A new species of Leiurus from Libya

 

Heat waves all over Europe these days (even here in the middle of Norway), but hopefully we will not have populations of the medical important genus Leiurus Ehrenberg, 1828 (Buthidae) in Europe in the near future. But they do exist in Africa, and this week Ersen Yagmur and his co-workers published a new species from the Fezzan Province in Libya.

Leiurus fezzanensis Yagmur, Aboshaala & Kovarik, 2025

Abstract
Leiurus fezzanensis sp. n. is described from the Fezzan Province, Libya. Detailed illustrations and a map showing the distributions of all Leiurus species in Africa are given. Leiurus fezzanensis differs from granulations of carapace, trichobothrial pattern on fixed finger, granulation of fifth segment of metasoma and pectinal tooth count. Since L. libycusBirula, 1908 was recently excluded from the scorpion fauna of Libya, L. fezzanensis is currently the only Leiurus species known from the country.

Reference:
Yagmur EA, Aboshaala F, Kovarik F. Leiurus fezzanensis sp. n. from Fezzan Province, Libya (Scorpiones: Buthidae). Journal of Natural History. 2025;59(29-32):2035–49. [Subscription required for full text]

Thanks to Ersen for sending me their new paper!

Family Buthidae

A new species of Androctonus from Libya

 

Wilson Lourenco and Hisham El-Hennawy have recently described a new species of Androctonus Ehrenberg, 1828 (Buthidae) from the Tibesti Massif in Libya.

Androctonus tibesti Lourenco & El-Hennaway, 2022

The biogeography of the region is also discussed.

Abstract:
A further new species of scorpion belonging to the genus Androctonus Ehrenberg, 1828 (Family Buthidae C.L. Koch, 1837), is described on the basis of one male specimen collected in the NE range of the Tibesti Mountains in Libya. This is the first record of the genus Androctonus for the Tibesti Massif and the new species most certainly corresponds to an endemic element to this mountain range. As in previous studied cases, these Saharan Massifs prove to be very important endemic centres within the Sahara desert.

Reference:
Lourenco WR, El-Hennawy HK. A new species of Androctonus Ehrenberg, 1828 from the North East portion of the Tibesti Massif in Libya (Scorpiones: Buthidae). Serket. 2022;18(4):428-40. [Open Access]

Thanks to Hisham El-Hennawy for informing me about their article!

Family Buthidae

Redescription and new information about the little known scorpion Buthiscus bicalcaratus from Northern Africa

 

Faraj Aboshaala and co-workers have recently published an article with a redescription and updated information about the little known scorpion Buthiscus bicalcaratus Birula, 1905 (Buthidae) based on new materials from Libya.

Abstract:
The monotypic genus Buthiscus was described by Birula (1905) with the species Buthiscus bicalcaratus from the Sahara Desert of southern Tunisia. Until now, huge gaps exist in the knowledge of this species which is classified as endemic to North Africa. This paper aims to enrich the existing knowledge on this poorly known species with redescribing specimens of both sexes collected from Libya using widely illustrated redescription, in light of modern standards ruling the taxonomy of scorpions.

Reference:
Aboshaala F, Yağmur EA, Sadine SE, Ghaliow M, Badry A. On the poorly known species Buthiscus bicalcaratus Birula, 1905 (Scorpiones: Buthidae). Serket. 2022;18(3):263-73.

Thanks to Ersen Yagmur for sending me this article!

A revision of the genus Buthacus from the Middle East with several taxonomical changes

 

The Sand Scorpions, also known as the genus Buthacus Birula, 1908 (Buthidae) are widespread in in the sandy deserts of the Palearctic, from West Africa to India. No modern revision has been done for this sand-loving genus.

Shlomo Cain and co-workers have now published a systematic revision of the Buthacus species of the Levant (the Middle East including Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and the Sinai Peninsula (Egypt)). 

Here are the taxonomical highlights:

New species:

Buthacus amitaii Caine, Gefen & Prendini, 2021 (Israel)

Buthacus arava Caine, Gefen & Prendini, 2021 (Israel and Jordan)

Buthacus levyi Caine, Gefen & Prendini, 2021 (Egypt, Israel and maybe Libya)

New species status/re-validations:

Buthacus armasi Lourenço, 2013 (Southern Algeria)

Buthacus spatzi (Birula, 1911) (Southern Tunisia and western Libya)

Buthacus fuscata Pallary, 1929 (Southern Algeria)

Buthacus nitzani Levy et al., 1973 (Israel and probably also in the Sinai Peninsula (Egypt))

Buthacus tadmorensis (Simon, 1892) (Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Syria, and Turkey)*

Buthacus yotvatensis Levy et al., 1973 (Israel and Jordan)

*) B. tadmorensis was listed as a valid species in The Scorpion Files before this article. It seems that the 2005 synonymization was missed by me.

Synonymizations:

Buthacus macrocentrus (Ehrenberg, 1828) synonymized with Buthacus leptochelys (Ehrenberg, 1829)

See abstract and article for more results and details.

The article has an updated identification key for the genus.

Abstract:
Scorpions of the genus Buthacus Birula, 1908 (Buthidae C.L. Koch, 1837), commonly known as “sand scorpions,” are widespread in the sandy deserts of the Palearctic, from West Africa to India. Although many new species of Buthacus were described in recent years, no modern revision exists for the genus and the limits of many infrageneric taxa remain unclear. The present contribution addresses the species of Buthacus recorded from the Levant, defined here as the region of the Middle East including Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and the Sinai Peninsula (Egypt). Prior to this study, five species and subspecies, including several synonyms, were recognized from the region. Based on extensive new collections, a reassessment of the morphology (including multivariate statistical analysis), and a phylogenetic analysis of morphological and DNA sequence data, published elsewhere, seven species of Buthacus are now recognized from the Levant, raising the number of species in the genus to 30. Three new species are described: Buthacus amitaii, sp. nov., endemic to Israel; Buthacus arava, sp. nov., endemic to Israel and Jordan; and Buthacus levyi, sp. nov., endemic to Egypt, Israel, and perhaps Libya. Buthacus arenicola (Simon, 1885) is redescribed and restricted to northeastern Algeria and central Tunisia, and Buthacus leptochelys (Ehrenberg, 1829) redescribed and restricted to Egypt, Sudan, and perhaps Libya. Buthacus armasi Lourenço, 2013, stat. rev., from southern Algeria, and Buthacus spatzi (Birula, 1911), stat. rev., from southern Tunisia and western Libya, are revalidated, and Buthacus fuscata Pallary, 1929, stat. nov. et stat. rev., from southern Algeria, revalidated and elevated to the rank of species. Buthacus nitzani Levy et al., 1973, stat. nov., currently restricted to Israel but probably present in the Sinai Peninsula (Egypt), is elevated to the rank of species. Buthacus tadmorensis (Simon, 1892), stat. rev., recorded from Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Syria, and Turkey, and Buthacus yotvatensis Levy et al., 1973, stat. rev., endemic to Israel and Jordan, are redescribed and revalidated. Three new synonyms are presented: Androctonus (Leiurus) macrocentrus Ehrenberg, 1828 = Buthacus leptochelys (Ehrenberg, 1829), syn. nov.; Buthus pietschmanni Penther, 1912 = Buthacus tadmorensis (Simon, 1892), syn. nov.; Buthacus granosus Borelli, 1929 = Buthacus leptochelys (Ehrenberg, 1829), syn. nov. Buthacus arenicola and the seven species of Buthacus occurring in the Levant are diagnosed and illustrated to modern standards, with updated distribution maps. A list of the currently recognized species of Buthacus, and a key to identification of the species occurring in the Levant are also presented.

Reference:
Cain S, Gefen E, Prendini L. Systematic Revision of the Sand Scorpions, Genus Buthacus Birula, 1908 (Buthidae C.L. Koch, 1837) of the Levant, with Redescription of Buthacus arenicola (Simon, 1885) from Algeria and Tunisia. Bulletin of The American Museum of Natural History. 2021(450):1-134. [Open access]

Family Buthidae

A new species in the rare genus Cicileus from Libya

The desert Sahara in North Africa hosts a lot of scorpions species. Among these are a few genera with limited distributions, representing endemic elements in the region. The rare genus Cicileus Vachon, 1948 (Buthidae) is one of them. Wilson Lourenco and Andrea Rossi have now discovered the third species in the genus from Libya.

Cicileus latellai Lourenco & Rossi, 2015

The biogeography of the genus is also discussed.

Abstract:
New considerations are proposed on the enigmatic genus Cicileus Vachon, 1948 (Scorpiones, Buthidae) and a new species Cicileus latellai sp. .n. is described from Libya based on one female and one male, collected respectively from Wadi Teshuinat and Tin Alkoum (Jabal Akakus), both in the Fezzan Province. The genus Cicileus was previously only known by two species, Cicileus exilis (Pallary, 1928) from Djanet in Algeria, and cicileus cloudsleythompsoni Lourenco, 1999 from Niger. At present, the number of species is raised to three and the distribution of the genus enlarged to Algeria, Niger and Libya.

Reference:
Lourenco WR, Rossi A. New considerations on the genus Cicileus Vachon, 1948 (Scorpiones: Buthidae) and descritpion of a new species from Libya. Arachnida - Rivista Aracnologica Italiana. 2015;1(1):22-37.

Thanks to Andrea Rossi for sending me this article!

Family Buthidae

A new Buthus species from Libya

Buthus lourencoi Rossi, Tropea & Yagmur, 2013 is a new species from Libya presented in the journal Euscorpius.

Andrea Rossi and co-workers have described a new species of Buthus Leach, 1815 (Buthidae) from Libya.

Buthus lourencoi Rossi, Tropea & Yagmur, 2013

There is an identification key for the genus Buthus for part of North Africa in the paper.

Abstract:
Although Libya covers a very  wide territory in northern Africa, only two species of the genus  Buthus  have been  recorded from this country:  B. tunetanus  (Herbst, 1800) and  B. barcaeus  Birula, 1909. In the present study, a third  species,  Buthus lourencoi  sp. n., closely related to  Buthus egyptiensis  Lourenço et Cloudsley-Thompson 2012, is  described from west Libya, around the area of Tripoli. An identification key for the scorpions of the genus  Buthus (Leach, 1815) that occur in Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt is provided.

Reference:
Rossi A, Tropea G, Yagmur EA. A New Species of Buthus Leach, 1815 from Libya (Scorpiones: Buthidae). Euscorpius. 2013 (167):1-10. [Free full text]

Thanks to Gioele Tropea for sending me the paper!

Family Buthidae

Several African Scorpio subspecies given species status

Scorpio maurus Linnaeus, 1758 (Scorpionidae) has for a long time been considered a very widespread and highly polymorphic species with 19 subspecies. Wilson Lourenco has now studied the African subspecies and raised several subspecies to species rank. One new species is also described from Cameroon:

S. birulai Fet, 1997 New status
S. fuliginosus (Pallary, 1928) New status
S. hesperus Birula, 1910* New status
S. mogadorensis Birula, 1910 New status
S. occidentalis Werner, 1936 New status
S. punicus Fet, 2000 New status
S. savanicola Lourenço, 2009 New species
S. weidholzi Werner, 1929 New status

Previous status for the taxa can be found in the Scorpion Files Scorpionidae updates.

Abstract:
For almost a century, Scorpio maurus L., 1758 (Scorpiones, Scorpionidae) has been considered to be no more than a widespread and presumably highly polymorphic species. Past classifications by Birula and Vachon have restricted the status of different populations to subspecific level. In the present paper, and in the light of new evidence, several African populations are now raised to the rank of species. One of these, Scorpio occidentalis Werner, 1936, is redescribed and a neotype proposed to stabilise the taxonomy of the group. A new species is also described from the savannah areas of Cameroon. This is the second to be recorded from regions outside the Sahara desert zone.

Reference:
Lourenco WR. Reanalysis of the genus Scorpio Linnaeus 1758 in sub-Saharan Africa and description of one new species from Cameroon (Scorpiones, Scorpionidae). Entomol Mitt Zool Mus Hamburg. 2009;15(181):99-113.

Thanks to professor Lourenco for sending me the paper!

Family Scorpionidae