Two new species described in the fascinating genus Megacormus from eastern Mexico

 

The genus Megacormus Karsch, 1881 (Euscorpiidae) is a small and fascinating genus that are reported  from tropical forest habitats in southeastern Mexico.  A special characteristics with this genus is that the species share a number of morphological features with the widespread European genera Alpiscorpius Gantenbein et al., 1999, Euscorpius Thorell, 1876 and Tetratrichobothrius Birula, 1917, and this is the reason why this genus is currently placed in the family Euscorpiidae. 

Rolando Teruel and co-workers have now described two new species in the genus from eastern Mexico.

Megacormus orizaba Teruel, Kovarik, Lowe & Stahlavsky, 2023

Megacormus seductus Teruel, Kovarik, Lowe & Stahlavsky, 2023

The article has information about the new species' habitat and also provides an updated identification key for the genus.

Abstract:
Two new species of the very interesting euscorpiid scorpion genus Megacormus Karsch, 1881, are herein described from eastern Mexico. Both had been previously misidentified in the published literature, one as Megacormus segmentatus Pocock, 1900, the other as Megacormus granosus (Gervais, 1844), but the direct comparison of adults of both sexes to adult topotypes from all members of the genus currently accepted as valid taxa, revealed solid morphological characters that warrant their recognition as distinct taxa. Both new species seem also to be endemics with a small distribution area, but apparently not restricted to a single locality. This addition raises the known composition of the genus to eight species, all of them exclusively from mountain sites of eastern Mexico.

Reference:
Teruel R, Kovarik F, Lowe G, Stahlavsky F. Two new species of the remarkable scorpion genus Megacormus Karsch, 1881 (Scorpiones: Euscorpiidae). Euscorpius. 2023(375):1-22. [Open Access]

Family Euscorpiidae