Buthacus
Encyclopedia
Buthacus is a genus
of scorpion belonging to the family Buthidae
. It is distributed across northern and western Africa
, Israel
, Syria
, the Arabian Peninsula
, Iraq
, Iran
, Afghanistan
, and Pakistan
.
of the genus Buthus. It was elevated to genus rank by M. Vachon in 1949.
in some examples. At least 22 species are known, some of them are disputed:
with long walking legs and a slender metasoma
; pedipalp
chelae very gracile and elongate. Cephalothorax
smooth or with very weak carinae.
the venom in at least some species of Buthacus is relatively potent and can be of medical importance to humans.
, rocky and sandy desert
habitat
s, some in semi-arid
steppe
environments. As most other scorpions they shelter from daylight in rock crevices or burrows.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of scorpion belonging to the family Buthidae
Buthidae
Buthidae is the largest family of scorpions, containing about 80 genera and over 800 species as of mid-2008. Its members are known as, for example, thick-tailed scorpions and bark scorpions. There are a few very large genera , but also a high number of species-poor or monotypic ones...
. It is distributed across northern and western Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, the Arabian Peninsula
Arabian Peninsula
The Arabian Peninsula is a land mass situated north-east of Africa. Also known as Arabia or the Arabian subcontinent, it is the world's largest peninsula and covers 3,237,500 km2...
, Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, and Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
.
Taxonomy
The genus was introduced in 1908 by A.A. Birula, originally as a subgenusSubgenus
In biology, a subgenus is a taxonomic rank directly below genus.In zoology, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between the generic name and the specific epithet: e.g. the Tiger Cowry of the Indo-Pacific, Cypraea tigris Linnaeus, which...
of the genus Buthus. It was elevated to genus rank by M. Vachon in 1949.
Diversity
Species of Buthacus are very similar to each other and have been considered subspeciesSubspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
in some examples. At least 22 species are known, some of them are disputed:
- 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)
- 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 habitusMorphology (biology)
In biology, morphology is a branch of bioscience dealing with the study of the form and structure of organisms and their specific structural features....
with long walking legs and a slender metasoma
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 circulatory system, and the apical segments are typically...
; pedipalp
Pedipalp
Pedipalps , are the second pair of appendages of the prosoma in the subphylum Chelicerata. They are traditionally thought to be homologous with mandibles in Crustacea and insects, although more recent studies Pedipalps (commonly shortened to palps or palpi), are the second pair of appendages of the...
chelae very gracile and elongate. Cephalothorax
Cephalothorax
The cephalothorax is a tagma of various arthropods, comprising the head and the thorax fused together, as distinct from the abdomen behind. The word cephalothorax is derived from the Greek words for head and thorax...
smooth or with very weak carinae.
Toxicity
As in other buthidsButhidae
Buthidae is the largest family of scorpions, containing about 80 genera and over 800 species as of mid-2008. Its members are known as, for example, thick-tailed scorpions and bark scorpions. There are a few very large genera , but also a high number of species-poor or monotypic ones...
the venom in at least some species of Buthacus is relatively potent and can be of medical importance to humans.
| Species | Median lethal dose (LD50 [mg/kg]mice) |
|---|---|
| B. arenicola | 0.99 - 3.50 |
| B. leptochelys | 0.77 - 5.62 |
Habitat
Most species live in aridArid
A region is said to be arid when it is characterized by a severe lack of available water, to the extent of hindering or even preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life...
, rocky and sandy desert
Desert
A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...
habitat
Habitat
* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...
s, some in semi-arid
Semi-arid
A semi-arid climate or steppe climate describes climatic regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not extremely...
steppe
Steppe
In physical geography, steppe is an ecoregion, in the montane grasslands and shrublands and temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biomes, characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes...
environments. As most other scorpions they shelter from daylight in rock crevices or burrows.