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Despite scorpion diversity has long been acknowledged, the mystery of how it develops remains unresolved. The geographical distribution, species abundance and biodiversity of scorpions fauna in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is poorly explored with many aspects like morphological, geographical, ecological and phylogenetically. As a result of faunaistic study on scorpions a total of 171 specimens from various regimes, Charsadda, Mardan, Peshawar and Kohat districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan from March 2018 to October 2018 were collected. GarminTM GPS V Plus device. The software Arc GIS 10.2 was used to create maps of the study areas. Pitfall traps were used to gather samples from sandy habitats and pastureland. Five species Hottentotta tamulus Fabricius, 1798, with (35%), Scorpiops pseudomontanus Kovarik and Ahmed, 2009, (26%), Orthochirus fuscipes Pocock, 1900, (15%), Hottentotta buchariensis Birula, 1897, (13%) and Deccanometrus latimanus Pocock, 1894, (11%) were detected in our proposed study. The research indicates that abundance and temperature have a favorable connection, while abundance and humidity get a negative correlation. The value of evenness shows the strong equilibrium between the effectiveness of sampling species, and the Shannon's index suggests that the Pakistani region has a high level of scorpion variety.

Apesar de a diversidade de escorpiões ser reconhecida há muito tempo, permanece sem solução o mistério de como eles se desenvolvem. A distribuição geográfica, a abundância de espécies e a biodiversidade da fauna de escorpiões em Khyber Pakhtunkhwa são pouco exploradas quanto a aspectos morfológicos, geográficos, ecológicos e filogenéticos. Como resultado do estudo faunístico em escorpiões, foi coletado um total de 171 espécimes de vários regimes nos distritos de Charsadda, Mardan, Peshawar e Kohat, de Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Paquistão, de março de 2018 a outubro de 2018. Dispositivo GarminTM GPS V Plus. O software Arc GIS 10.2 foi utilizado para criar mapas das áreas de estudo. Armadilhas de queda foram usadas para coletar amostras de habitats arenosos e pastagens. Cinco espécies Hottentotta tamulus Fabricius, 1798 (35%), Scorpiops pseudomontanus Kovarik and Ahmed, 2009 (26%), Orthochirus fuscipes Pocock, 1900 (15%), Hottentotta buchariensis Birula, 1897 (13%) e Deccanometrus latimanus Pocock, 1894 (11%) foram detectados em nosso estudo proposto. A pesquisa indica que abundância e temperatura têm uma relação favorável, enquanto abundância e umidade têm uma correlação negativa. O valor da uniformidade mostra o forte equilíbrio na eficácia da amostragem de espécies, e o índice de Shannon sugere que a região paquistanesa tem um alto nível de variedade de escorpiões.

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A synopsis on the historical, geographical and ecological aspects related to the most conspicuous scorpion species of the genus Tityus known from Brazil is proposed. Tityus serrulatus Lutz & Mello, 1922 was described precisely one century ago, nevertheless many questions related to its ecological adaptations and geographical expansion remain without a precise response. This species, well known for its infamous reputation of noxious species, is also known for its capacity to reproduce asexually, by parthenogenesis. Although the individuals of a given population are considered clones, a new hypothesis could suggest the occurrence of mutations within isolated individuals, leading to distinct subpopulations that could present better phenotypic performances in ecological habitats distinct from those of the original area of distribution of the species.(AU)

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Some additional comments are proposed on the historical aspects of the subfamily Ananterinae (sensu Pocock 1900). The worldwide pattern of distribution of the elements associated with this subfamily is briefly discussed. The biogeographic patterns presented by extant and fossil elements of this subfamily confirm not only the characteristics of a group presenting a typical Gondwanian distribution, but may also correspond to older Pangaean patterns. One unexpected new species is described for the genus Ananteris Thorell from the State of Goiás in Central Brazil, Ananteris martensi sp. n., suggesting that the diversity levels of the Cerrados formations are most certainly higher than what is normally admitted.

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Scorpionism is a relevant medical condition in Brazil. It is responsible for most accidents involving venomous animals in the country, which leads to severe symptoms that can evolve to death. In recent years, an increase of almost 50% in the incidence of scorpionism has been observed in the Northern Region, where the highest severity of envenoming has been notified since the beginning of the 21st century. This review aims to provide an in-depth assessment of public data and reports on symptoms and epidemiology of envenoming, ecological aspects of scorpions, and characterization of venoms and toxins to access the gaps that need to be filled in the knowledge of the scorpion species of medical importance from the Brazilian Amazon. A systematic search using the string words "Amazon" and "scorpion" was performed on 11 databases. No restriction on date, language or status of the publication was applied. Reports not related to the Brazilian Amazon were excluded. Therefore, 88 studies remained. It is shown that populations of scorpions of medical importance, even of the same species, may present significant toxic variations peculiar to some regions in the Brazilian Amazon, and commercial scorpion antivenoms were not able to shorten the intensity and duration of neurological manifestations in patients stung by T. silvestris, T. apiacas or T. obscurus. It is also highlighted that the toxins responsible for triggering these alterations have not been elucidated yet and this is a fruitful field for the development of more efficient antivenoms. Furthermore, the geographic distribution of scorpions of the genus Tityus in the Brazilian Amazon was revised and updated. The cumulative and detailed information provided in this review may help physicians and scientists interested in scorpionism in the Brazilian Amazon.(AU)

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Scorpionism is a relevant medical condition in Brazil. It is responsible for most accidents involving venomous animals in the country, which leads to severe symptoms that can evolve to death. In recent years, an increase of almost 50% in the incidence of scorpionism has been observed in the Northern Region, where the highest severity of envenoming has been notified since the beginning of the 21st century. This review aims to provide an in-depth assessment of public data and reports on symptoms and epidemiology of envenoming, ecological aspects of scorpions, and characterization of venoms and toxins to access the gaps that need to be filled in the knowledge of the scorpion species of medical importance from the Brazilian Amazon. A systematic search using the string words "Amazon" and "scorpion" was performed on 11 databases. No restriction on date, language or status of the publication was applied. Reports not related to the Brazilian Amazon were excluded. Therefore, 88 studies remained. It is shown that populations of scorpions of medical importance, even of the same species, may present significant toxic variations peculiar to some regions in the Brazilian Amazon, and commercial scorpion antivenoms were not able to shorten the intensity and duration of neurological manifestations in patients stung by T. silvestris, T. apiacas or T. obscurus. It is also highlighted that the toxins responsible for triggering these alterations have not been elucidated yet and this is a fruitful field for the development of more efficient antivenoms. Furthermore, the geographic distribution of scorpions of the genus Tityus in the Brazilian Amazon was revised and updated. The cumulative and detailed information provided in this review may help physicians and scientists interested in scorpionism in the Brazilian Amazon.(AU)

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Aunque Brasil tiene una de las diversidades de escorpiones más altas del mundo, la fauna de escorpiones de la región amazónica sigue siendo relativamente poco descrita. En este estudio, actualizamos la lista de especies de escorpiones para el estado de Acre, en el suroeste de la Amazonía brasileña, en base a una revisión de los registros contenidos en colecciones de arácnidos brasileños y un estudio de la literatura relevante. Registramos la ocurrencia de siete especies de escorpiones pertenecientes a dos familias (Buthidae y Chactidae), entre las cuales informamos tres nuevos registros (Ananteris sp., Tityus (Tityus) gasci y Chactopsis cf. insignis) para Acre. Los resultados presentados aquí hacen una contribución importante al conocimiento acerca de la diversidad de escorpiones en los bosques amazónicos de Acre.(AU)

Although Brazil has one of the highest scorpion diversities worldwide, the scorpion fauna of the Amazon region remains relatively poorly described. In this study, we updated the list of scorpion species from the state of Acre, in the southwestern Brazilian Amazon, based on a revision of records contained in Brazilian arachnid collections and a survey of the relevant literature. We recorded the occurrence of seven scorpion species belonging to two families (Buthidae and Chactidae) among which we report three new records (Ananteris sp., Tityus (Tityus) gasci, and Chactopsis cf. insignis) for Acre. The results presented herein make an important contribution to the knowledge on scorpion diversity in the Amazonian forests of Acre.(AU)

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Scorpions are a mesodiverse and nocturnal group of arachnids inhabiting most biomes worldwide. Different species of scorpions have divergent adaptations to the substrate they live in, but most of them share an intriguing characteristic: their exoskeleton contains fluorophores that emit blue-greenish fluorescence under ultraviolet radiation. Although there are some reports in the literature on the study of fluorescence in scorpions, the biological functionality of this light emission is currently unknown and is under debate. In this work, the properties of emission from the scorpion's exoskeleton are studied by means of digitally processed photographs taken of living specimens under ultraviolet illumination and complemented with standard spectroscopic measurements of emission and excitation spectra. With the aim of identifying possible correlations between the fluorescence, the characteristics color of the exoskeleton and the biology of the scorpions, 4 families, 9 genera and 24 species were studied. Our results suggest that the intensity of fluorescence is heterogeneous throughout the scorpion's exoskeleton studied here in such a way that pedipalps and metasomal segments fluoresce more intensely than the mesosomal segments. The spectrum of fluorescence across species is practically identical, suggesting that the same fluorophores are present in their exoskeletons. However, the fluorescence intensity emitted by each species varies according to their characteristic color (associated with the exoskeleton optical reflectance). Since the coloration of the exoskeleton is determined by the concentration of melanin and other pigments according to the substrate where scorpions live in, we conclude by suggesting that fluorescence may correlate directly to the ecomorphotype of the scorpions.

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The aim of this contribution is to bring some precise information on the reasons why the number of noxious scorpion species is constantly growing. This fact is directly associated with the zoological research on the domains generally defined as systematics and taxonomy. The classification of any zoological group is in most cases a source of problem for most biologists not directly involved with this almost confidential aspect of the zoological research. Much information has been gathered and published over two centuries on the classification but it is remains poorly accessible and too technical for non-experts. The exposed example could be taken from several groups of scorpions possessing infamous species, but the choice went to the genus Leiurus Ehrenberg, 1828 distributed from North Africa to the Middle East. Maybe this contribution will help to explain why so numerous cases of species misidentification are regularly present in the general literature devoted to scorpion venoms and incidents.(AU)

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This reports a case of scorpionism caused by Tityus serrulatus. A male adult was stung while unloading bananas at the supply center in Belém, Pará, Brazil. The bananas originated in another state (Bahia) and were brought to Belém by truck. The patient presented with pain, edema, and erythema at the sting site, and was classified as low-risk. The specimen was identified as T. serrulatus and symptomatic treatment and clinical observation were advised. The patient was discharged later without further complications. This is the first known envenomation caused by T. serrulatus, a non-native species to Pará, in the Brazilian Amazon.

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Scorpions of the Neotropical genus Tityus are responsible for most severe envenomations in the Caribbean, South America, and Lower Central America (LCA). Although Tityus is taxonomically complex, contains high toxin polymorphism, and produces variable clinical manifestations, treatment is limited to antivenoms produced against species with restricted distributions. In this study, we explored the compositional and antigenic diversity of Tityus venoms to provide improved guidelines for the use of available antivenoms at a broader geographic scale. We used immunoblotting, competitive ELISA, and in vivo studies to compare reactivity against commercial antivenoms from Brazil, Venezuela, and Mexico, as well as MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, cDNA sequencing, and phylogenetic analyses to assess venom sodium channel-active toxin (NaTx) content from medically important Tityus populations inhabiting Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela. Additionally, we raised rabbit antibodies against Tityus venoms from LCA to test for cross-reactivity with congeneric species. The results suggest that Tityus spp. possess high venom antigenic diversity, underlying the existence of four toxinological regions in Tropical America, based on venom composition and immunochemical criteria: LCA/Colombia/Amazonia (Region I), Venezuela (Region II), southeast South America (Region III), and a fourth region encompassing species related to toxinologically divergent Tityus cerroazul. Importantly, our molecular and cross-reactivity results highlight the need for new antivenoms against species inhabiting Region I, where scorpions may produce venoms that are not significantly reactive against available antivenoms.

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