14 July, 2012

A new Euscorpius from Central Italy

It is known that the Euscorpius Thorell, 1876 (Euscorpiidae) fauna of Greece and Balkans are unresolved, but it is for me a little surprising that a new species has now been described from Central Italy by Gioele Tropea. The total number of Italian Euscorpius species is now 10.

Euscorpius celanus Tropea, 2012

The new species is so far only know from the Celano area in the Abruzzo region in Central Italy.

Abstract:
A new species of the genus Euscorpius Thorell, 1876 is described based on specimens collected at the locality Celano (AQ), Abruzzo, central Italy. It is characterized by a peculiar trichobothrial pattern (eba = 5-5 + eb = 4-4), a large number of pectine teeth, and a general colouration which is dark brownish, with legs and telson yellowish. With the description of this new species a new trichobothrial pattern is described. The number of Euscorpius species in Italy is thus raised to ten, and the number of species in the subgenus Euscorpius to five.

Reference:
Tropea, G. (2012). A new species of Euscorpius Thorell, 1876 (Scorpiones, Euscorpiidae) from Italy. Bulletin of the British Arachnological Society 15 (8):253–259.

Thanks to Gioele Tropea for sending me his article!

Family Euscorpiidae

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