Leiurus quinquestriatus (Ehrenberg, 1829)

Siyam, Manal, Dunlop, Jason A., Kovarik, Frantisek & Mohammad, Abubakr, 2023, Additions to the distribution of Sudanese scorpions, Zoosystematics and Evolution 99 (1), pp. 45-53 : 45

Leiurus quinquestriatus (Ehrenberg, 1829)

Figure 2d

Material examined.

1♀; SNHMK 2.316, The Republic of Sudan, River Nile State, Shendi (16°40'15.6"N, 33°26'59.6"E, 363 m a.s.l), leg. J.W. C., 26.12.1927, det. J.W. C . 1♂ 1♀; ZMB 49463, ZMB 49462 , Northern State, Ambucol (21°18'15.6"N, 30°53'13.9"E, 182 m a.s.l), 26.10.2012, leg. A. Mohammad, det. A. Mohammad. 1♂ 1♀; ZMB 50601 , Northern State, Bayood Desert , (19°32'42.9"N, 30°30'47.9"E, 224 m a.s.l), 03.09.2012, leg. A. Mohamed, det. A. Mohammad. 1♂; ZMB 49466 , Northern State, Merawi (18°30'06.7"N, 31°48'15.3"E, 279 m a.s.l), 25.08.2005, leg. A. Mohamed, det. A. Mohammad. Northern State , 1♂ 1♀; SNHMK 2.548, El Madeqeen - Sa'ad Finti , (20°20'18.96"N, 30°33'38.23"E, 789 m a.s.l), 15.03.2021, leg. H. Marzoug, det. M. Siyam. 1♀; ZMB 49467 , White Nile State, Ab-Dareesh (14°59'31.9"N, 32°26'49.8"E, 384 m a.s.l), 11.05.2012, leg. A. Mohammad. det. A. Mohammad. 2♀; SNHMK 2. 346, North Darfur State, Kuma District, Hajar Elsari (13°57'04.0"N, 26°01'39.0"E, 745 m a.s.l), 30.07.2012. leg. (unknown), det. M. Siyam. 1♀; SNHMK 2. 302, Northern State, Kerma (19°38'27.0"N, 30°35'01.0"E, 223 m a.s.l), 09.10.2016, leg. O. Abubakr, det. M. Siyam. 1♂ 1♀; ZMB 49461, ZMB 49460 , Northern State, Wadi El-Ga’ab, (19°27'47.5"N, 30°15'23.3"E, 219 m a.s.l), 15.09.2019, leg. I, Al-Khidir, det. M. Siyam. 1♀; SNHMK 2.303, River Nile State, El-Mosawarat (16°16'08"N, 33°16'36"E, 424 m a.s.l), leg. I. Al-Khidir, 06.12.2018., det. M. Siyam. 2♀; SNHMK 2.360, River Nile State, Mugrat Island (19°30'00.0"N, 33°15'00.0"E, 317 m a.s.l), leg. O. Khalil, 03.02.2018. det. M. Siyam , 1♀; ZMB 49465 , River Nile State, El-Manaseer, Birti (16°16'08.0"N, 33°16'36.0"E, 424 m a.s.l) leg. M. Bakhit, 07.08.2019. det. M. Bakhit. 2 (juv); ZMB 49422 , Kassala State, Khashm El-Gerba - Muraba'a village - Berno Wadi (14°16'45.8"N, 35°52'36.1"E, 502 m a.s.l), leg. M. Siyam and O. Khalil, 14- 19.02.2019, det. M. Siyam and F. Kovařík.

Description.

Male / female total body length (9-13 cm). General coloration yellow to brownish yellow, depending on region. Prosoma yellowish brown, with brownish granulated carinae. Mesosoma brown, tergites granulated all over (I-VI darker than VII). Metasoma yellow, except segment V which is dark brown; tip of telson black. Legs pale yellow. Pedipalps long and yellow; manus normal. Pectines with 28 teeth in females and 36-37 teeth in males.

Remarks.

Leiurus quinquestriatus is a widely distributed species both in Sudan and northern Africa through into the Middle East. It is typically found in poor savanna areas or mountains, usually under stones or shrubs. This species is highly toxic and aggressive and is known to cause fatalities, especially among children ( Ali and Ali 2015). Our present material documented above represents four new state records (Kassala, River Nile, White Nile and North Darfour State) and thirteen new locality records for this species.

Genus Orthochirus Karsch, 1892

Figures

Figure 2. Habitus photographs of several Sudanese scorpion species, all in the family Buthidae, for which we can offer new distribution data here. a. Androctonus amoreuxi (Audouin, 1826); b. Buthacus leptochelys (Ehrenberg, 1829); c. Compsobuthus werneri (Birula, 1908); d. Leiurus quinquestriatus (Ehrenberg, 1829); e. Orthochirus olivaceus (Karsch, 1881); f. Parabuthus abyssinicus (Pocock, 1901). Of these, A. amoreuxi, L. quinquestriatus and P. abyssinicus have a potent venom and are regarded as medically significant.