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Leiurus
	Leiurus quinquestriatus (Ehrenberg, 1828)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Scorpiones
Family:	Buthidae
Genus:	Leiurus; Ehrenberg, 1828
Type species
	Androctonus (Leiurus) quinquestriatus; Ehrenberg, 1828
Diversity
	About 20 species

Leiurus is a genus of scorpion of the family Buthidae. The most common species, L. quinquestriatus, is also known under the common name Deathstalker. It is distributed widely across North Africa and the Middle East, including the western and southern Arabian Peninsula and southeastern Turkey. At least one species occurs in West Africa (northern Cameroon).

Taxonomy

The genus was introduced in 1828 by C.G. Ehrenberg (in Hemprich & Ehrenberg 1828),^[1] originally as a subgenus of the genus Androctonus. It was finally elevated to genus rank by M. Vachon in 1949.^[2] The genus was long considered to be monotypic, containing a single species, L. quinquestriatus, but research since 2002 has shown that there are indeed several species.^[3]

Diversity

Currently twenty species are recognized within this genus.^[4]

Leiurus abdullahbayrami Yagmur, Koc & Kunt, 2009 ^[5]
Leiurus aegyptiacus Lourenço & El-Hennawy, 2021 ^[6]
Leiurus arabicus Lowe, Yagmur & Kovarik, 2014^[7]
Leiurus ater Lourenço, 2019
Leiurus brachycentrus Ehrenberg, 1829^[8]
Leiurus dekeyseri Lourenço, 2020 ^[9]
Leiurus gubanensis Kovarik & Lowe, 2020 ^[10]
Leiurus haenggii Lowe, Yagmur & Kovarik, 2014^[11]
Leiurus heberti Lowe, Yagmur & Kovarik, 2014^[12]
Leiurus hebraeus Lowe, Yagmur & Kovaric, 2014^[13]
Leiurus hoggarensis Lourenço, Kourim & Sadine, 2018 ^[14]
Leiurus kuwaiti Lourenço, 2020 ^[15]
Leiurus jordanensis Lourenço, Modry & Amr, 2002
Leiurus macroctenus Lowe, Yagmur & Kovarik, 2014^[16]
Leiurus maculatus Lourenço, 2022^[17]
Leiurus nigerianus Lourenço, 2021^[18]
Leiurus quinquestriatus (Ehrenberg, 1828) (type species)
Leiurus saharicus Lourenço, 2020^[19]
Leiurus savanicola Lourenço, Qi & Cloudsley-Thompson, 2006^[20]
Leiurus somalicus Lourenço, & Rossi, 2016
Leiurus hadb Al-Qahtni, Al-Salem, Alqahtani & Badry, 2023

General characteristics

Members of Leiurus are generally moderately sized scorpions that show a typical buthid habitus with gracile pedipalp chelae and a slender metasoma. The vesicle is bulbous and proportionally large in some species. The cephalothorax and mesosoma shows distinct granulation. Characteristically the tergites of the mesosoma bear five distinct, longitudinal carinae (ridges). The base color is generally yellow with brown to blackish areas extending over various parts of the animal, depending on species.^[21]

Toxicity

The venom of L. quinquestriatus is among the most potent scorpion toxins. It severely affects the cardiac and pulmonary systems. Human fatalities, often children, have been confirmed by clinical reports.^[22] The median lethal dose of venom (LD₅₀) for this species was measured at 0.16 - 0.50 mg/kg_mice.^[23]
The toxicity of the other species is also potentially high to life-threatening, but reliable data are currently not available.

Habitat

Most species live in semi-arid to arid regions, including the Sahara and Arabian deserts. At least one species occurs in savannah environment. Sparsely vegetated and sandy or rocky substrates are preferred. The scorpions live in shallow burrows in sand or beneath rocks.

In captivity

Members of the genus Leiurus are often bred in captivity and traded. Due to their extreme toxicity, keeping these species is strictly recommended to only very experienced and/or professionally trained people.

References

^ Hemprich, F.W.; C.G. Ehrenberg (1828). "Zoologica II. Arachnoidea. Plate I: Buthus; Plate II: Androctonus.". In Hemprich, F.W. & C.G. Ehrenberg (ed.). Symbolae Physicae seu Icones et Descriptiones Animalium evertebratorum seposites Insectae quae ex itinere per Africam borealem et Asiam occidentalem. Berlin.
^ Vachon, M. (1949). "Etude sur les Scorpions. III (suite). Description des Scorpions du Nord de l'Afrique". Archives de l'Institut Pasteur d'Algérie (in French). 27 (2): 134–169.
^ Lourenço, W.R., D. Modry & Z. Amr (2002). "Description of a new species of Leiurus Ehrenberg, 1828 (Scorpiones, Buthidae) from the South of Jordan". Revue suisse de Zoologie. 109 (3): 635–642. doi:10.5962/bhl.part.79613.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Rein, J. O. (2010). "Buthidae C. L. Koch, 1837" (PDF). The Scorpion Files. Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Universitet. Retrieved June 15, 2010.
^ Yağmur, E. A., Koç, H., & Kunt, K. B. 2009 . Description of a new species of Leiurus Ehrenberg, 1828 (Scorpiones: Buthidae) from Southеastеrn Turkey. Euscorpius, No. 85: 1-20.
^ Lourenco WR, El-Hennawy HK. New considerations on the Leiurus Ehrenberg (Scorpiones: Buthidae) distributed in Africa and description of a particular species from Egypt. Serket. 2021;17(4):325-34.
^ Lowe G, Yagmur EA, Kovarik F. A Review of the Genus Leiurus Ehrenberg, 1828 (Scorpiones: Buthidae) with Description of Four New Species from the Arabian Peninsula. Euscorpius. 2014 (191):1-129. PDF.
^ Lowe G, Yagmur EA, Kovarik F. A Review of the Genus Leiurus Ehrenberg, 1828 (Scorpiones: Buthidae) with Description of Four New Species from the Arabian Peninsula. Euscorpius. 2014 (191):1-129. PDF.
^ Lourenço W. R. (2020). Why does the number of dangerous species of scorpions increase? The particular case of the genus Leiurus Ehrenberg (Buthidae) in Africa. The journal of venomous animals and toxins including tropical diseases, 26, e20200041. https://doi.org/10.1590/1678-9199-JVATITD-2020-0041
^ Kovařík, F., & Lowe, G. 2020 . Scorpions of the Horn of Africa (Arachnida: Scorpiones). Part XXIV. Leiurus (Buthidae), with description of Leiurus gubanensis sp. n.. Euscorpius, No. 309: 1-19. [1]
^ Lowe G, Yagmur EA, Kovarik F. A Review of the Genus Leiurus Ehrenberg, 1828 (Scorpiones: Buthidae) with Description of Four New Species from the Arabian Peninsula. Euscorpius. 2014 (191):1-129. PDF.
^ Lowe G, Yagmur EA, Kovarik F. A Review of the Genus Leiurus Ehrenberg, 1828 (Scorpiones: Buthidae) with Description of Four New Species from the Arabian Peninsula. Euscorpius. 2014 (191):1-129. PDF.
^ Lowe G, Yagmur EA, Kovarik F. A Review of the Genus Leiurus Ehrenberg, 1828 (Scorpiones: Buthidae) with Description of Four New Species from the Arabian Peninsula. Euscorpius. 2014 (191):1-129. PDF.
^ Lourenço, Wilson & Kourim, Mohamed & Sadine, Salah. (2018). Scorpions from the region of Tamanrasset, Algeria. Part II. A new African species of the genus Leiurus Ehrenberg, 1828 (Scorpiones: Buthidae). Arachnida – Rivista Aracnologica Italiana. 16.
^ Lourenco WR. First record and description of a new species of Leiurus Ehrenberg from Kuwait (Scorpiones: Buthidae). Serket. 2020;17(2):143-9.
^ Lowe G, Yagmur EA, Kovarik F. A Review of the Genus Leiurus Ehrenberg, 1828 (Scorpiones: Buthidae) with Description of Four New Species from the Arabian Peninsula. Euscorpius. 2014 (191):1-129. PDF.
^ Lourenco WR. A new subgenus and species of Leiurus Ehrenberg, 1828 from Iraq (Scorpiones: Buthidae). Serket.18(4):421-7.
^ Lourenco WR. A new species of Leiurus Ehrenberg (Scorpiones: Buthidae) from Nigeria, with extension of the distribution range of the genus to the Southwestern portion of the African continent. Serket. 2021;18(1):1-10.
^ Lourenco WR. A remarkable new species of Leiurus Ehrenberg, 1828 from the north deserts of Mali (Scorpiones: Buthidae). Revista Iberica de Arachnologia. 2020(37):147-52.
^ Qi, J., Lourenço, W.R., & Cloudsley-Thompson, J. (2006). The African species of the genus "Leiurus Ehrenberg", 1828 (Scorpiones: Buthidae) with the description of a new species.
^ Lourenço, W.F., J.-X. Qi & J.L. Cloudsley-Thompson (2006). "The African species of the genus Leiurus Ehrenberg, 1828 (Scorpiones: Buthidae) with the description of a new species" (PDF). Boletín Sociedad Entomológica Aragonesa. 39: 97–101. Retrieved June 15, 2010.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Sofer, S.; M. Gueron (1988). "Respiratory failure in children following envenomation by the scorpion Leiurus quinquestriatus: hemodynamic and neurological aspects". Toxicon. 26 (10): 931–939. doi:10.1016/0041-0101(88)90258-9. PMID 3201482.
^ Chua Kian-Wee (1997–2000). "Relative toxicity of scorpions". Retrieved April 7, 2010.