Scorpion fauna composition
During the period between 2014 and 2017, 152 scorpion specimens were examined from studied sites of the province of Azilal and examined in the laboratory. These specimens are distributed among seven species belonging to four genera in Buthidae and Scorpionidae families. The identified species are as follows:
Androctonus mauritanicus, Butheloides slimanii, Buthus lienhardi, Buthus malhommei, Buthus paris, Scorpio fuliginosus and
Scorpio weidholzi (Fig 2).
Ecological and biogeographical characteristics of inventory scorpion fauna
Genus Androctonus Ehrenberg, 1828
In Morocco and
roctonus genus is currently represented by 9 species, 7 of which are endemic to Morocco (Touloun, 2019). According to Vachon (1952) this genus was composed of several subspecies. Subsequently, a taxonomic revision of the genus allowed the elevation of certain subspecies into species (
Lourenço, 2005). The two subspecies
A. mauritanicus mauritanicus and
A. mauritanicus bourdoni are united in the species
A. mauritanicus (Lourenço, 2005). In the studied area, the genus is represented by
A. mauritanicus.
Androctonus mauritanicus (Pocock, 1902)
It has a wide distribution in Morocco, where it is endemic and reputedly the most dangerous
(Touloun et al., 2001). The presence of the species was reported by
Vachon (1952) between Tiznit in the south and the region of Rabat in the north. It is found in various climates and different altitudes from the plain to highest mountains (
Vachon, 1952;
Touloun, 2012). It presents little preference for high altitudes where its relative abundance thus remains low. However, according to previous studies, the species still shows high frequencies
(Touloun et al., 2001). This species was collected in all the stations studied (Table 2).
Butheoloides Hirst, 1925
Morocco has the highest diversity of
Butheoloides genera with five species known (
Vachon, 1952,
Lourenço, 2010; Lourenço
et_al2011;
Touloun, 2019). The discovery of all species of the genus
Butheoloides are difficult, because of its small size and also because it often occupies rugged habitats (T
ouloun and Boumezzough, 2013)
. In the region studied, the genus is represented by
Butheoloides slimanii.
Butheoloides slimanii Lourenço, 2010
It is described from the region of Tanant in the North range of Atlas Mountains. This species has also been recorded in in November 2012 in the Grouka forest (Al Haouz Province) 43 km south-east of Marrakesh (
Touloun and Boumezzough, 2013) The species was discovered in the station of Ait Taguella about 60 km from the typical station, thereby widening the known range of distribution of the species to the north (Table 2).
Genus Buthus Leach, 1815
The genus
Buthus has a wide distribution in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Europe
(Fet et al., 2000). Lourenço (2003) revised the North African scorpions of the genus
Buthus. He described several new species by taking up certain subspecies and varieties, which
Vachon (1952) had described, according to the collections of the Museum of Natural History of Geneva. Thus among the subspecies and varieties that made up the species
B. occitanus, six have been raised to the rank of the species.
In Morocco, during the last years, several new species have been well described and several old varieties and / or subspecies have been restored to the rank of subspecies or even species (
Lourenço, 2003;
Lourenço and Vachon, 2004;
Touloun and Boumezzough, 2011;
Lourenço et al., 2012).
Three species of the genus were inventoried in the study area,
B. paris,
B. lienhardi and
B. malhommei, with the two latter being endemic to Morocco.
Buthus lienhardi Lourenço, 2003
This species correspond to
Buthus occitanus tunetanus var.
lepineyi Vachon, 1949 before regaining at the species rank by
Lourenço (2003). It is one of the representatives of the Moroccan fauna of high mountains. In the High Atlas Mountains, we have found it at altitudes between 1100 m and 2600 m (
Touloun, 2012). In these regions, it occupies also the asylvatic biotopes where the snow persists several months. In the study area this species has been located in two altitude stations, Demnate and Ait Mhamed (S8) (Table 2).
Buthus malhommei Vachon, 1949
This species corresponds to
Buthus occitanus malhommei Vachon, 1949 before regaining at the species rank (
Lourenço, 2003). It may be found in the area that covers the Haouz plain and extends north toward the Jbilets small mountain range to occupy the Central Bahira and El Kelâa des Seraghna (
Touloun, 2012). In the studied area, this species has been collected in one station in Ouled Ayyad (S13) (Table 2).
Buthus paris (C.L. Koch, 1839)
It corresponded to
Buthus occitanus paris before regaining at the species rank (
Lourenço, 2003). In Morocco, this species is adjusted to the foothills north of the High Central and Western Atlas below 1300 m altitude (
Touloun, 2012). It also occupies massive coasts of Tunisia and eastern Algeria to the west Algiers meridian (
Arroyo, 1963). It has been located also in the eastern region of Oujda, Ain Beni Mathar and Tandrara
(Touloun et al., 2014). In the study area, this species always remains confined to the Atlas foothills where it was inventoried in eight stations (Table 2).
Genus Scorpio Linnaeus, 1758
Vachon (1952) had already reported the complexity of this monospecific genus. This led to a revision of this genus in which several subspecies have been elevated to the species rank (
Lourenço, 2009). The species of this genus are strictly ground-dwelling. Its burrows which sometimes exceed a meter deep are built preferably under or near clumps of vegetation where the substrate is soft and easy to widen. Two species endemic to Morocco, were surveyed in the study area
S. fuliginosus and
S. weidholzi.
S. fuliginosus (Pallary, 1928)
It is known from pre-forest and forest areas of the High Atlas from 900 m of altitude (
Vachon, 1952;
Touloun, 2012). In our study it was collected in three stations all located at altitudes exceeding 1000m, in Demnate, Tilouguite and Ait Mhamed (Table 2).
S. weidholzi Werner, 1929
It is the most common species of the genera in the Haouz plain in the center of Morocco (
Touloun, 2012). In this study, it was discovered in three low altitude stations in Tagleft, Ait Abbas and Ouled Ayyad (Table 2).
Distribution of specimens collected according to biotopes
In Beni Mellal-Khenifra region, including Azilal province, scorpions have great medical importance and scorpionism remains a serious public health problem for local populations
(Soulaymani et al., 2002; Charrab et al., 2009).
Among inventoried species some show a tendency to territorial expansion often caused by human activities and their adaptation to anthropized environments, particularly
A mauritanicus and certain species of the
Buthus genus, increasing the risk of stings inside dwellings and their neighborhoods (Fig 3).
A. mauritanicus is the most dangerous species in Morocco and has been reported to be responsible for the highest number of serious, often deadly envenomings, especially in children
(Touloun et al., 2001, Oukkache et al., 2014). Moreover, in the fields, far from human dwellings, agricultural work poses a major risk of envenomation by species of genus
Buthus (
Touloun, 2019).
Species of
Scorpio genera are strictly burrowing that spends most of its time hidden in deep galleries (Fig 3). It has almost no contact with man. All sting cases caused by
Scorpio sp. were recorded in children who had been intentionally manipulating the scorpion after dislodging it from its burrow. Bites from species of the genus are not dangerous and only cause simple local pain (
Goyffon and Heurtault, 1995,
Touloun 2012).
Scorpion fauna in the Azilal province are little explored, except some general contributions on scorpions such as
Vachon (1952),
Lourenço (2010) and
Touloun (2012). The specific richness at the level of the sampling localities is between one and four species. The majority of them contain at least 3 species.
Our study revealed that
A. mauritanicus has a fairly wide ecological niche since it occupies habitats with different environmental features (various climates and different altitudes in all stations). The wide distribution of this species is due also to its adaptation to the areas modified by human activities and their neighbourhood.
The discovery of
B. slimanii, like the other species of the genus
Butheoloides, is difficult, due to its small size and its cryptic form. It is likely that future surveys might reveal other localities for this species as well as other species of the genus whose distribution remains unclear.
The distribution of
Buthus species follows an altitudinal gradient.
Buthus malhommei which is the typical species of the Haouz plain of Marrakech region (
Touloun, 2012) was inventoried in Ouled Ayyad which is also a plain station. It represents so far the most northerly collection site for the distribution of this species according to our research work.
In the center of western Morocco,
B. paris occupies the stations of the north Atlas mountains under 1300 m altitude (
Touloun, 2012). In the present study, this species started to be found from low altitudes (556 m in Tabia).
B. lienhadri that represents the most alticolous species of the genus in Morocco remains limited to stations located at altitudes between 1100 m in Ouaouizeght and 1716 m in Ait Mhamed.
Since all the species of the genus
Scorpio are all burrowing, it is very likely that the study area contains other species of the genus. Another species of the genus,
S. maurus stemmleri, was described from Demnate in Azilal province (
Schenkel, 1949) but it has been reported “
nomina dubia” by
Kovarik (2009).
