Fauna of scorpions (Arachnida: Scorpiones) of Dezful County, Southwest of Iran

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 General Department of Environmental Protection of Khuzestan, Ahvaz, Iran

2 The headquarters of the police force of Dezful city, Dezful, Iran

3 Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding, Agricultural Research Institute, Research Institute of Zabol, Zabol, Iran

Abstract

Twenty-three species of scorpion is reported from Khuzestan Province belonging to 13 genera and three families. Considering the importance of scorpions for medical science and distribution of scorpions with dangerous venom in the south of Iran, the scorpion fauna of Dezful County in the north of Khuzestan Province and southwest of Iran was investigated. The scorpions of this area were monitored during 2019 to 2023 with UV light at night and rock rolling during the day. Totally nine species belonging to seven genera and three families were identified. Androctonus crassicauda and Scorpio maurus townsendi were the most abundant and Orthochirus gantenbeini had the lowest frequency. Dark-colored specimens of Androctonus are known as A. crassicauda in all regions of Iran and neighboring countries. Considering that the type specimen of Compsobuthus matthiesseni was described from Qom Province, there is a need for molecular investigation of the populations of this species. Hottentotta saulcyi is complex species and need to detailed study. Populations of H. zagrosensis need to morphological and molecular studies. The morphological and molecular study of Mesobuthus members is showed that only M. crucittii is distributed in Khuzestan Province. Morphological study of members of Orthochirus indicated that O. gantenbeini and O. mesopotamicus, are distributed in the northern part of Khuzestan Province. Due to the lethality of venom of Hemiscorpius lepturus for humans, it is necessary to study the range of distribution of this species. A wide and detailed study is needed to determine the status of different populations of Scorpio in Iran. Hottentotta juliae and Odontobuthus bidentatus, which were previously reported from Dezful County, were not found in this research

Keywords

Main Subjects

Biodiversity and Animal Taxonomy

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 20 February 2023

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History

  • Receive Date: 21 April 2022
  • Revise Date: 22 August 2022
  • Accept Date: 16 March 2023

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