A new species of Pseudochactas from Afghanistan

Photo: Michael Misch (C)

The discovery of the enigmatic Pseudochactas ovchinnikovi Gromov, 1998 from Central Asia and a new family, Pseudochactidae, was undoubtedly one of the most important discoveries in scorpion systematics in recent times. Now a second species of this genus has been described from south-central Afghanistan.

Pseudochactas mischi Soleglad, Kovarik & Fet, 2012 (Pseudochactidae)

The new species is named after Michael Misch, who collected the name species in Afghanistan and made it available to the authors of this paper. Congratulations, Michael, and thanks for your contributions to The Scorpion Files!

Abstract:
A new species of the rare genus Pseudochactas Gromov, 1998 is described from south-central Afghanistan. The species, P. mischi, sp. nov., is compared in detail to its northern sister species P. ovchinnikovi Gromov, 1998, known from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. P. mischi, sp. nov. is a smaller, lighter colored species and has a considerably more robust metasoma, telson, and pedipalp chelae. Biogeographical observations on the genus Pseudochactas are provided.

Reference:
Soleglad, ME, Kovarik F & Fet, V. (2012). A new species of Pseudochactas from Afghanistan (Scorpiones: Pseudochactidae). Boletin de la SEA, (50):89-98.

Thanks to Michael Soleglad for sending me this paper!

Family Pseudochactidae