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Buthacus

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Buthacus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
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

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

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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

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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]

General characteristics

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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

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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

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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

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  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. [1]
  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. [2]
  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.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. ^ a b Chua Kian-Wee. 1997-2000. Relative toxicity of scorpions [Last accessed: 11MAR2010]
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Images of Buthacus leptochelys and Buthacus sp.. Exotics.nl