Arachnologische Mitteilungen
https://arages.de/zeitschrift/arachnologische-mitteilungenZvik Y
First record of myrmecophyly in the scorpion Birulatus israelensis (Scorpiones: Buthidae)
Erster Nachweis von Myrmekophilie beim Skorpion Birulatus israelensis (Scorpiones: Buthidae)
Heft 54
The buthid scorpion genus Birulatus Vachon, 1974 includes three species, endemic to the Levant, each from a different location in Jordan, Israel and Syria, and all described from a single specimen. Fewer than ten specimens of the genus were collected so far. Nothing is known regarding their biology and ecology. During three collecting expeditions in the summer of 2016 near Mehola in the Jordan Valley, Palestine, 31 individuals of Birulatus israelensis Lourenço, 2002 (Scorpiones: Buthidae) were collected, all found exclusively on active foraging trails of the ant species Messor ebeninus Santschi, 1927, around their nests or coming in and out of the nests. These findings suggest that Birulatus has a myrmecophilous relationship with M. ebeninus ants.
ants, Levant, Messor