Indian Scorpions eGuide for IOS and Android

If you are interested in Indian scorpions, there is now available an Indian Scorpions eGuide for IOS and Android. The app presents details for 38 species of India's more than 120 species, and has many high quality pictures of the scorpions. The app costs $ 3.79.

I have not yet downloaded the app, but the author is Zeeshan Mirza, is a well known Indian scorpion zoologist, and I'm quite sure that the quality of this app is good and will be useful both for professionals and amateurs. Hopefully, the app will include more species in the future.

Indian Scorpions eGuide (IOS)

Indian Scorpions eGuide (Android)

A new species of Auyantepuia from French Guiana

Eric Ythier has recently described a new species in the genus Auyantepuia Gonzalez-Sponga, 1978 (Chactidae) from French Guiana.

Auyantepuia laurae Ythier, 2015

The genus Auyantepuia was synonymized with other genera by Soleglad & Fet, 2005. Lourenço & Qi (2007) chose not to accept this synonymization, and described the new species in Auyantepuia in 2007. The same has been done in the present paper.The taxonomy of The Scorpion Files follows Soleglad & Fet (2005), but it is impossible for me to know where to put the new species. To solve this, I have reinstated Auyantepuia in The Scorpion Files for species described after the synonymization until a new revision on the family Chactidae is published.

Abstract:
A new species of scorpion belonging to the genus Auyantepuia González-Sponga, 1978 (family Chactidae Pocock, 1893) is described on the basis of three specimens collected in a rainforest formation located in Saut Sabbat, South of Mana, French Guiana. This is the tenth species of the Guiano-Amazonian genus Auyantepuia, and the fifth reported from French Guiana.

Reference:
Ythier E. A new species of Auyantepuia González-Sponga, 1978 (Scorpiones, Chactidae) from French Guiana. ZooKeys. 2015;539:97-109. [Open Access]

Thanks to Eric Ythier for sending me his article!

Family Chactidae

Three new Uroplectes from tropical central Africa

The scorpion fauna of tropical, central Africa is poorly known and much of the knowledge we have is based on old materials collected before the use of UV-lights and other modern trapping methods. The scorpion diversity in this area is probably greater than previously known.

Lorenzo Prendini has now published an article based on new material of Uroplectes Peters, 1861 (Buthidae) from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Three new species are described.

Uroplectes katangensis Prendini, 2015 (Malawi)

Uroplectes malawicus Prendini, 2015 (Malawi)

Uroplectes zambezicus Prendini, 2015 (Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe)

In addition, the following taxa are synonymized (or previous synonymizations are confirmed):

Scorpiobuthus apatris Werner, 1939 = Uroplectes chubbi Hirst, 1911
Uroplectes jutrzenkai Penther, 1900 = Uroplectes vittatus (Thorell, 1876).
Uroplectes andreae Pocock, 1899 = Uroplectes occidentalis Simon, 1876 (new synonym)
Uroplectes chubbi briodi Schenkel, 1932 = Uroplectes vittatus (Thorell, 1876) (new synonym)

Abstract:
The scorpion fauna of tropical central Africa is poorly known and may be more diverse than generally recognized. The present contribution describes three morphologically similar, and probably monophyletic species of Uroplectes Peters, 1861, which have gone undetected, despite being distributed across a large area, extending from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Uroplectes malawicus, sp. nov., and Uroplectes zambezicus, sp. nov., occurring south of Lake Malawi and in the Zambezi River Valley, respectively, appear to be sister species. Uroplectes katangensis, sp. nov., is based on a single female from the southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Based on their punctate metasomal segments, the new species appear to be most closely related to Uroplectes chubbi Hirst, 1911. The markedly concave, shagreened dorsomedian surfaces on metasomal segments I–IV resemble the stridulatory surfaces on the metasomal segments of most Parabuthus Pocock, 1890, and, together with the robust metasoma and worn tips of the aculeus observed in some specimens, suggest that these species may also be capable of stridulation. Based on examination of type material, the following synonyms were confirmed: Scorpiobuthus apatris Werner, 1939 = Uroplectes chubbi Hirst, 1911; Uroplectes jutrzenkai Penther, 1900 = Uroplectes vittatus (Thorell, 1876). The following new synonyms are presented: Uroplectes andreae Pocock, 1899 = Uroplectes occidentalis Simon, 1876, new synonym; Uroplectes chubbi briodi Schenkel, 1932 = Uroplectes vittatus (Thorell, 1876), new synonym. Lectotypes are designated for U. chubbi and U. jutrzenkai.

Reference:
Prendini L. Three new Uroplectes (Scorpiones, Buthidae) with punctate metasomal segments from tropical central Africa. American Museum Novitates. 2015 (3840):1-32. [Open Access]

Family Buthidae

A new species of Centruroides from Mexico

Rolando Teruel and co-workers have recently published a new species of Centruroides Marx, 1890 (Buthidae) from Western Mexico.

Centruroides huichol Teruel, Ponce-Saavedra & Quijano-Ravell, 2015

The article also presents a redescription of the medical important species Centruroides noxius Hoffmann, 1932.

Abstract:
In the present contribution, we redescribe the scorpion species Centruroides noxius Hoffmann, 1932, highly toxic and endemic to western Mexico (state of Nayarit). Its diagnosis is updated according to the modern standards for the genus, and enhanced with a photographic complement that depicts its main diagnostic characters. A new closely related species is also described from the same state, and some comments on the taxonomy and distribution of both taxa are given.

Reference:
Teruel R, Ponce-Saavedra J, Quijano-Ravell AF. Redescription of Centruroides noxius and description of a closely related new species from western Mexico (Scorpiones: Buthidae). Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad. 2015;In Press. [Open Access]

Thanks to Dr. Teruel for sending me this article!

Family Buthidae