26 February, 2010

A new Chaerilus from the Himalayas (Nepal)

Lourenco & Duhem have described a new species of Chaerilus (Chaerilidae) from Nepal:

Chaerilus annapurna Lourenco & Duhem, 2010

The article also discuss the status of the different Chaerilus species reported from the Himalaya region.

Abstract:
A new species is described belonging to the genus Chaerilus Simon, 1877. Chaerilus annapurnaChaerilus truncatus Karsch, 1879, originally described from an imprecise locality in Himalaya. This species has recently been discussed by several authors: nevertheless, it has the subject of misidentification. sp. n. was discovered in the high plateaux of the Himalayas in Central-Western Nepal. For comparative purposes a precise re-diagnosis is proposed for

Reference:
Lourenco WR, Duhem B. The genus Chaerilus Simon, 1877 (Scorpiones, Chaerilidae) in the Himalayas and description of a new species. ZooKeys. 2010;37:13-25. [Free fultext]

Family Chaerilidae

A new Mesobuthus from China

The scorpion fauna of China has been quite unknown and not studied for many years. Fortunately, a group of Chinese researchers are now working on updating our knowledge about the scorpion fauna of China. A new species of Mesobuthus (Buthidae) has now been described from Xinjiang, China:

Mesobuthus longichelus Sun & Zhu, 2010

The article has an identification key for the Mesobuthus species in the region.

Abstract:
A new species of the genus Mesobuthus Vachon, 1950 is described, based on specimens collected in the northern piedmont of the Tianshan Mountains, Xinjiang. It is characterized by a slender chela, general coloration yellow to pale brownish-yellow, elongate aculeus and 2–4 markedly large and moderately extroversive lobed granules of the ventrolateral carinae of metasoma segment V. With the description of this new species, the number of known Chinese species of Mesobuthus is raised to five.

Reference:
Sun D, Zhu MS. A new species of the genus Mesobuthus Vachon, 1950 (Scorpiones, Buthidae) from Xinjiang, China. ZooKeys. 2010;37:1-12. [Free fulltext]

Family Buthidae

18 February, 2010

New Euscorpiops from China

Zhi-Young Di and co-workers have recently described a new species of Euscorpiops (Euscorpiidae) from Yunnan in China.

Euscorpiops validus Di, Cao, Wu & Li, 2010

Abstract:
A new species of scorpion, Euscorpiops validus sp. nov. (Euscorpiidae) is described from Honghe Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China. The new species can be characterized by having 18 (rarely 17) external trichobothria (5 eb, 2 esb, 2 em, 4 est, 5 et), and 9 or 10 (rarely 8 or 11) ventral trichobothria in the pedipalp patella; a pair of strong chela with a length/width ratio average of 3.0 on males and 3.1 on females; chela fingers strongly curved; cheliceral movable fingers with 6 or 7 (rarely 4 or 5) basal teeth on ventral edge; and pectinal fulcra present.

Reference:
Di Z-Y, Cao Z-J, Wu Y-L, Li W-X. A new species of the genus Euscorpiops Vachon, 1980 (Scorpiones: Euscorpiidae, Scorpopinae) from Yunnan, China. Zootaxa. 2010 (2361):13-22. [Subscription required for fulltext]

Family Euscorpiidae