurnal activity and mild venom make ''P. imperator'' the most popular pet scorpion. After listing of the species in CITES, commercial scorpion farms have been established in several West African countries.

References

External links

* Images of ''Pandinus'' ''imperator''
Exotics.nl
{{Taxonbar, from=Q292181 Scorpionidae Scorpion genera Scorpions of Africa