First aid guide to spider bites & scorpion stings in South Africa

I just got a copy of Jonathan Leeming's nice First aid guide to spider bites & scorpion stings. This is a small field guide informing about medical important spiders and scorpions in South Africa and what to do if you are bitten/stung.

Short and understandable information combined with nice color pictures make this guide an important tool for peoples living in or visiting South Africa.

The book can be purchased from Jonathan's Homepage.

Thanks to Jonathan for sending me the book!

A new Tityus from Martinique, Lesser Antilles

Wilson Lourenco has recently published a paper describing a new species of Tityus C. L. Koch, 1836 (Buthidae) from the island of Martinique (Lesser Antilles).

Tityus marechali Lourenco, 2013

Abstract:
Tityus marechali sp. n. is described from the island of Martinique, Lesser Antilles. It is tentatively placed in the subgenus Tityus s. str. pedning further studies on the intrageneric classification. The new species, described from two males and three females taken in a patch of secondary or pristine tropical forest in the region of Grande Anse, seems to be a local endemic.

Reference:
Lourenco WR. A new species of Tityus C. L. Koch, 1836 (Scorpiones: Buthidae) from the island of Martinique, Lesser Antilles. Arthropoda Selecta. 2013;22(3):227-31.

Thanks to professor Lourenco for sending me his paper!

Family Buthidae

Scorpionism in Iran

Previously this year two papers on scorpionism in Iran have been published. The most medical important species are Hemiscorpius lepturus (Peters, 1862) (Hemiscorpiidae) and Androctonus crassicauda (Oliver, 1807) (Buthidae), and serious cases of scorpion envenomation including deaths are reported.

Abstract:
Paper 1:
Background: Scorpion sting is a major health problem in Iran. The aim of current study was to measure the incidence rates of scorpion stings, mortality, recovery, and affected age groups. The results of treatment with and without anti venom also were considered in the entire country during 2009.
Methods: All the data were collected from emergency section of different hospitals and then were analyzed by related software. The responsibility of such data collection and surveillance is related to the Department of Violence and Injury, Ministry of Health and Medical Education of Iran.
Results: A total incidence of 59.5/100000 was found for the 12-month period. During the study period the most and the least cases were reported from Khuzestan and Mazandaran Provinces with incidence of 541 and 0 per 100000 respectively. Totally 40220 anti venom vials were used, i.e., the ratio of 91 vial/ 100 affected cases. The stings occur mainly in rural areas (57.7%). Young people with the age group of 15–24 years old were the most victims of stings. The mortality and recovery rates of cases who had received anti venom less than 6 h of stings were calculated as 0.01% and 99.9% respectively.
Conclusion: The high incidence of scorpion stings in Iran especially in Khuzestan suggests the necessity of preventive programmes for decreasing the incidence. Such programmes could start by community educating in the high prevalent areas. In addition prompt and local treatment is particularly important for infants and pre-school children.

Paper 2:
Scorpionism is a major health problem in Khuzestan, included Ramhormoz, south-west of Iran. This descriptive retrospective survey was conducted to give us basic information about scorpionism in this city during 2006-2010. During 2006-2010, a total of 20902 scorpion-stung patients referred to the Rmhormoz health centers. The frequencies of entomo epidemiological and medical parameters were recorded converted to the percentage rank. The results of this study showed that the preventing ways of scorpion stings should be educated among the residents and antivenin of scorpions provided in the health centers of Ramhormoz.

References:
Paper 1:
Rafizadeh S, Rafinejad J, Rassi Y. Epidemiology of Scorpionism in Iran during 2009. Journal of arthropod-borne diseases. 2013;7(1):66-70. [Subscription required for full text]

Paper 2:
Karami K, Vazirianzadeh B, Mashhadi E, Hossienzadeh M, Moravvej SA. A five year epidemiologic study on scorpion stings in Ramhormoz, South-West of Iran. Pakistan Journal of Zoology. 2013;45(2):469-74.

First record of a cave species of Euscorpiops from Viet Nam

Wilson Lourenco and Dinh-Sac Pham have recently published the findings of a cave dwelling species of Euscorpiops Vachon, 1980 (Euscorpiidae) in the Hua Ma cave in Viet Nam.

Euscorpiops cavernicola Lourenco & Pham, 2013

This is the first species in Euscorpiidae that seems to be adapted to a cave habitat, but the new species doesn't show major signs of a full adaption to cave life.

Abstract:
Euscorpiops cavernicola sp. n., belonging to the family Euscorpiidae Laurie, is described on the basis of two male and two female specimens collected in the Hua Ma cave located in the Quang Khe commune, Ba Be district of Bac Kan province in Viet Nam. The new species presents most features exhibited by scorpions within the genus Euscorpiops, however it may represent the first discovered Scorpiopinae species exhibiting certain adaptations to cave life.

Reference:
Lourenço WR, Pham DS. First record of a cave species of Euscorpiops Vachon from Viet Nam (Scorpiones, Euscorpiidae, Scorpiopinae). Comptes Rendus - Biologies. 2013;In Press. [Subscription required for full text]

Family Euscorpiidae

The history of scorpion antivenom in North America

Leslie Boyer has written a very interesting article on the history of scorpion antivenom. The paper's main focus is North America, but main globale events in the history of scorpion antivenom and treatment are also presented.

Abstract:
This paper was originally presented as the Elsevier Lecture in July, 2012 at the International Society on Toxinology/Venom Week combined meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii. In it, the author addresses the ancient history of venom and immunity, from the Silurian Era to the 1890s; the development of the first antivenoms; the impact of shifting political and economic pressures; the special case of Arizona; the relative stability of the 1960s through 1990s; the transition to regulatory compliance that took place at the time of the author’s own research; and concluding thoughts regarding the instability of apparent success.

Reference:
Boyer L. History of scorpion antivenom: One Arizonan's view. Toxicon. 2013;69:14-20. [Subscription required for full text]

Tityus tenuicauda in Venezuela: Taxonomy, distribution and a synonymization

Pablo Cornejo-Escobar and co-workers have recently published a paper on the taxonomical- and distributional status of Tityus tenuicauda Prendini, 2001 (Buthidae) in Venezuela.

In the paper, Tityus irapaensis Gonzalez-Sponga, 2002 is synonymized with T. tenuicauda.

Abstract:
Tityus tenuicauda was originally described as a scorpion species endemic to the Caribbean Sea island of Trinidad. We extend the distribution range of T. tenuicauda westward until Las Melenas, a location in the western side of Paria Peninsula National Park, Sucre State, northeastern Venezuela. In addition, we determined that T. irapaensis González-Sponga, 2002, is a junior synonym of T. tenuicauda. The assessment of 56 adult individuals of T. tenuicauda from Venezuela demonstrated that this species is an arboreal dweller that frequently inhabits peridomicile areas. To provide a molecular counterpoint to our taxonomical assessment, we have characterized the nucleotide sequence (and its encoded protein primary structure) of a gene segment encoding subunit 1 of the enzyme cytochrome oxidase (COI), amplified from T. tenuicauda mitocondrial DNA. Comparison with the equivalent CO1 regions from congeneric Venezuelan species revealed that T. tenuicauda is significantly more related to the also northeastern species, T. arellanoparrai González-Sponga, 1985 and confirms its divergence from the northcentral species, T. discrepans Karsch, 1879, and the western species T. zulianus González-Sponga, 1981.

Reference:
Cornejo-Escobar P, Borges A, Bonoli S, Vasquez-Suarez A, Gregorian T, De Sousa L. Tityus tenuicauda Prendini, 2001 (Scorpiones, Buthidae) en Venezuela. Notas taxonomicas con sinonimia, distribución e historia natural. Saber. 2013;25(1):57-72. [Free full text]

Family Buthidae

More knowledge about the scorpion fauna of Madagascar

Madagascar is a hotspot when it comes to scorpion biodiversity and professor Wilson Lourenco is the leading expert on the blooming scorpion fauna of this island. In a recent paper, professor Lourenco and Steven Goodman have summed up the knowledge about the scorpion fauna of the Loky-Manambato (Daraina) region of Madagascar.

Abstract:
An overview is presented of the scorpion fauna of the Loky-Manambato (Daraina) region of northeastern Madagascar. Different scorpion taxa have been recently described from this area, belonging to four families, five genera and five species (with four microendemics). The preliminary results make the Loky-Manambato region one of the areas of the island with the highest level of diversity and endemism. Information is presented on the characters used to differentiate these species, including an identification key, and aspects of their ecology. Even given the remarkable level of habitat heterogeneity across the Loky-Manambato region, for the majority of locally occurring taxa there does not seem to be a close correlation between different aspects of soil composition and organic material relative to their distribution.

Reference:
Lourenco WR, Goodman SM. A synopsis of the scorpion fauna of the Loky-Manambato (Daraina) region in Madagascar. Revista Iberica de Arachnologia. 2013 (22):47-58.

Thanks to professor Lourenco for sending me his paper!