Scorpions in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan harbours a lot of scorpion species, manily from the family Buthidae. Of obvious reasons, the scorpion fauna of Afghanistan has not been investigated for several years, and we know little about how many species that live there, and their biology.

The following species is reported from Afghanistan:

Family Buthidae:

Afghanorthochirus danielleae Lourenco & Vachon, 1997
A. erardi Lourenco & Vachon, 1997
A. monodi Lourenco & Vachon, 1997

Androctonus amoreuxi (Audouin, 1826)

Compsobuthus rugosulus (Pocock, 1900)

Hottentotta alticola (Pocock, 1895)

Mesobuthus eupeus (C. L. Koch, 1839)
M. macmahoni (Pocock, 1900)

Olivierius caucasicus (Nordmann, 1840)

Orthochirus bicolor (Pocock, 1897)
O. pallidus (Pocock, 1997)
O. scrobiculosus (Grube, 1873)

Sassanidothus zarudnyi (Birula, 1900)

Family Euscorpiidae:

Euscorpiops lindbergi (Vachon, 1980)

In addition to these species, it is not unlikely that the following genera have representatives in Afghanistan: Anomalobuthus, Liobuthus, Odontobuthus, Plesiobuthus, Pseudochactas, Scorpiops. This is based on potential habitats in Afghanistan, and the genera's presence in neighbouring countries of Afghanistan. Hopefully, it will be possible for researchers to investigate the scorpion fauna of Afghanistan in the future. This will probably reveal a lot of interesting news to the scorpion knowledge in the region.

Most scorpions reported from Afghanistan belongs to the family of Buthidae, and have quite strong venoms. Scorpions of the genus Androctonus are known to have a major medical importance in many countries. Little is known about the medical significance of the other species from Afghanistan. Stings are very painful, but will often result in local effects only, but more serious systemic effects can also be seen. As long as we know so little about these species, they should be treated as potential dangerous, especially for children and elders.

I'm very interested in getting more information about scorpions in Afghanistan, and the potential medical significance of scorpion stings in this region. My email is in the bottom of the page.