A new Buthacus from India

Amod Zambre and Wilson Lourenco have described a new species of Buthacus (Buthidae) from India.

Buthacus agarwali Zambre & Lourenco, 2010

This is the first record of Buthacus from India and the easternmost limit of the genus.

The species seems to be endemic to arid sand dunes. During day time, B. agarwali create shallow depressions in the sand where it lies with the body partly covered with sand.

Abstract:
The genus Buthacus Birula, 1908 is reported for the first time from the Republic of India and a new species described based on specimens collected in the Thar Desert in western India. This record represents the easternmost known area for the genus.

Reference:
Zambre AM, Lourenco WR. A new species of Buthacus Birula, 1908 (Scorpiones, Buthidae) from India. Boletin de la SEA. 2010 (46):115-9.

Thanks to Amod Zambre for sending me this paper!

Family Buthidae

Mingsheng Zhu - RIP

I'm sorry to announce the recent death of the Chinese arachnologist Professor Mingsheng Zhu a few weeks ago. Professor Zhu worked extensively on spiders, scorpions and other arachnids from East Asia and published over 70 papers in this field.

A list of publications by Professor Mingsheng Zhu at Hebei University homepage

RIP!

Jan Ove Rein
Editor of The Scorpion Files

Six new Hadruroides from Peru

Jose Ochoa and Lorenzo Prendini have recently published six new species in the genus Hadruroides (Caraboctonidae*) from Peru:

Hadruroides chinchaysuyu Ochoa & Prendini, 2010*
H. geckoi Ochoa & Prendini, 2010*
H. graceae Ochoa & Prendini, 2010*
H. juanchararroi Ochoa & Prendini, 2010*
H. tishqu Ochoa & Prendini, 2010*
H. vichayitos Ochoa & Prendini, 2010*

*The authors prefer to use the Prendni & Wheeler system for higher scorpion taxonomy and have listed Hadruroides as a member of the family Iuridae.

The authors have included an indentification key for Hadruroides in Peru.

Abstract:
We review the taxonomy of the Hadruroides Pocock, 1893 (Iuridae: Caraboctoninae), scorpions of Peru, describe six new species from the north of the country, and report new records of other poorly known species. The description of these species raises to 16 the number of described species in the genus, 13 of which occur in Peru. Four species inhabit dry forest in northern Peru: H. charcasus (Karsch, 1879); H. chinchaysuyu, n. sp.; H. geckoi, n. sp.; H. leopardus Pocock, 1900. Three species occur in inter-Andean valleys along the Cordillera: H. bustamantei Ochoa and Chaparro, 2008; H. carinatus Pocock, 1900; H. mauryi Francke and Soleglad, 1980. Six species inhabit desert along the Pacific coast: H. aguilari Francke and Soleglad, 1980; H. graceae, n. sp.; H. juanchaparroi, n. sp.; H. lunatus (L. Koch, 1867); H. tishqu, n. sp.; H. vichayitos, n. sp. Most species of Hadruroides have restricted distributions, except H. charcasus and H. lunatus, which are apparently more widely distributed. We consider it necessary to reassess all previous records of the latter two species, because we suspect several are based on misidentifications.

Reference:
Ochoa JA, Prendini L. The Genus Hadruroides Pocock, 1893 (Scorpiones: Iuridae), in Peru: New Records and Descriptions of Six New Species. American Museum Novitates. 2010 Jun(3687):1-56. [Free fulltext]

Family Caraboctonidae

Two new Parabuthus from Namibia

The summer holliday is over and its time again for some news from the scorpion world.

Lorenzo Prendini and Lauren Esposito have conducted a reanalysis of Parabuthus phylogeny and described two new species from Namibia:

Parabuthus glabrimanus Prendini & Esposito, 2010 (Buthidae)
Parabuthus setiventer Prendini & Esposito, 2010 (Buthidae)

Revised diagnosis for the related species Parabuthus gracilis Lamoral, 1979 and P. nanus Lamoral, 1979 are also presented.

Abstract:
Two new thick-tail scorpions in the genus Parabuthus Pocock, 1890 are described from the gravel plains of the Central Namib Desert, Namibia: Parabuthus glabrimanus sp. nov.; Parabuthus setiventer sp. nov. The two new species occupy discrete distributional ranges, allopatric with the closely related species Parabuthus gracilis Lamoral, 1979 and Parabuthus nanus Lamoral, 1979. The distributions of the four species are mapped and a key provided for their identification. Revised diagnoses are provided for P. gracilis and P. nanus. The two new species are added to a previously published morphological character matrix for Parabuthus species and their phylogenetic positions determined in a reanalysis of Parabuthus phylogeny. Parabuthus setiventer sp. nov. is found to be the sister species of P. nanus, whereas P. glabrimanus sp. nov. is sister to a monophyletic group comprising P. gracilis, P. nanus, and P. setiventer sp. nov. The discovery of two new scorpion species endemic to the Central Namib gravel plains contributes to a growing body of evidence that this barren and desolate region is a hotspot of arachnid species richness and endemism.

Reference:
Prendini L, Esposito LA. A reanalysis of Parabuthus (Scorpiones: Buthidae) phylogeny with descriptions of two new Parabuthus species endemic to the Central Namib gravel plains, Namibia. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 2010;159(3):673-710. [Subscription required for fulltext] NB! Fulltext is now freely available from The Scorpion Systematics Research Group homepage.



Family Buthidae

Scorpions of Iran - Part VI - with a new Hottentotta

Part VI of a major review of the scorpions of Iran has been published in issue 99 of the journal Euscorpius.

The paper list 10 species (five new records) in three families from the Lorestan Province and their distribution. A new species in the genus Hottentotta is described:

Hottentotta lorestanus Navidpour, Nayebzadeh, Soleglad, Fet, Kovarik & Kayedi, 2010 (Buthidae)

An identification key for the species in the province is given. Good color photos are presented for the Hottentotta species and also some habitat pictures.

Abstract:
Ten species of scorpions belonging to three families are reported from the Lorestan Province of Iran. Of these, five species are recorded from the province for the first time: Hottentotta zagrosensis Kovařík, 1997; Mesobuthus eupeus phillipsii (Pocock, 1889); Orthochirus iranus Kovařík, 2004; Razianus zarudnyi (Birula, 1903) ; and Scorpio maurus townsendi (Pocock, 1900). One new species is described, Hottentotta lorestanus sp. n.; it can be easily distinguished from the other four species of the genus known from Iran by its coloration; it is the only Iranian species which has the entire pedipalps yellow and the metasomal segments I to IV greenish gray. Also presented is a key to all species of scorpions found in the province.

Reference:
Navidpour S, Nayebzadeh HH, Soleglad ME, Fet V, Kovarik F, Kayedi MH. Scorpions of Iran (Arachnida, Scorpiones). Part VI. Lorestan Province. Euscorpius. 2010(99):1-23. [Fulltext freely available]

Family Buthidae
Family Scorpionidae
Family Hemiscorpiidae

A sting accident caused by Rhopalurus agamemmon

Reuber Albuquerque Brandao and Renata Dias Francoso have published a paper describing a sting accident involving Rhopalurus agamemmon (Koch, 1839) (Buthidae).

The paper is in Portuguese, but with an English abstract.

Abstract:
Accidents caused by scorpions are a serious public health problem in Brazil. Rhopalurus agamemnon is a large scorpion found in the Cerrado (savanna) biome, and it is very abundant in many localities in central Brazil. The species inhabits open savanna environments, and is common inside termite mounds. However, it disappears from places where the native vegetation has been removed. The accidents reported present moderate symptoms of envenoming, but are based on questionable identifications. Here, we present a report on an accident that was certainly caused by Rhopalurus agamemnon. We conclude that the few reports available do not make it possible to evaluate the severity of such accidents and the possible risk to public health from this scorpion.

Reference:
Brandao RA, Francoso RD. Acidente por Rhopalurus agamemnon (Koch, 1839) (Scorpiones, Buthidae). Rev Soc Bras Med Trop. 2010 Jun;43(3):342-4. [Free fulltext - The paper is at the end of the page under the Case Report section]

Family Buthidae

A new Buthoscorpio from India

A new species in the rare and little known genus Buthoscorpio Werner, 1936 has been described from India by Javed et al.:

Buthoscorpio rayalensis Javed, Rao, Mirza, Sanap & Tampal, 2010 (Buthidae)

In the same paper, the author discuss the status of B. jinnahii Amir, Kamaluddin & Jabbar, 2005 and B. rahmatii Amir, Kamaluddin & Jabbar, 2005 (they were originally described in the non-valid genus Stenochirus by the authors). A study of the descriptions of these two species shows that they can not belong to the genus Buthoscorpio. The two taxa are now Buthidae incertae sedis and are not included in the total number species of Buthidae in The Scorpion Files.

Abstract:
A new species of scorpion, Buthoscorpio rayalensis sp. nov., is described from Andhra Pradesh, India. The new species of scorpion can be differentiated from its congeners in having the following set of morphological characters: anterior edge of carapace exhibiting very broad subtle indentation with a conspicuous epistome present medially, median eyes situated anteriorly in the ratio 1:3.1, interocular area smooth, patella anteriorly smooth and rounded, mesosomal tergites smooth, pectines 17–17, and arrangement of lateral eyes. Stenochirus jinnahii Amir, Kama-luddin et Jabbar, 2005 and S. rahmatii Amir, Kamaluddin et Jabbar, 2005 are considered Buthidae incertae sedis as their generic allocation has been erroneous.

Reference:
Maqsood Javed SM, Thulsi Rao K, Mirza ZA, Sanap RV, Tampal F. A new species of scorpion of the genus Buthoscorpio Werner, 1936 (Scorpiones: Buthidae) from Andhra Pradesh, India. Euscorpius. 2010(98):1-11. [free fulltext]

Family Buthidae