Assasin bug feeding on a Tityus species in Brazil

As previously mentioned in the blog, scorpions have many enemies hunting and feeding on them. Andre Lira and co-workers have now reported about an assasin bug (Heteroptera: Reduviidae) feeding on a Tityus pusillus Pocok, 1893 (Buthidae) in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Interestingly, the assasin bug was almost half the size of its scorpion prey. This observation extends the list of invertebrate predators of scorpions.

Abstract:
Litter-dwelling arthropods comprise about three-fourths of the total animal biomass in tropical forests. These invertebrates are involved in many interspecific interactions, from mutualism to predation. We report herein the predation of a scorpion by an immature assassin bug (Harpactorini) during a nocturnal manual search for scorpions in a fragment of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. The specimens were found 15 cm above the ground on a seedling, and the prey was two-fold larger than the predator. The assassin bug had its rostrum inserted into the pleura of a juvenile Tityus pusillus Pocock, 1893 scorpion, between the first and second segments of the mesosoma; when disturbed, the predator jumped to the leaf litter without releasing its prey. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of juvenile predator–prey interactions between a heteropteran and a scorpion in this biome.

Reference:
Lira AFdA, Araujo VLNd, Albuquerque CMRd. Predation of a scorpion (Scorpiones: Buthidae) by an assassin bug (Heteroptera: Reduviidae) in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Turkish Journal of Arachnology. 2016;40:294-6. [Open Access]

Thanks to Andre Lira for sending me his article!

A new scorpion book has been published

A new scorpion book has recently been published by Dr. M. Habibulla entitled "The Secretive Life of the Amazing ‘Living Fossil' Scorpion". The book presents different sides of scorpion biology and is illustrated with color pictures. The book may be of interest for both professionals and scorpion enthusiasts.

Publishers overview: 
Scorpions began roaming the earth two hundred million years before dinosaurs, and yet they receive little fanfare. They are usually perceived as threats just waiting to sting and poison anyone they come across—some people even consider them to be evil. But the reality is that these armored arthropods are fascinating, beautiful invertebrates belonging to the group Arachnida, and the living scorpion of today has not changed much from their ancestors that lived hundreds of millions of years ago during the Silurian period. The scorpion has been with us for so long—and has had to evolve so little in terms of its structure and function—that it's now considered a living fossil. It was the first air-breathing, land-dwelling animal to inhabit the planet. They are truly fascinating: Scorpions are highly resistant to radioactivity, they can reproduce without males, they can give birth to as many as sixty little scorpions at a time, and they are so desperate to survive that they'll eat other scorpions when food is scarce. Explore the mysteries of this amazing creature, including its physiology, neurochemistry and natural behavior with The Secretive Life of the Amazing ‘Living Fossil' Scorpion.

Reference:
Habibulla M. The Secretive Life of the Amazing ‘Living Fossil' Scorpion. Bloomington, IN: Archways Publishing; 2016. 165 pp.

The book is available both in print and as an ebook, and can be purchased from Archways Publishing.

Thanks to Dr. Habibulla for sending me his book!

Two new Vaejovis species from Mexico

David Sissom and co-workers have recently published two new species of Vaejovis C. L. Koch, 1836 (Vaejovidae) from the highlands of the Sierra Madre Occidental, Durango, Mexico.

Vaejovis mcwesti Sissom, Graham, Donaldson & Bryson Jr, 2016

Vaejovis sierrae Sissom, Graham, Donaldson & Bryson Jr, 2016

Abstract:
Two new species of the mexicanus group of Vaejovis C.L. Koch are described from the Madrean pine-oak forests of the Sierra Madre Occidental in the state of Durango, Mexico. These species, Vaejovis sierrae sp. nov. and Vaejovis mcwesti sp. nov., are distinguished from each other and the only other species of the mexicanus group known from this mountain range, Vaejovis montanus Graham and Bryson, by morphometrics, carinal development of the pedipalps, granulation of the metasoma, and body size. A key to the species of the mexicanus group from the Sierra Madre Occidental is provided.

Reference:
Sissom WD, Graham MR, Donaldson TG, Bryson Jr RW. Two new Vaejovis C.L. Koch 1836 from highlands of the Sierra Madre Occidental, Durango, Mexico (Scorpiones, Vaejovidae). Insecta Mundi. 2016 (0477):1-14. [Open Access]

Editor's personal note:  Congratulations, Kari, and welcome in the club! ;)

Family Vaejovidae

A few taxonomical corrections in the genus Tityus

Wilson Lourenco has recently published a paper discussing the taxonomical status for some Amazonian Tityus C. L. Koch, 1836 species (Buthidae). Here are the main conclusions:

Tityus apiacas Lourenço 2002 is considered a distinct species from T. obscurus (Gervais, 1843).

Tityus carolineae Kovarik, Teruel, Cozijn & Seiter, 2013 is synonymized with T. metuendus Pocock, 1897.

 Tityus dillerorum Kovarik, Teruel, Lowe & Friedrich, 2015 is synonymized with T. gasci Lourenço, 1982.

Tityus wachteli Kovarik, Teruel, Lowe & Friedrich, 2015 is synonymized with T. silvestris Pocock, 1897.

Abstract:
Some recent taxonomical decisions and descriptions of new species on the genus Tityus C. L. Koch, 1836 for the Amazonian region, based only on typological considerations, led to some major errors. The authors of these decisions/descriptions totally neglected the palaeoclimatic and biogeographic factors that strongly influenced the observed patterns of distribution and differentiation of the species in this tropical region of South America. A number of amendments is proposed here to correct these errors: I) Tityus apiacas Lourenco, 2002 is reconsidered as a distinct species from Tityus obscurus (Gervais, 1843), both species presenting totally allopatric distributions, II) Tityus carolineae Kovarik, teruel, Cozjin et Seiter, 2013 is placed in synonymy of Tityus metuendus Pocock, 1897, III) Tityus dilleorum Kovarik, Teruel, Lowe et Friedrich, 2015 and Tityus wachteli Kovarik, Teruel, Lowe et Friedrich, 2015 are placed respectively in the synonymies of Tityus gasci Lourenco, 1981 and Tityus silvestris Pocock, 1897.

Reference:
Lourenco WR. A propos de quelques amendements sur quelques especes du genre Tityus C. L. Koch, 1836 (Scorpiones: Buthidae) de la region amazonienne. Arachnida - Rivista Aracnologica Italiana. 2016;7:1-17.

Thanks to Eric Ythier for sending me this article!

Family Buthidae

New information on the "giant" scorpions of West Africa protected by Cites

Very large scorpions have been reported from West Africa since the 19th century. Large size and docile behavior made these "gentle giants" popular in the pet trade for many years, causing them to be put on the CITES list, Appendix II in 1996 because their vulnerable status caused by exportation for the pet trade, especially to Europe, the USA and Japan.

The taxonomy and the distribution of the "giant" scorpions has been little known. In the beginning, only Pandinus imperator (C. L. Koch, 1841) was known. I recent years, investigations have added four more species in the "giant scorpions of West Africa" group: Pandinopsis dictator Pocock, 1888, Pandinus gambiensis Pocock, 1900, Pandinus roeseli (Simon, 1872) and Pandinus ulderigoi Rossi, 2014.

Andrea Rossi has now published a paper presenting new information on some of the species mentioned above and an identification key for the "giant" species is also presented. Rossi also recommend that Pandinus ulderigoi Rossi, 2014 is added to the CITES protection list (the other species are already protected by CITES).

Abstract:
Discoveries of new species of giant scorpion (more than 14 cm in total length) are considered extremely rare. Among the largest scorpions in the world there are some species from West Africa, very popular in the pet trade and, for this reason, protected by the Washington Convention (CITES). Besides the three well-known protected species – Pandinus imperator (C. L. Koch, 1841), Pandinopsis dictator (Pocock, 1888) and Pandinus gambiensis Pocock, 1900 – a fourth giant species, Pandinus ulderigoi Rossi, 2014, was recently described from a supposedly unknown locality in the Central African Republic. Unpublished notes, just discovered, allow clarification of the exact type locality of this species. Besides newly examined material from the type locality, representative of both sexes, allows better definition of the characters of this species including its unusual trichobothrial pattern. A fifth giant species, Pandinus roeseli (Simon, 1872), recently revalidated from Pandinus imperator, is automatically included among the protected species. In light of the vulnerable status, the similar general appearance, the possibly restricted and continuous distribution with regards to the four protected species as well as the recent import suspension of P. imperator from Ghana, P. ulderigoi should be added to the Pandinus species protected by the Washington Convention.

Reference:
Rossi A. Clarification of the type locality of Pandinus ulderigoi with notes on the scorpions protected by CITES (Scorpiones: Scorpionidae). [Proceedings of the 28th European Congress of Arachnology, Torino, 2014 August 24-29]. Arachnologische Mitteilungen. 2015;49:47-54. [Open Access]

Thanks to Andrea Rossi for sending me his article!

Family Scorpionidae

A new Scorpio species from southern Algeria

Wilson Lourenco and Andrea Rossi have recently described a new species of Scorpio Linnaeus, 1758 (Scorpionidae) from the Tassili N’Ajjer Mountains in South Algeria.

Scorpio tassili Lourenco & Rossi, 2016

Abstract:
In recent publications about the genus Scorpio Linnaeus, 1758, it was suggested that the population previously cited from the Tassili N’Ajjer Mountains in the South of Algeria, could represent a distinct species. Intensive investigation in the collections of the Natural History Museum in Paris, led to the location of the only known specimen collected by F. Bernard in 1949. The present study of this female specimen confirms its position as a new species of Scorpio and, curiously, shows that the Tassili N’Ajjer population seems to have more affinities with S. niger Lourenço & Cloudsley-Thompson, 2012 known from Niger than to S. punicus Fet, 2000, distributed in the high plateaus of Tunisia and North of Algeria. The new species is described here and, as in previous studied cases, the Saharan Massifs prove to be very important endemic centres within the Sahara desert.

Reference:
Lourenco WR, Rossi A. Confirmation of a new species of Scorpio Linnaeus, 1758 in the Tassili N’Ajjer Mountains, South Algeria (Scorpiones: Scorpionidae). Onychium. 2016;12:11-8.[Open Access]

Family Scorpionidae

First report of pectine malformations in the genus Euscorpius

Body malformations and anomalies in scorpions are reported from time to time, but are generally quite rare. One of the most famous cases was Pepe - The two-tailed scorpion (a Centruroides excilicauda with two tails). In a recent article, Miroslav Saric and Jovana Tomic report about malformed pectines in a scorpion in the genus Euscorpius Thorell, 1876 (Euscorpiidae).

Teratology in Scorpions is discussed.

Abstract:
A teratological change in a pectinal organ of Euscorpius cf. carpathicus (C. L. Koch, 1837) from Serbia had been examined using SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy), and compared to specimens with normally developed pectines. Possible reasons for this anomaly are discussed.

Reference:
Šarić M, Tomić J. The first record of malformed pectines in genus Euscorpius (Scorpiones: Euscorpiidae). Euscorpius. 2016 (221):1-10. [Open Access]

Thanks to Miroslav Saric for informing me about their article!