Leiurus

The genus was introduced in 1828 by C.G. Ehrenberg (in Hemprich & Ehrenberg 1828),{{cite book |author1=Hemprich, F.W. |author2=C.G. Ehrenberg |year=1828 |chapter=Zoologica II. Arachnoidea. Plate I: Buthus; Plate II: Androctonus. |editor=Hemprich, F.W. & C.G. Ehrenberg |title=Symbolae Physicae seu Icones et Descriptiones Animalium evertebratorum seposites Insectae quae ex itinere per Africam borealem et Asiam occidentalem|location=Berlin}} originally as a subgenus of the genus Androctonus. It was finally elevated to genus rank by M. Vachon in 1949.{{cite journal |author=Vachon, M. |year=1949 |title=Etude sur les Scorpions. III (suite). Description des Scorpions du Nord de l'Afrique|language=French |journal=Archives de l'Institut Pasteur d'Algérie |volume=27 |issue=2 |pages=134–169}}

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.{{cite journal |author=Lourenço, W.R., D. Modry & Z. Amr |year=2002 |title=Description of a new species of Leiurus Ehrenberg, 1828 (Scorpiones, Buthidae) from the South of Jordan|journal=Revue suisse de Zoologie|volume=109 |issue=3 |pages=635–642|doi=10.5962/bhl.part.79613 |doi-access=free }}

Currently twenty species are recognized within this genus.{{cite web |url=https://www.ntnu.no/ub/scorpion-files/buthidae_updates.pdf |author=Rein, J. O. |year=2010 |title=Buthidae C. L. Koch, 1837 |work=The Scorpion Files |publisher=Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Universitet |access-date=June 15, 2010}}

• Leiurus abdullahbayrami Yagmur, Koc & Kunt, 2009 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.
• Leiurus aegyptiacus Lourenço & El-Hennawy, 2021 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.
• Leiurus arabicus Lowe, Yagmur & Kovarik, 2014Lowe 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. [http://www.science.marshall.edu/fet/euscorpius/p2014_191.pdf PDF].
• Leiurus ater Lourenço, 2019
• Leiurus brachycentrus Ehrenberg, 1829Lowe 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. [http://www.science.marshall.edu/fet/euscorpius/p2014_191.pdf PDF].
• Leiurus dekeyseri Lourenço, 2020 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
• Leiurus gubanensis Kovarik & Lowe, 2020 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. [https://mds.marshall.edu/euscorpius/vol2020/iss309/1/]
• Leiurus haenggii Lowe, Yagmur & Kovarik, 2014Lowe 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. [http://www.science.marshall.edu/fet/euscorpius/p2014_191.pdf PDF].
• Leiurus heberti Lowe, Yagmur & Kovarik, 2014Lowe 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. [http://www.science.marshall.edu/fet/euscorpius/p2014_191.pdf PDF].
• Leiurus hebraeus Lowe, Yagmur & Kovaric, 2014Lowe 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. [http://www.science.marshall.edu/fet/euscorpius/p2014_191.pdf PDF].
• Leiurus hoggarensis Lourenço, Kourim & Sadine, 2018 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.
• Leiurus kuwaiti Lourenço, 2020 Lourenco WR. First record and description of a new species of Leiurus Ehrenberg from Kuwait (Scorpiones: Buthidae). Serket. 2020;17(2):143-9.
• Leiurus jordanensis Lourenço, Modry & Amr, 2002
• Leiurus macroctenus Lowe, Yagmur & Kovarik, 2014Lowe 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. [http://www.science.marshall.edu/fet/euscorpius/p2014_191.pdf PDF].
• Leiurus maculatus Lourenço, 2022Lourenco WR. A new subgenus and species of Leiurus Ehrenberg, 1828 from Iraq (Scorpiones: Buthidae). Serket.18(4):421-7.
• Leiurus nigellus Abu Afifeh, Aloufi & Al-Saraireh 2023 Abu Afifeh, B., Aloufi, A., Al-Saraireh, M., Badry, A., Al-Qahtni, A.H. & Amr, Z.S. (2023) A new remarkable species of Leiurus Ehrenberg, 1828 from Saudi Arabia (Scorpiones: Buthidae).Ecologica Montenegrina, 69, 91–106. https://dx.doi.org/10.37828/em.2023.69.9.
• Leiurus nigerianus Lourenço, 2021Lourenco 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.
• Leiurus quinquestriatus (Ehrenberg, 1828) (type species)
• Leiurus saharicus Lourenço, 2020Lourenco 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.
• Leiurus savanicola Lourenço, Qi & Cloudsley-Thompson, 2006Qi, 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.
• Leiurus somalicus Lourenço, & Rossi, 2016
• Leiurus hadb Al-Qahtni, Al-Salem, Alqahtani & Badry, 2023

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.{{cite journal |author=Lourenço, W.F., J.-X. Qi & J.L. Cloudsley-Thompson |year=2006 |title=The African species of the genus Leiurus Ehrenberg, 1828 (Scorpiones: Buthidae) with the description of a new species |journal=Boletín Sociedad Entomológica Aragonesa |volume=39 | pages=97–101|url=http://s1.e-monsite.com/2009/01/02/5381590leiuruscameroon-pdf.pdf|access-date=June 15, 2010}}

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.{{cite journal |author1=Sofer, S. |author2=M. Gueron |year=1988 |title=Respiratory failure in children following envenomation by the scorpion Leiurus quinquestriatus: hemodynamic and neurological aspects|journal=Toxicon |volume=26 |issue=10 | pages=931–939|doi=10.1016/0041-0101(88)90258-9 |pmid=3201482}} The median lethal dose of venom (LD₅₀) for this species was measured at 0.16 - 0.50 mg/kg_mice.{{cite web |url=http://members.tripod.com/c_kianwee/rpotent.htm |author=Chua Kian-Wee |year=1997–2000 |title=Relative toxicity of scorpions |access-date=April 7, 2010}}

The toxicity of the other species is also potentially high to life-threatening, but reliable data are currently not available.

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.

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.

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Category:Buthidae

Category:Scorpion genera

Category:Scorpions of Africa

Category:Taxa named by Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg