The distribution of the Genus Buthus in the Iberian peninsula and Southern France
(This is not original work, I simply wanted to share figure 26 from Teruel & Turiel 2022b with some additional comments)
As of January 2023, here is the most up to date map of the distribution of the Genus Buthus in Europe (excluding one French species). Biogeographical data seems to be useful for species identification since many are local endemics (often separated by mountain ranges) but comparaison of pictures with morphological data would be ideal, especially since many species are sympatric and as the relevant papers are all open access !).
I hope this post will be useful to anyone wanting to contribute to the identification of those species.
Original caption : Fig. 26. The Iberian Peninsula, showing the geographical distribution of the 17 species of Buthus recognized to occur there. For each species with multiple topographic records, the type locality is marked in red; in the case of Buthus elongatus, it corresponds to a large area and thus, we marked a central point for visual orientation. For Buthus halius, the southernmost record corresponds to Manteigas, the type-locality of its junior synonym Buthus lusitanus syn. n.
Remarks :
- Only Buthus balmensis is absent from the figure, it is a local endemic of the Saint-Baume massif in Southern France.
- Buthus occitanus is widely distributed in Southern France but only in the Ebro basin in Spain : "Except for the northern area of the Ebro Basin through southeastern France (where it seems to be the only species present), all other European records of B. occitanus must be regarded as confirmation pending. As found during the present revision, most of them are actually erroneous and imply multiple species, many of them not even close relatives of B. occitanus" (Teruel & Turiel, 2020)
Relevant references
LOURENÇO, W. R. 2021. Une nouvelle espèce appartenant au genre Buthus Leach, 1815 (Scorpiones : Buthidae) collectée dans le Parc Naturel de la "Serra da Estrela" au Centre du Portugal. Faunitaxys, 9(13): 1–7.
YTHIER, E. 2021a. The southwesternmost [sic] scorpion species in Europe: Buthus gabani sp. n. from Cape St. Vincent, Algarve, Portugal (Scorpiones: Buthidae). Faunitaxys, 9(25): 1–6.
YTHIER, E. 2021b. The genus Buthus Leach, 1815 (Scorpiones: Buthidae) in France with description of a new species from the Eastern Pyrenees. Faunitaxys, 9(38): 1–10.