New vaejovid genus and species from Mexico

Mexico has a high scorpion diversity and many areas of the country have not yet been properly surveyed for scorpions. Oscar Francke and Javier Ponce-Saavedra now report about a new genus and species in the family Vaejovidae from Michoaca in Mexico.

Kuarapu Francke & Ponce-Saavedra, 2010
Kuarapu purhepecha Francke & Ponce-Saavedra, 2010

This small scorpion is only 2-3 cm long. "Kuarapu" means "scorpion" in the language of the local Tarascan Indians. The species names can be translated as "Tarascan scorpion", as "Purhepecha" is the term used by the Tarascan Indians to refer to themself.

Abstract:
Kuarapu purhepecha, gen. n., sp. n., from Municipio La Huacana, Michoacán, is described from eight adult specimens, four males and four females. It appears most closely related to Serradigitus Stahnke (tribe Stahnkeini Soleglad & Fet, 2006), sharing the serrated pedipalp finger dentition and the placement of trichobothria ib-it near the middle of the fixed finger. The characters that separate it from the four genera currently recognized in the tribe Stahnkeini are the presence of a retrobarbate mating plug in the spermatophore (smooth in other Stahnkeini), the presence of sensory pegs on the basal teeth of the pectines of females, and five distal spinules ventrally on telotarsus III (two on other Stahnkeini). Members of the tribe Syntropini Kraepelin, 1905 do not have serrated pedipalp finger dentition, and trichobothria ib-it are adjacent to the basal inner denticle.

Reference:
Francke OF, Ponce-Saavedra J. A new genus and species of scorpion (Scorpiones: Vaejovidae) from Michoacan, Mexico. Boletin de la SEA. 2010 (46):51-7.

Thanks to Oscar Francke for sending me this paper!

Family Vaejovidae