Two new species of Neobuthus from Eritrea and Ethiopia

Graeme Lowe and Frantisek Kovarik has recently published a new article on the genus Neobuthus Hirst, 1911 (Buthidae) from the Horn of Africa. Two new species are described:

Neobuthus eritreaensis Lowe & Kovarik, 2016 (Eritrea)

Neobuthus kutcheri Lowe & Kovarik, 2016 (Southern Ethiopia)

In addition, emended diagnosis for Neobuthus awashensis Kovařík & Lowe, 2012 and N. cloudsleythompsoni Lourenço, 2001 are presented. The article also present an identification key for six of the seven species in the genus.

Color pictures are presented for both scorpions and their natural habitats.

Abstract:
New information about the taxonomy and distribution of the genus Neobuthus Hirst, 1911 (Scorpiones: Buthidae) is presented, based on materials recently collected from Ethiopia and Eritrea. Emended diagnoses are provided for the genus Neobuthus, and for the species N. awashensis Kovařík et Lowe, 2012 and N. cloudsleythompsoni Lourenço, 2001. New records are given for N. awashensis in Ethiopia. We redescribe N. cloudsleythompsoni, and we describe two additional new species: N. eritreaensis sp. n. (the first record of the genus from Eritrea) and N. kutcheri sp. n. (southern Ethiopia, Somali State). We include a key to six members of the genus and discuss possible speciation mechanisms.

Reference:
Lowe G, Kovarik F. Scorpions of the Horn of Africa (Arachnida, Scorpiones). Part V. Two New Species of Neobuthus Hirst, 1911 (Buthidae), from Ethiopia and Eritrea. Euscorpius. 2016(224):1-46. [Open Access]

Family Buthidae