A new scorpion book has been published in Dutch

Dutch scorpion enthusiast Jeroen Kooijman has recently authored a scorpion book written in Dutch. Kooijman is an experienced scorpion enthusiast that has been keeping and breeding scorpions for more than 20 years. He has also given lectures, courses and more about scorpions in The Netherlands for many years. This is the first scorpion book in Dutch, complimenting the books already available in English and German.

I haven't seen the book yet, but based on my knowledge of Jeroen and the Dutch scorpion community I'm quite sure that this will be an important information source about scorpions in captivity and in general.

The book is published by the Dutch Scorpion Society and can be ordered from info@schorpioen.org.

A new species of Vaejovis from Sonora, Mexico

Diego A. Barrales-Alcalá and co-workers have recently published an article describing a new species of Vaejovis C. L. Koch, 1836 (Vaejovidae) from Sonora, Mexico.

Vaejovis islaserrano Barrales-Alcalá, Francke, Van Devender & Contreras-Félix, 2018

Abstract:
Vaejovis islaserrano sp. n. is described from the Sierras Elenita and La Mariquita, Municipio de Cananea, Sonora, Mexico. This species belongs to the “vorhiesi” group of the genus Vaejovis and inhabits pine-oak forests in northern Mexico. This species is compared to its most similar species. This new species presents an interesting morphological difference from the rest of the species in the species-group: the absence of a subaculear tubercle or spine.

Reference:
Barrales-Alcalá DA, Francke OF, Van Devender TR, Contreras-Félix GA. A new Sky Island species of Vaejovis C. L. Koch, 1836 from Sonora, Mexico (Scorpiones, Vaejovidae). ZooKeys. 2018(760):37-53. [Open Access]

Thanks to Oscar Francke for sending me this article!

Family Vaejovidae

A revision of the genus Butheolus with a new genus and species

Graeme Lowe has recently published a revision of the genus Butheolus Simon, 1882 (Buthidae) mainly based on materials from Oman. The main conclusions are:

Xenobuthus Lowe, 2018 (new genus distributed in Oman, Saudi Arabia and Yemen).
Xenobuthus anthracinus (Pocock, 1895) (redescribed and moved from Butheolus).
Xenobuthus arabicus ((Lourenço & Qi, 2006) (moved from Butheolus).
Xenobuthus xanthus Lowe, 2018 (new species from Oman).

Butheolus harrisoni Lowe, 2018 (new species from Oman).

The article has has an identification guide for the genera Butheolus and Xenobuthus.

Abstract:
The genus Butheolus Simon, 1882 is revised based on new material from Dhofar Province in Oman. B. gallagheri Vachon, 1980 is redescribed, and a related new species, B. harrisoni sp. n., is also described. The species B. anthracinus (Pocock, 1895) is redescribed and moved to a new genus Xenobuthus gen. n., that is differentiated from Butheolus by size, pedipalp finger dentition, setation, granulation and hemispermatophore structure, and a related new species, X. xanthus sp. n., is also described. Revised diagnoses are provided for the genus Butheolus, and for the species B. thalassinus Simon, 1882, and B. villosus Hendrixson, 2006, a key is given for the species examined in this study, and the status of other related species discussed.

Reference:
Lowe G. The genera Butheolus Simon, 1882 and Xenobuthus gen. nov. (Scorpiones: Buthidae) in Oman. Euscorpius. 2018(261):1-73. [Open Access]

Family Buthidae

Catalog of the Scorpions of the World (1758-1998) is now freely available in full text

The Catalog of the Scorpions of the World (1758-1998) was the first publication in 100 years trying to list all scorpion taxa in the world when it was published in 2000. Since then, a lot of changes and new updates have been published, but this book is still an essential source for all researchers working on scorpion taxonomy.

I recently learned that the Catalog of the Scorpions of the World (1758-1998) is now freely available in full text for all in Marshall Digital Scholar. This is great news for the scorpion community.

Catalog of the Scorpions of the World (1758-1998)

Due to the size of the book, each chapter can be downloaded separately.

Reference:
Fet, Victor, W. David Sissom, Graeme Lowe, and Matt E. Braunwalder. Catalog of the Scorpions of the World (1758-1998). New York Entomological Society, 2000.