A new species of Parabuthus from Ethiopia

 

Frantisek Kovarik and Hassan Elmi published this week a new species in my favorite genus Parabuthus Pocock, 1890 (Buthidae) from Ethiopia.

Parabuthus qaraaf Kovarik & Elmi, 2025

A map showing the distribution of the 19 known Parabuthus species from The Horn of Africa is also presented.

Abstract:
A new species Parabuthus qaraaf sp. n. from Ethiopia is described. Combination of six characters: metasoma V black; pectine teeth number 33–42 in both sexes; pedipalp chela length/ width ratio 3.3 in male and 4.2 in female; pedipalp patella length/ wide ratio 2.36–2.38 in both sexes; fingers of pedipalp of male with inner side of base smooth, no trace of tubercle; metasoma V length/ wide ratio is 1.50 in male distinguish P. qaraaf sp. n. from all other species in the region. Included is also a map of distribution of Parabuthus species in Horn of Africa, with newly confirmed localities for Parabuthus granimanus Pocock, 1895 and P. robustus Kovařík et al., 2019.

Reference:
Kovarik F, Elmi HSA. Scorpions of the Horn of Africa (Arachnida: Scorpiones). Part XLII. Parabuthus qaraaf sp. n. from Ethiopia (Buthidae). Euscorpius. 2025(419):1–11. [Open Access]

Family Buthidae