Figure 8: Androctonus crassicauda

Androctonus crassicauda (Olivier, 1807)   

Diagnosis: Black in colour to dark brown in colour. Prosoma: covered by distinct granules. Mesosoma: with moderately distinct granules. Metasoma: segments thick and wider than long. Lateral keels of the second and third segments are reduced to only a few granules. Pectines 27-32 in males and 23-27 in females.

Measurements: Total length up to 10cm (average 8.5 cm), prosoma 10.3-11.5mm, mesosoma 19.6-23.9mm, metasoma 42.1-49.9mm.

Habitat and distribution: This is a desert adapted species with wide distribution in the eastern desert and Wadi Araba to Aqaba (Levy and Amitai 1980; Amr et al. 1988; Amr and El-Oran, 1994), from Azraq, Jarash, Ν Shuna (Stathi and Mylonas, 2001), and from Wadi Rum (Kovařík and Whitman, 2004). Figure 3 shows the distribution of A. crassicauda in Jordan.

It was also collected from the Mediterranean region with dense forests but in low numbers. It lives in horizontal burrows in dry soil in desertic regions or in rodent burrows.  A. crassicauda is one of the venomous species in the Middle East.

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