Second record of Tityus bahiensis (Scorpiones, Buthidae) from Venezuela: epidemiological implications

ABSTRACT

This work reports the second record of the scorpion Tityus bahiensis Perty from Venezuela. The specimen was found alive in a wardrobe at a hotel resort in Margarita Island, northeastern Venezuela. Morphological characterization allowed its assignment to the Tityus bahiensis population inhabiting the southernmost area of the species' geographic range, e.g. the state of São Paulo in Brazil, northern Argentina and Paraguay. The fact that the only available Venezuelan antiscorpion (anti-Tityus discrepans) serum does not neutralize the effects of alpha- and beta-toxin from Tityus serrulatus venom (which resembles in composition that of T. bahiensis) constitutes a warning to local clinicians confronted with envenomations by noxious species transported to Venezuela from Brazil by human agency.