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Scorpions
Published in Gail Miriam Moraru, Jerome Goddard, The Goddard Guide to Arthropods of Medical Importance, Seventh Edition, 2019
Gail Miriam Moraru, Jerome Goddard
Scorpions are eight-legged arthropods that can inflict a painful sting. Over 1700 species occur worldwide on all major land masses except Antarctica.1 Some species are more dangerous than others, depending on the type of venom. Size and appearance do not determine the medical importance of a scorpion; for example, scorpions in the genera Pandinus and Heterometrus (Old World) and Hadrurus (New World) may be huge with large pedipalps and appear menacing, but they constitute no serious health hazard. Most of these species can elicit local effects by their stings in a manner similar to that of bees and wasps; Centruroides vittatus is a common offender in the southwestern United States (see box). There is immediate sharp pain at the site of venom injection and often moderate local edema (which may be discolored). Dr. Scott Stockwell, formerly at the Walter Reed Biosystematics Unit, compared the sting to hitting one’s thumb with a hammer. Regional lymph node enlargement, local itching, paresthesia, fever, and occasionally nausea and vomiting may also occur.2 Signs and symptoms in a person stung by a scorpion with this type of venom usually subside in a few hours; however, it must be noted that a person with insect sting allergy could have a systemic reaction from this type of venom.
Biology and Distribution of Scorpions of Medical Importance
Published in Jürg Meier, Julian White, Handbook of: Clinical Toxicology of Animal Venoms and Poisons, 2017
The body consists of a cephalothorax (prosoma) and an abdomen (opisthosoma). The cephalothorax is dorsally covered by the carapace which has median and lateral eyes. In the front of the cephalothorax are situated the chelicerae with pincer-like claws used for feeding, to produce sound and as a taste organ. Also on the cephalothorax are the pedipalps, used for prey detection and immobilization, in courtship and mating and for self-defense; and the four pairs of legs. Ventrally the cephalothorax is protected by the sternum and the coxae of the legs.
Epidemiology of scorpionism in France: nationwide scorpion exposure
Published in Clinical Toxicology, 2021
Jules-Antoine Vaucel, Cédric Gil-Jardine, Magali Labadie, Sébastien Larréché, Camille Paradis, Audrey Nardon, Arnaud Courtois, Jérôme Langrand, Hatem Kallel
Our study has several limitations. First, it is a registry-based observational study, with the inherent limitations of retrospective examination. In addition, the data were collected only from the FPCC database. Therefore, this study underestimates the total number scorpion stings and their distribution in France. Second, Subgroup analysis could not be performed due to the small number of patients envenomed in overseas territories. Third, nearly 50% of scorpion’s species were not identified. Finally, identification of the scorpion species was difficult in some cases even when performed by specialists, or based on geographical distribution data [64]. For example, in mainland France and Corsica, the colour can be used to differentiate Euscorpius species (black) from B. occitanus (yellow). But formal identification of the Euscorpius species is based on studies of the trichobothria on the femur, patella and chela of the pedipalps [65]. I. maculatus is the only specie present in the Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean, which improved the reliability of envenoming data from this location [25]. For this, the identification of scorpion species by a non-specialist is not accurate especially in French Guiana, due to the large number and/or visual similarity of scorpions [5,64]