They control major ecosystem processes such as community structure and function via predation and feeding competition. Some early estimates for their biomass identified that they exceed most key terrestrial arthropod taxa, except ants and termites. They inhabit mainly hot and dry environments, where they represent the most important taxa of terrestrial predators in terms of density and biomass. They constitute one of the oldest animal groups in the world, with a fossil history dated to more than 300 million years ago. Scorpions are arachnid arthropods of key environmental and medical importance. (4) Conclusions: For a group of animals where both cryptic speciation and a high risk of human envenomation are evident, the findings of the current study strongly recommend continuous and comprehensive research efforts dealing with morphogenetic authentication for different species of scorpions. Moreover, taxon-specific patterns for nitrogenous bases’ distribution could be identified, resulting in a significantly high percentage of COI barcode guanine in scorpionids, in comparison to araneids and opilions. However, several discrepancies and barcode database inadequacies could be revealed.
(3) Results: New, morphologically authenticated scorpion barcodes could be added to the barcoding databases.
They were DNA barcoded, genetically and phylogenetically analyzed through PCR amplification and sequencing of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COI) gene hypervariable 5′ region. (2) Methods: Four scorpion species were collected from the New Valley governorate in Upper Egypt, where a high level of scorpionism and related neurological symptoms are found, that were Leiurus quinquestriatus, Androctonus amoreuxi, Orthochirus innesi, Buthacus leptochelys. Surviving mostly in hardly reachable nests, and representing key hazards to human health, they attracted major interest for characterizing their eco-, morpho-, and genotypes. (1) Background: Scorpions (Arthropoda: Arachnida) represent a diverse group of invertebrates, accounting for a significant proportion of earth’s predators and ecosystems’ modulators.
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