Scorpio maurus Linnaeus, 1758

Karataş, Ayşegül & Çolak, Mehmet, 2005, Scorpions of Gaziantep Province, Turkey (Arachnida: Scorpiones), Euscorpius 30 (30), pp. 1-7 : 4

Scorpio maurus Linnaeus, 1758

S. m. fuscus (Ehrenberg, 1829)

Specimens examined: Şahinbey, east of Mahraman Village, 02.VII.2003: 1 ♂ ( ZDNU 2003 /565), Şahinbey , Güllüce Village, lower slopes of Ellezi Mountain , 29.VI .2003 : 1 ♂ ( ZDNU 2003 /476), Şahinbey , Karataş district, 28.VI .2003 : 1 ♀ ( ZDNU 2003 /530), Şahinbey , south of Kızılhisar Village, 19.VII.2003: 1 ♀ ( ZDNU 2003 /538), Şehitkâmil , Sarısalkım Village , 23.VIII.2003: 1 ♂ ( ZDNU 2003 /563), Nizip , Mağaracık Village (450 m asl) , 27.IX.2002: 1 ♀, 1 sex? ( ZDNU 2002 /345/1, 2), Oğuzeli , Üçkubbe Village , 18.V .2005 : 1 ♂ ( ZDNU 2005 /10-7).

Comments: The range of the species extends from North Africa to the Middle East and the Arabian Peninsula. There are 19 described subspecies of S. maurus . Of those, S. m. fuscus (Ehrenberg, 1829) is found in Turkey, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Saudi Arabia (Fet et al., 2000). For Turkey, this species is known from Elazığ to Mersin and to the Nur Mountains (Levy & Amitai, 1980). Crucitti & Malori (1998) recorded this species from İçel, Mersin; and Crucitti & Vignoli (2002), from Adıyaman, Ş. Urfa, and Mardin. This species is fossorial. It lives in the sloped burrows which it digs with its pedipalps and walking legs. The burrows form a nearly 30 º angle and are 20–30 cm in length. Specimens of this species were collected un- der stones; sometimes there was a small hole under the stone in which scorpion was sitting. The soil surface under the stones was generally smooth and clean. In some cases, after the stones were lifted, openings of the burrows were excavated, and scorpions were collected from 10–15 cm distance inside the burrow.