New scorpion species discovered in Saudi Arabia

Officials from the Saudi National Center for Wildlife have announced the discovery of a new scorpion species in the Kingdom.

Belonging to the Leiurus genus, it was found on the Majami Al-Hadb Reserve, south of Riyadh.

The finding, based on a morphological description and genetic analysis, was published in the international scientific journal ZooKeys.

The new species has been named Hadb scorpion in homage to its Arabic roots, with the scientific name Leiurus hadb. It differs from other scorpion species in Saudi Arabia on both morphological and molecular genetic levels.

Its discovery increases the count of species in the genus to 22 globally, with five now confirmed in the Kingdom.

The discovery is part of the wildlife center’s ongoing work to study and document the country’s biodiversity with a focus on assessing the status and distribution of national species in their natural habitats.

A spokesman for the center told Arab News that scorpion venom had varying levels of toxicity and that further studies were needed to establish levels in the Hadb creatures. There are now 34 registered scorpion species in Saudi Arabia, 11 of which are indigenous.