A Revision of the Anatolian-Caucasian “Euscorpius mingrelicus Complex” and three new species

Gioele Tropea, Ersen Yagmur and Victor Fet have recently published a revision of the Anatolian-Caucasian “Euscorpius mingrelicus Complex”, which has not been subjected to modern invesigations. As with many of the other "old" Euscorpius species, E. mingrelicus (Kessler, 1874) (Euscorpiidae) also turns out to hide several species.

These are the main conclusions of this study:

The following subspecies (to E. mingrelicus) have been given species status:

Euscorpius ciliciensis Birula, 1898 (Turkey: Konya and Mersin Provinces (eastern part of the Central Taurus Mts.))

Euscorpius phrygius Bonacina, 1980 (Turkey (northwest: Ankara, Bolu, Düzce, Karabük, and Sakarya Provinces))

Euscorpius uludagensis Lacroix, 1995 (Turkey (northwest: Bursa Province))

Euscorpius mingrelicus is now restricted to Georgia (west), Russia (southwest; Krasnodar Province near its border with northwestern Georgia) and Turkey (north).

Two subspecies are synonymized (see abstract below).

The article has habitat descriptions and pictures, and an identification key for the taxa described in the article.

Interestingly, E. ciliciensis was collected up to 2700 m, which is a record altitude for the genus.

Abstract:
The taxonomic status of the Anatolian-Caucasian subspecies of Euscorpius mingrelicus (Kessler, 1874) is reconsidered. We restrict E. mingrelicus s.str. to Georgia and Turkey, and elevate to species status three of its subspecies: E. phrygius Bonacina, 1980, stat. n., E. uludagensis Lacroix, 1995, stat. n., and E. ciliciensis Birula, 1898, stat. n. We synonymize E. mingrelicus legrandi Lacroix, 1995 with E. phrygius stat. n., and E. m. ollivieri Lacroix, 1995, with E. mingrelicus.

Reference:
Tropea G, Yagmur EA, Fet V. A Revision of the Anatolian-Caucasian “Euscorpius mingrelicus Complex” (Scorpiones: Euscorpiidae). Euscorpius. 2015 (203):1-32. [Open Access]

Thanks to Gioele Tropea for sending me the article!

Family Euscorpiidae