''Buthacus'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

scorpion Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the Order (biology), order Scorpiones. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by a pair of Chela (organ), grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward cur ...

of 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'', '' Compsobuthus'', or '' Tityus'') are known, but a high number of species-poor ...

. It is distributed across northern and western

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

, the

Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

, and

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

Taxonomy

The genus was introduced in 1908 by A.A. Birula, originally as a

subgenus In biology, a subgenus ( 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 the ge ...

of the genus '' Buthus''.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 Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

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 need taxonomic revision: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 bicolor'' Afifeh, Al-Saraireh, Baker 2022 * '' 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) (Also Known As "Egyptian green scorpion ") * '' 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 habitus with long walking legs and a slender

metasoma The metasoma is the posterior part of the body, or tagma (biology), 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 sy ...

;

pedipalp Pedipalps (commonly shortened to palps or palpi) are the secondary pair of forward appendages among Chelicerata, chelicerates – a group of arthropods including spiders, scorpions, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. The pedipalps are lateral to ...

chelae A chela ()also called a claw, nipper, or pinceris a pincer-shaped organ at the end of certain limbs of some arthropods. The name comes from Ancient Greek , through Neo-Latin '. The plural form is chelae. Legs bearing a chela are called chelipeds ...

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 Humans (''Homo sapiens'') or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus ''Homo''. They are Hominidae, great apes characterized by their Prehistory of nakedness and clothing ...

.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 Aridity is the condition of geographical regions which make up approximately 43% of total global available land area, characterized by low annual precipitation, increased temperatures, and limited water availability.Perez-Aguilar, L. Y., Plata ...

, rocky and sandy

desert A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the la ...

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

s, some in

semi-arid A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a aridity, dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below Evapotranspiration#Potential evapotranspiration, potential evapotranspiration, but not as l ...

steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without closed forests except near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the tropical and subtropica ...

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
{{Authority control Buthidae Scorpions of Africa