J Arthropod-Borne Dis, June 2017, 11(2): 242–248 N Sharifinia et al.: Fauna and Geographical … 242 http://jad.tums.ac.ir Published Online: May 27, 2017 Original Article Fauna and Geographical Distribution of Scorpions in Ilam Province, South Western Iran Narges Sharifinia 1, Iman Gowhari 2, Manijeh Hoseiny-Rad 3, *Ali Ashraf Aivazi 1 1Department of Public Health, School of Health, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran 2Department of Biology, Payam-e-Noor University, Ilam Branch, Ilam, Iran 3Department of Biology, Farhangian University, Tehran, Iran (Received 28 Apr 2015; accepted 14 May 2016) Abstract Background: Scorpions’ stings and their own mortalities place them among the most important health and medical problems. The dreadful features and especially their poisonous stings are considered a major cause of human stress and abhorrence/phobia. The current study aimed to study the scorpion fauna of Ilam Province, south western Iran in order to manage scorpionism related problems. Methods: In this field-laboratory investigation during March 2014 to February 2015, different parts of Ilam Province were surveyed. Nine sampling parts were selected based on geographical situation, scorpionism reports, weather, flora, and local data. Capturing scorpion was done employing a black light, and a long forceps from dusk to mid- night. The collected scorpions were placed to 70% ethyl alcohol. All specimens were determined based on the valid taxonomic keys, furthermore their sexes were studied. Results: Out of the 391 collected scorpions, 11 species were identified as follows: Hottentotta saulcyi, Mesobuthus eupeus, Compsobuthus matthiesseni, Razianus zarudnyi, Hemiscorpius lepturus, Androctonus crassicauda, Or- thochirus iranus, Odontobuthus bidentatus, Buthacus macrocentrus, Scorpio maurus, and Polisius persicus. Conclusion: Eleven species of Buthidae, Scorpionidae and Hemiscorpiidae families from high risk areas were iden- tified. Despite the low surface of the province, such different species reveals a diverse scorpion fauna that, in turn, shows good and suitable habits of scorpions, as considered by health staff. Keywords: Habitat, Scorpion, Fauna, Ecology, Iran Introduction The fearful feature and painful poisonous stings of scorpions have caused human phobia for a long time. Most people think of scorpi- ons as pests and killers of man (Polis 1990). Scorpions having diverse distribution are most- ly living in semi-temperate regions at latitude of 23–38 °C, while their abundance and di- versity toward Equator and also poles de- crease (Polis 1990). Out of about 1,500 scor- pion species in the world, few cause severe toxicity, including more than 1.23 million stings annually, of which approximately 3,250 (0.27%) cause death (Khatony et al. 2015). Mexico, Colombia, and Iran are the most af- fected countries. Out of about 100,000 scorpionism cases in- cluding children (75%) in Iran, only 36,000– 50,000 ones are reported officially, with a 7– 60 mortality rate per year (Ghaderi 2004, Zarei et al. 2009, Mirshamsi et al. 2011), especial- ly in Khuzestan, Bushehr and Ilam Provinces (south-western Iran) (Rafizadeh et al. 2013). The Iranian scorpion fauna ranges from 51– 66 species in 17–23 genera and 3–4 families, according to different references (Mirshamsi et al. 2011, Navidpour 2012), of which about 10 species have been incriminated in human envenomation, that, in turn, is more than any other country in Middle East (Dehghani and Fathi 2012). Except Hemiscorpius lepturus (Hemiscorpiidae), the most important, medi- cally, scorpion in Iran (Kovařík 1997), all the *Corresponding author: Dr Ali-Ashraf Aivazi, E- mail: ali.medilam@gmail.com J Arthropod-Borne Dis, June 2017, 11(2): 242–248 N Sharifinia et al.: Fauna and Geographical … 243 http://jad.tums.ac.ir Published Online: May 27, 2017 venomous scorpion species belong to the Buthi- dae family (Zarei et al. 2009). Ilam Province (Latitude: 33° 63’ 74” N, Longitude: 46° 42’ 27” E) located at west of Iran with around 20,150km2 and 1.2% sur- face of the country area, rich and diverse plant coverage, and also various climates, is of the most suitable living-places for scorpions. The current study aimed at determining fau- na and bio-geographical distribution of scor- pions in Ilam in 2014–15. Materials and Methods In this cross-sectional study of employing field and laboratory techniques, the fauna was investigated during March 2014 to Feb- ruary 2015. The sampling sites (nine places) were selected based on geographical situation, scorpionism reports, weather, and plant cov- erage in all the three climates of the province. The detailed data of sampling sites have been shown in Table 1 and Fig. 1. The sampling was done at night (from dusk to midnight) using a black light -ultra violet (UV) light- and a long forceps. All the cap- tured scorpions were placed in 70% ethyl al- cohol. No specimens were caught by above- mentioned method during November to Feb- ruary months, due to cold weather of sam- pling areas. The geographical data were rec- orded by a GPS apparatus (GARMIN 78 S). All the specimens were identified according to taxonomic keys (Navidpour et al. 2008a). The gender of specimens was also determined based on Farzanpey method (Farzanpay and Vachon 1979). Results Out of all the 391 specimens collected from nine sites in different parts of the province, 11 species were identified as follows: Hottentotta saulcyi, Mesobuthus eupeus, Compsobuthus matthiesseni, Razianus zarudnyi, Hemiscor- pius lepturus, Androctonus crassicauda, Or- thochirus iranus, Odontobuthus bidentatus, Buthacus macrocentrus, Scorpio maurus, and Polisius persicus. The most abundant species were H. saul- cyi 25.09% (relative frequency), M. eupeus 23.29%, and C. matthiesseni 16.18% which showed the highest frequency in all the three climates studied. The lowest abundance stood for P. persicus 1.79% and S. maurus 1.29%, respectively. H. lepturus which is the most poisonous scorpion of Iran had a 7.16% rel- ative frequency. Further, R. zarudnyi was found just in mild mountainous climate, however, O. bidentatus 3.58% and B. macrocentrus 2.84% were found in low abundance at dry- hot climate. Totally, 138 males and 253 fe- males were identified showing F/M sex ratio of about 2:1 (Table 2). Table 1. Sampling sites of scorpions in Ilam Province, 2014 Climate type County Sampling site Longitude Altitude Height (sea level m) Cold mountainous Aivan Babagir 46 ْ◌ 11 َ◌ 33 ْ◌ 56 َ◌ 1,070 Cold mountainous Ilam Gholandar 46 ْ◌ 27 َ◌ 33 ْ◌ 39 َ◌ 1,045 Cold mountainous Sirvan Karezan 46 ْ◌ 32 َ◌ 33 ْ◌ 44 َ◌ 1,280 Moderate mountainous Badre Badre 47 ْ◌ 1 َ◌ 33 ْ◌ 19 َ◌ 1,090 Moderate mountainous Dare-shahr Dare-shahr 47 ْ◌ 21 َ◌ 33 ْ◌ 10 َ◌ 670 Moderate mountainous Zarin-abad Sayed-naseredin village 46 ْ◌ 50 َ◌ 33 ْ◌ 10 َ◌ 810 Dry and hot Abdanan Murmuri 47 ْ◌ 41 َ◌ 32 ْ◌ 44 َ◌ 520 Dry and hot Mehran Golan 46 ْ◌ 16 َ◌ 33 ْ◌ 25 َ◌ 550 Dry and hot Dehloran Bishe-deraz 47 ْ◌ 01 َ◌ 32 ْ◌ 46 َ◌ 390 J Arthropod-Borne Dis, June 2017, 11(2): 242–248 N Sharifinia et al.: Fauna and Geographical … 244 http://jad.tums.ac.ir Published Online: May 27, 2017 Fig. 1. Sampling sites of scorpions in Ilam Province, 2014 J Arthropod-Borne Dis, June 2017, 11(2): 242–248 N Sharifinia et al.: Fauna and Geographical … 245 http://jad.tums.ac.ir Published Online: May 27, 2017 Table 2. Scorpions collected in different parts of Ilam Province, 2014 Family species Sampling sites Frequency of each species Relative fre- quency at the province (%) Male N (%) Female N (%) Total Buthidae Hottentotta saulcyi All areas 30 (31) 68 (69) 98 25.09 Buthidae Mesobuthus eupeus All areas 40 (43) 52 (57) 92 23.29 Buthidae Compsobuthus matthiesseni Ilam, Sirvan, Dareh-shahr, Zarin-abad 22 (35) 41 (65) 63 16.18 Buthidae Razianus za- rudnyi Mehran, Badre, Zarin-abad 16 (47) 18 (53) 34 8.69 Hemiscorpiidae Hemiscorpius lepturus Mehran, Badre, Abdanan 10 (36) 18 (64) 28 7.19 Buthidae Androctonus crassicauda Sirvan, Mehran, Dehloran, Ilam, Aivan 5 (24) 16 (76) 21 5.39 Buthidae Orthochirus iranus Sirvan, Mehran, Dehloran, Ilam, Aivan 6 (33) 12 (67) 18 4.67 Buthidae Odontobuthus bidentatus Dehloran, Abdanan 2 (14) 12 (86) 14 3.58 Buthidae Buthacus mac- rocentrus Dehloran, Abdanan 3 (27) 8 (73) 11 2.84 Buthidae Polisius persi- cus Abdanan 3 (43) 4 (57) 7 1.79 Scorpionidae Scorpio maurus Dehloran, Abdanan 1 (20) 4 (80) 5 1.29 All Scorpion species 138 (35.30) 253 (64.70) 391 100 Discussion In the current study, totally 11 scorpion species from Buthidae, Scorpionidae, and Hemiscorpiidae families were identified, which shows a diverse fauna due to the good habitat and favorite climate of the studied area. In other studies accomplished in Iran, 8 species from Fars and Kohgilouyeh and Boy- er-Ahmad provinces (Azizi et al. 2001), 10 species from Hormozgan Province (Shahi et al. 2009), 3 species from Gonabad County (Ramezani-Avval-Riabi et al. 2010), 8 species from Kerman Province (Dehghani 2008), 7 species from Kish Island (Khaghani et al. 2005), 7 species from Qeshm Island (Zarei et al. 2009), 8 species from Sistan and Balouch- estan Province (Nejati et al. 2014), 2 species from Sari County (Motavali-Haghi et al. 2004), 5 species from Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province (Pirali-Kheirabadi et al. 2014), and finally 5 species from Zanjan Province (Moradi et al. 2015) have been reported. Comparing the current findings to other studies, the spe- cies richness and diversity of scorpions can be concluded, based on the quantity of spe- cies found. However, in neighboring prov- inces of Lorestan, and Khuzestan with al- most similar climates, 5 and 19 species have been reported respectively, showing much more diversity in Khuzestan Province (Taheri- an 2003, Navidpour et al. 2008b). J Arthropod-Borne Dis, June 2017, 11(2): 242–248 N Sharifinia et al.: Fauna and Geographical … 246 http://jad.tums.ac.ir Published Online: May 27, 2017 In the current study, 11 species including H. saulcyi, M. eupeus, C. matthiesseni, R. za- rudnyi, H. lepturus, A. crassicauda, O. iranus, O. bidentatus, B. macrocentrus, S. maurus, and P. persicus were collected and identified in Ilam Province. Mozafari had reported 7 species in one county of the province (Mozaf- fari et al. 2013), Gowhari had identified 10 species in different climates of the province (Gowhari et al. 2012), however, Navidpour reported 14 species in three families, while Vachoniolus iranus, Compsobuthus jakesi, Apistobuthus susanae species were not found in our study. The recent species had been found in Ein-e-Kosh village (Navidpour et al. 2008a), located in far south of the prov- ince, having a similar climate and ecosystem to that of Khuzestan Province. Therefore, no sampling has been done in that area, a fact that justifies the difference. The most abundant species of the prov- ince was H. saulcyi which collected in all the three climatic areas of the province, as well reported by Gowhari in all studied places (Gowhari et al. 2012). Sedaghat (Sedaghat et al. 2012), in respect to biogeographical dis- tribution of Iran’s scorpions has reported the H. saulcyi in Khuzestan, Kohgiloyeh-Boirah- mad, and Kermanshah Provinces with dry- hot, cold-mountainous, and mild-mountain- ous climates, respectively, showing high ad- aptation of the species. The second abundant species was M. eu- peus found in mountainous areas and be- neath the rocks, that were in accordance with the findings of Khairabadi in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari mountainous areas, and also those of Motavali-Haghi from mountains of Sari County, northern Iran (Motavali-Haghi et al. 2004, Pirali-Kheirabadi et al. 2014). Out of the most dangerous and venomous scorpions, H. lepturus and A. crassicauda (black scorpion) with frequencies of 7% and 5%, respectively, were also found in the studied area. The H. lepturus has been re- ported as the most dangerous and main cause of death in Khuzestan Provinces’ scorpion- ism (Radmanesh 1990, Dehghani and Fathi 2012, Nejati et al. 2014). The thin and small sting has been reported as the feature of such species, along with a painless sting which leads to acute complications such as tissue necrosis, hemolysis, and even death during the first 48 hours. Hemiscorpius lepturus was identified in Golan, Badre, and Murmuri ar- eas of the province. Androctonus crassicauda was found in five areas of the province (Table 2) reported as the main scorpionism cause in Khuzestan Province. The current species have also been reported in Semnan, Bushehr, and Lorestan provinces (Sedaghat et al. 2012). From the sex-ratio point of view, the fe- males were the dominant gender during the study, i.e. 2:1 (F/M) sex ratio. Wilson has reported the sex-ratio (F/M) of 3.91 and/or 4:1 (Lourenço 2002). Shahi has also reported much more abundance of females than males in Hormozgan Province which both are in ac- cordance with our findings (Shahi et al. 2009). Conclusion Despite the relatively small area (1.2% of the country surface), a diverse fauna was seen, compared to other studies in different prov- inces of Iran. Such geographical distribution may be affected by climate changes and global warming, their habitat, and even the distribu- tion pattern of each species (Bellard et al. 2012). The health and medical importance of scorpions necessitates comprehensive and pe- riodic research on their ecology including hab- itat, diet, environment’s temperature, humid- ity, and precipitation in the province. Acknowledgements The authors are highly thankful to Research J Arthropod-Borne Dis, June 2017, 11(2): 242–248 N Sharifinia et al.: Fauna and Geographical … 247 http://jad.tums.ac.ir Published Online: May 27, 2017 and Technology Deputy, Ilam University of Medical Sciences for their encouragement and financial support through grant no 22.40.54495, dated 2/04/2014. Thanks also go to Mr HR Shoohanizad for his invaluable points during writing the MS. The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests. 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