New species in the rare genus Alloscorpiops from Vietnam

The members of the genus Alloscorpiops Vachon, 1980 (Euscorpiidae) are scarce and several of the species are found in caves systems. Wilson Lourenco and Din-Sac Pham have now discovered a new species in this genus from a cave in the Song Thanh Nature Reserve, Cha Vanh Commune, Nam Giang District in Vietnam. The only specimen found were located 60 meters inside the cave.

Alloscorpiops troglodytes Lourenco & Pham, 2015

In the same paper, Alloscorpiops lindstroemii (Thorell, 1889) is restored from synonymy.

The paper has an identification key for the genus.

Abstract:
Among the genera of the subfamily Scorpiopinae Kraepelin, 1905 Alloscorpiops remains rather discrete. Only recently new species were added to this genus, increasing its number from two to five. Therefore, species of Alloscorpiops remain rare. One remarkable new species, Alloscorpiops troglodytes sp. n., is described on the basis of a single male specimen collected inside a cave from Song Thanh Nature Reserve, Cha Vanh Commune, Nam Giang District in Vietnam. The new species presents most features exhibited by scorpions of the genus Alloscorpiops, but it is characterized by reduced size, slender body and elongated pedipalps. This new scorpion taxon represents the third species of Scorpiopinae discovered in a cave system, and may be another endemic element in the fauna of Vietnam.

Reference:
Lourenco WR, Pham D-S. A remarkable new species of Alloscorpiops Vachon, 1980 from a cave in Vietnam (Scorpiones, Euscorpiidae, Scorpiopinae). ZooKeys. 2015;500:73-82. [Open Access]

Thanks to professor Lourenco for sending me this paper!

Family Euscorpiidae