Lebanon is a country located in the Levant region. Up to now, 13 scorpion species have been recorded from Lebanon (Fet 2000, Fet & Lowe 2000, Sissom & Fet 2000): Aegaeobuthus nigrocinctus (Ehrenberg, 1828), Androctonus amoreuxi (Audouin, 1826), Androctonus bicolor Ehrenberg, 1828, Androctonus crassicauda (Olivier, 1807), Buthacus leptochelys (Ehrenberg, 1829), Buthus occitanus (Amoreux, 1789) complex, Compsobuthus schmiedeknechti Vachon, 1949, Hottentotta judaicus (Simon, 1872), Leiurus hebraeus (Birula, 1908), Orthochirus negebensis Shulov & Amitai, 1960, Nebo hierichonticus (Simon, 1872), Scorpio fuscus (Ehrenberg, 1829) and Scorpio kruglovi Birula, 1910. Among these reports, the records for Buthacus leptochelys and the Buthus occitanus complex need to be revised. Cain et al. (2021) stated that B. leptochelys is restricted to Egypt (including south Sinai), and according to Teruel & Turiel (2020) B. occitanus occurs only in NE Spain and SW France. More recently, Ythier (2021) doubted the presence of this species in Spain and suggested that it is present only in France. Leiurus abdullahbayrami (Fig. 1) was described by Yağmur et al. (2009) from south-eastern Turkey, and shortly after it was recorded from Syria (Khalil & Yağmur 2010) too. In addition, the species was redescribed by Lowe et al. (2014). Its venom toxicity (median lethal dose, LD₅₀) in mouse bioassays makes L. abdullahbayrami among the most lethal scorpions inhabiting the Middle East (LD₅₀ = 0.19 mg/kg) (Ozkan et al. 2011). Its reported medical importance in southern Turkey (Dokur et al. 2017, Aslan et al. 2018, Yöntem et al. 2020) strongly justifies an investigation of its current distribution range in the Levant region, which now includes Lebanon (Fig. 2).

Material and methods

An adult male and adult female were collected from Bekaa Province, Lebanon (Fig. 2). Photographs of Leiurus abdullahbayrami were taken with a Canon EOS 7D. Image stacking was carried out using Helicon Focus software. The specimens were preserved in 96% ethanol, and are kept at the Alaşehir Zoological Museum, Celal Bayar University, Alaşehir, Manisa, Turkey (AZMM). Identification of the specimens is based on Yağmur et al. (2009) and Lowe et al. (2014). The pedipalp length/width ratio of Leiurus hebraeus was calculated according to measurement tables published by Levy & Amitai (1980). The map was created using the software SimpleMappr (Shorthouse 2010).

Results

Fig. 1.

Specimens of Leiurus abdullahbayrami from Lebanon. a, b. female; c, d. male. a, c – ventral view; b, d – dorsal view (scale: 10 mm)

Discussion

Yağmur et al. (2009) reported three colour variations of Leiurus abdullahbayrami in Turkey. In addition, Khalil & Yağmur (2010) reported a population of L. abdullahbayrami from Homs (Syria), about 70 km from the Lebanese border, in which the specimens have the same colour pattern as in Gaziantep (Turkey), i.e. brown. However, the specimens from Bekaa in Lebanon are black, similar to those from the Hatay (Turkey) (linear distance of about 240 km). Interestingly, the population from Homs comprising brown L. abdullahbayrami is located much closer (about 80 km north of collection sites in Bekaa). The third colour variation comprises grey specimens, which are found in the region east of the Euphrates River.

Fig. 2.

Map showing collecting localities of Leiurus abdullahbayrami in Lebanon (stars in the main map and inset) and the current species´ distribution (red dots), 1 – Maqneh, 2 – Brital

The trichobothrium db on the fixed finger of the pedipalp is located between trichobothria est and esb in the Lebanese specimens, as in the specimens from Turkey. On the other hand, the trichobothrium db is closer to trichobothrium est compared to specimens from the Turkish population.

Fig. 3.

Leiurus abdullahbayrami, female specimen. a. carapace and first four tergites; b. metasoma, lateral view; c. metasoma, ventral view; d. fifth segment and telson, ventral view; e. fifth segment and telson, lateral view; f. chela, dorsal view; g. chela, lateral view; h. movable finger (trichobothrial pattern is indicated by red circles)

The species Aegaeobuthus nigrocinctus (Ehrenberg, 1828) (Karataş 2007), Compsobuthus schmiedeknechti Vachon, 1949 (Varol et al. 2006) and Scorpio kruglovi Birula, 1910 (Roewer 1943) are also distributed in the Hatay province (Turkey) and in Lebanon as well. The presence of these species in both Hatay and Lebanon indicates that faunal similarities exist between these regions, which are both in the Levant and share ecologically similar characteristics. The true relationship between the L. abdullahbayrami populations should be determined through future phylogenetic studies, a task facilitated by the availability of mitochondrial DNA sequences from the specimens from Turkey (Ayhan et al. 2018).

Vachon (1966), Fet & Lowe (2000) and El-Hennawy (2013) listed Leiurus hebraeus as the only species belonging to the genus Leiurus that inhabits Lebanon.The present study provides evidence of a second Leiurus species in Lebanon, showing that the genus is probably undersampled in the region.

Severe cardiac alterations and acute pulmonary edema in children envenomed by L. abdullahbayrami attest to its very high venom toxicity towards humans (Dokur et al. 2017, Aslan et al. 2018, Yöntem et al. 2020), which correlate with the species' venom LD₅₀ in mouse bioassays, the lowest among all species of the genus Leiurus thus far determined. Therefore, L. abdullahbayrami is potentially one of the medically most relevant scorpion species in the Middle East.

Considering that significant venom divergence between Leiurus quinquestriatus and Leiurus hebraeus has been reported (Nascimento et al. 2006, Smertenko et al. 2001), a fact that may limit the neutralization spectrum of therapeutic antivenoms available in the Middle East (Amr et al. 2021), knowledge of the current distribution of medically important scorpion species is of public health interest in this region. Given that fatal scorpion stings in children – by as yet unidentified specimens – have occurred in areas of Lebanon (Brital, Bekaa), where L. abdullahbayrami is present (e.g.  https://www.albawaba.com/news/lebanese-kid-dies-after-scorpion-sting-amid-medicine-shortages-1440607), it seems possible that this species has been involved in such cases. Local health administration should therefore take the presence of this highly venomous species in Lebanon into account. As a consequence, further investigations to reveal the current distribution of L. abdullahbayrami in Lebanon should be carried out. The appropriate medical infrastructure for the local human communities should be set up, which might prevent further fatalities, especially among children.