01 April, 2010

A new Hottentotta from Afghanistan

A few years ago I recceived a couple of live Hottentotta from a Belgian soldier in Afghanistan. I belived these to belong to Hottentotta alticola. Last year I sent a specimen to my good friend Rolando Teruel, who discovered that these specimens actually didn't match the description of any known species. Now, I'm proud to present my first paper (together with Rolando, of course :) describing a new scorpion species:

Hottentotta flavidulus Teruel & Rein, 2010 (Buthidae)

In this paper we also transfer Mesobuthus songi Lourenco, Qi & Zhu, 2005 to Hottentotta. New name is Hottentotta songi (Lourenco, Qi & Zhu, 2005).

Abstract:
A new species of Hottentotta Birula, 1908 is described from the Kabul area in Afghanistan; this addition represents the fifth species of this genus confirmed for this Middle East country. It is a member of the “Indian group” of the genus (the first one recorded from Afghanistan), and is most closely related to Hottentotta jabalpurensis Kovařík, 2007, Hottentotta stockwelliHottentotta tamulus (Fabricius, 1798) and Hottentotta songi (Lourenço, Qi et Zhu, 2005) n. comb., which is herein demonstrated to be a member of Hottentotta and is thus formally transferred to this genus.

Reference:
Teruel R, Rein JO. A new Hottentotta Birula, 1908 from Afghanistan, with a note on the generic position of Mesobuthus songi Lourenco, Qi & Zhu, 2005 (Scorpiones: Buthidae). Euscorpius. 2010 (94):1-8. [Free fulltext]

Family Buthidae

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