Updated catalogue and taxonomic notes on the Old-World scorpion genus Buthus Leach, 1815 (Scorpiones, Buthidae)

French Scorpionism (Mainland and Oversea Territories): Narrative Review of Scorpion Species, Scorpion Venom, and Envenoming Management

Sixty-seven scorpion species have been described in France and its territories, where they have been found to be heterogeneously distributed. Indeed, only one species can be found on Réunion Island, while 38 species exist in French Guiana. The number of stings is also heterogenous, with up to 90 stings per 100,000 inhabitants occurring annually. Scorpion species can frequently be determined through simple visual factors, including species of medical importance (i.e., Buthus, Centruroides and Tityus). Scorpion venom is composed of local enzymes and peptides with a cysteine-stabilized α/β motif (NaTxs, Ktxs, Calcines), which allow for venom diffusion and the prey's incapacitation, respectively. Harmful scorpion species are limited to Centruroides pococki in the French West Indies, which can induce severe envenoming, and the Tityus obscurus and Tityus silvestris in French Guiana, which can cause fatalities in children and can induce severe envenoming, respectively. Envenomation by one of these scorpions requires hospital monitoring as long as systemic symptoms persist. Typical management includes the use of a lidocaine patch, pain killers, and local antiseptic. In the case of heart failure, the use of dobutamine can improve survival, and pregnant women must consult an obstetrician because of the elevated risk of preterm birth or stillbirth. France does not have scorpion antivenom, as scorpion stings are generally not fatal.

Terrestrial venomous animals, the envenomings they cause, and treatment perspectives in the Middle East and North Africa

The Middle East and Northern Africa, collectively known as the MENA region, are inhabited by a plethora of venomous animals that cause up to 420,000 bites and stings each year. To understand the resultant health burden and the key variables affecting it, this review describes the epidemiology of snake, scorpion, and spider envenomings primarily based on heterogenous hospital data in the MENA region and the pathologies associated with their venoms. In addition, we discuss the venom composition and the key medically relevant toxins of these venomous animals, and, finally, the antivenoms that are currently in use to counteract them. Unlike Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, scorpion stings are significantly more common (approximately 350,000 cases/year) than snakebites (approximately 70,000 cases/year) and present the most significant contributor to the overall health burden of envenomings, with spider bites being negligible. However, this review also indicates that there is a substantial lack of high-quality envenoming data available for the MENA region, rendering many of these estimates speculative. Our understanding of the venoms and the toxins they contain is also incomplete, but already presents clear trends. For instance, the majority of snake venoms contain snake venom metalloproteinases, while sodium channel-binding toxins and potassium channel-binding toxins are the scorpion toxins that cause most health-related challenges. There also currently exist a plethora of antivenoms, yet only few are clinically validated, and their high cost and limited availability present a substantial health challenge. Yet, some of the insights presented in this review might help direct future research and policy efforts toward the appropriate prioritization of efforts and aid the development of future therapeutic solutions, such as next-generation antivenoms.

Relationship Between Scorpion Stings Events and Environmental Conditions in Mainland France

In the world, the impact of environmental conditions on the number of scorpion events was evaluated in North Africa,Middle East, and the Amazonian region but not in Europe. In mainland France, scorpion species described are Buthus occitanus (Amoreux, 1789), Belisarius xambeui (Simon, 1879) and 4 Euscorpiidae: Euscorpius concinnus (Koch, 1837), Euscorpius italicus (Herbst, 1800), Euscorpius tergestinus (Koch, 1837), and Tetratrichobothrius flavicaudis (De Geer, 1778). We aimed to describe the impact of environmental conduction on the number of scorpion events. For this, a retrospective multi-center study was conducted with data from the French poison control centers files about scorpion events between 1 January 2011 and 31 December 2020. During the study period, 975 incoming calls for scorpion events were recorded and 574 were related to scorpions native to mainland France and Corsica: B. occitanus (n = 86), Euscorpiidae species (n = 222), B. xambeui (n = 1), and undetermined species (n = 265). Cases were mostly reported along the Mediterranean coast, along rivers, and in cities with a trading port. The number of scorpion events was linked to the rivers' water level, rivers' flow, temperature, sunshine, and pluviometry (P < 0.05 for all variables). B. occitanus need warmest and driest environment than Euscorpiidae spp. A link between the severity of the envenoming and climatic condition or seasonality was not demonstrated.

Molecular biogeography of the Mediterranean Buthus species complex (Scorpiones: Buthidae) at its southern Palaearctic margin

Neogene orogenesis and climatic cycles strongly influenced inter- and intraspecific differentiation and variability of taxa. In this study, we focused on the southern margin of the western Palaearctic, known to be a geographically complex region. We performed mitochondrial DNA analyses of Buthus scorpions from the Moroccan Atlas Mountains, from the Hoggar Mountains in Algeria and from Tunisia, Iberia and Israel. Molecular species delimitation suggests the existence of ≥ 24 molecular operational taxonomic units. The data confirm complex differentiation patterns across the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, but structures in Iberia, Algeria and Tunisia have considerably lower complexity. This identifies the Atlas Mountain region as the most important differentiation centre of Buthus scorpions. Samples from the Hoggar Mountains (southern Algeria) cluster with those from the southernmost parts of Morocco in the middle and upper parts of the Draa Valley. This reinforces a recent connection of these regions. Samples from Israel are genetically similar to individuals from eastern Algeria and Tunisia. This suggests a widespread group across major parts of North Africa. Divergence time estimates indicate that differentiation in the genus began during the late Miocene, a period characterized by strong tectonic activities in this region. Further differentiation could be linked to subsequent climatic changes that have occurred since the end of the Miocene, with an increasing aridification of the Moroccan area. This also produced many microrefugia in the mountains of the area during the Pleistocene climatic fluctuations.

Phylogenetic and Morphological Analyses of Androctonus crassicuda from Khuzestan Province, Iran (Scorpiones: Buthidae)

The Androctonus crassicuda is the most diverse scorpion species in the family of Buthidae, which is endemic to Khuzestan province, Iran. Investigation of the relationship of species by means of a molecular study of specimens is one of the new approaches due to the limitations of the morphological approaches. In the current study, the analysis was based on 32 morphological characteristics of A. crassicuda native to southwest Iran. Moreover, the DNA sequencing of two mitochondrial markers, namely cytochrome oxidase subunit I and 12sRNA loci was performed, and the phylogenetic tree was constructed using maximum likelihood method with 1000 replications using MEGA software (version 7). Based on the results of the phylogenetic tree, A. crassicuda was classified into a monophyletic group. However, the genetic diversity of this species populations was not significant (0.001). The highest and lowest genetic distance of A. crassicuda was compared with the reports obtained in Urmia and west Azerbaijan, Iran. There was a clear divergence between the A. crassicuda isolated from northern and southern areas of Iran. This study showed the importance of geographical and climate features of the region and genetic distance among the populations. The phylogenetic analysis of Androctonus species from other regions showed the highest and lowest genetic distance with A. gonneti (Morocco) and A. amoreuxi (Portugal), respectively. The comparison of the morphological characteristics and morphometric results revealed that metasoma characteristics are important in the identification of A. crassicuda. The results of the analysis of the morphometric values of A. crassicuda were mainly compatible with the phylogenetic trees and supported the traditional morphological classification, thereby presenting a clearly definition of the genera of Androctonus species.

The evolution and distribution of noxious species of scorpions (Arachnida: Scorpiones)

This contribution attempts to bring some general information on the evolution and, in particular, on the geographic distribution of scorpion species noxious to humans. Since 95% of the scorpions incidents are generated by specimens of the family Buthidae C. L. Koch, the analysis will be limited to this familial group. As in previous similar contributions, the content of this work is mostly addressed to non-specialists whose research embraces scorpions in several fields such as venom toxins and public health. Only in recent years, efforts have been made to create better links between 'academic scorpion experts' and other academic non-specialists who use scorpions in their research. Even if a larger progress can yet be expected from such exchanges, crossed information proved to be useful in most fields of scorpion studies. Since the taxonomy of scorpions is complex, misidentifications and even more serious errors concerning scorpion classification/identification are often present in the general literature. Consequently, a precise knowledge of the distribution patterns presented by many scorpion groups and, in particular, those of infamous species, proves to be a key point in the interpretation of final results, leading to a better treatment of the problems caused by infamous scorpion species.