A new species of Vaejovis from Arizona, USA

Richard Ayrey has discovered a new Vaejovis species in Arizona, USA.

Richard Ayrey has recently published a new species of Vaejovis C. L. Koch, 1836 (Vaejovidae) from the Mogollon Rim of northern Arizona.

Vaejovis trinityae Ayrey, 2013

Interestingly, this is the first species if the "vorhiesi" group (15 species) that do not have a lithophilic life style (preferring a sloping or vertical rock habitat). The new species is found on the trunk of dead and live pine trees.

Abstract:
A  new scorpion species,  Vaejovis trinityae    sp. nov.  is described. This small brown  species is  found along the  Mogollon  Rim  above  Strawberry,  Arizona.  This  is  the  first  description  of  a  new  species  of  the  “vorhiesi”  group  scorpions  whose  DNA  phylogenetic  analysis  was  published  (Bryson  et  al.,  2013);  based  on  DNA  data,  the  new  species is most related to  V. lapidicola Stahnke  and  V. crumpi  Ayrey et Soleglad. It represents one of the “twentyseven geographically cohesive lineages inferred from the mtDNA tree”. A unique characteristic of this species is  that it exhibits arboreal behavior, being frequently found on Ponderosa pine trees.

Reference:
Ayrey RF. A new species of Vaejovis from the Mogollon Rim of northern Arizona (Scorpiones: Vaejovidae) Euscorpius. 2013 (176):1-13. [Free full text]

Family Vaejovidae