Orthochirus melanurus ( Kessler, 1874 )

Kovařík, FrantIšek, Fet, Victor & Yağmur, Ersen Aydın, 2020, Further review of Orthochirus Karsch, 1892 (Scorpiones: Buthidae) from Asia: taxonomic position of O. melanurus, O. persa, O. scrobiculosus, and description of six new species, Euscorpius 318, pp. 1-73 : 26-38

Orthochirus melanurus ( Kessler, 1874)

( Figures 1 , 133–188 , 343 , 350–351 , Table 2)

Androctonus melanurus Kessler, 1874: 16–18 , pl. I, fig. 1–3 (see our Fig. 350 ).

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AD47-4513-A8F2-0357143EEEED

SYNONYMS:

=? Orthochirus melanurus forma γ (concolor) Birula, 1898: 282–283 (type locality and type repository: Uzbekistan, Karshi [now Qarshi, 38.86°N 65.79°E]; ZISP No. 645, type lost). Syn. n. http: //zoobank. org/ urn : lsid: zoobank. org: act: 35B50AC1- 46A8-4355-8A3E -4DED66B1B97F

REFERENCES:

“ A small scorpion, yellowish green, with black tail”: Bogdanov, 1882: 47, one figure on p. 48 (see our Fig. 351 ).

Orthochirus melanurus: Birula, 1898: 281–283 (in part); Tikader & Bastawade, 1983: 134–140, figs. 367–381 (misidentification).

Butheolus melanurus (in part): Kraepelin, 1899: 35–36; Pocock, 1900: 28–29; Birula, 1900a: 13; Birula, 1903: 74–75; Birula, 1905a: 125–129.

Butheolus melanurus typicus: Birula, 1900b: 373–374 [not an available name since it was intended to designate the nominotypic subspecies B. m. melanurus ].

Butheolus melanurus concolor: Birula, 1900b: 374 .

Butheolus scrobiculosus melanurus: Birula, 1909: 359 .

Butheolus scrobiculosus concolor: Birula, 1909: 359 ; Werner, 1916: 81.

Orthochirus scrobiculosus: Fet, 1989: 114–115 (in part); Gromov & Kopdykbaev, 1994: 20; Fet & Lowe, 2000: 196 (complete reference list until 1998).

Orthochirus scrobiculosus scrobiculosus (in part): Fet, 1989: 116; Fet & Lowe, 2000: 197 (complete reference list until 1998).

Orthochirus scrobiculosus melanurus (in part): Birula, 1917: 241; Birula, 1918: 40; Birula, 1918: 39; Fet, 1989: 118; Fet & Lowe, 2000: 198 (complete reference list until 1998); Kovařík, 2004: 20.

Orthochirus scrobiculosus concolor: Birula, 1917: 241 ; Birula, 1918: 40; Birula, 1918: 40; Fet, 1989: 118; Fet, 1994: 530; Kovařík, 1998: 116; Fet & Lowe, 2000: 198 (complete reference list until 1998).; Kovařík, 2004: 20.

TYPE LOCALITY AND TYPE DEPOSITORY. Uzbekistan, central Kyzylkum Desert , exact locality unclear ; ZISP No. 667.

TYPE MATERIAL EXAMINED. 1♀ (lectotype, designated here, Figs. 133–139 ), “ Syr-Darya Province , Kyzylkum Desert ”, now Uzbekistan, exact locality unclear [approximately between 42°35'N 63°30'E and 41°00'N 62°00'E] , ZISP No. 667, leg. M[odest N.] Bogdanov , [April–May] 1873 (see History of Study below) .

OTHER TYPE MATERIAL (presumed lost). Paralectotypes: Kazakhstan, Mangystau Province , Tyubkaragan District , Novoalexandrovskoye (now in ruins), at Kaydak Bay (Sor Kaydak) [44°41'N 53°25'E], 2♀, leg. Alexander Lehmann, [1840] , ZISP No. 656; Turkmenistan, Krasnovodsk , no date, leg. Göbel, 3♂ 3♀ , ZISP No. 690 [belong to O. scrobiculosus ( Grube, 1873) ].

OTHER MATERIAL EXAMINED. Kazakhstan, Kyzylorda Province , Chiili District, ca 2.5 km NW Baigakum [formerly Dzhulek, or Djulek], 44°20'29" to 37"N 66°27'07" to 09"E, 127 m a. s. l., 25 May 2002, 6♂ 2♀ juvs. ( Figs. 141–184 ), leg. V. Fet & A . V. Gromov ( FKCP); Dzhulek [now Baigakum], 4 [Old Style, 17 New Style] May 1905, 1♀, leg. Yu. Beckmann , ZISP No. 665. Uzbekistan, Bokhara Province , [12 km from Qorovulbozor [39.50°N 64.80°Е], Djeiran Pitomnik (Gazelle Nursery), June 1989, 1♂ 1♀, leg. J. Růžička ( FKCP) . Jizzakh Province , Nuratau Range, May 1989, 1♂ 1♀, leg. D. Král ( FKCP) ; Nuratinski Reserve , Khayatsai Valley [40°30'29"N 66°43'26"E], 1400 m a.s.l., 15 May 1996, 1♀ ( FKCP) . Qashqadaryo Province , Qarshi ( Karshi ) Steppe near Muborak (Mubarek), 39°20'38"N 65°05'16"E, 272 m a. s. l., 10 May 2002, 1♂ 4♀ 2juvs., leg. V. Fet ( FKCP). Surxondaryo Province , Baysun District, Darband [Derbent], [38.1761°N 67.0351°Е], 02 May 1981, 1juv., leg. S. Bečvář ( FKCP) . Turkistan Province , Bel’tau Mts., 41°50'28.5"N 68°32'30.3"E, 392 m a. s. l., 12–13 May 2017, 2♂ 2♀, leg. Yu. V. Dyachkov (donated by A. A. Fomichev) ( FKCP) .

DIAGNOSIS (♂ ♀). Total length of adults 24–42 mm. Coloration of carapace, tergites, sternite VII and metasoma reddish black to black; sternites III – VI yellowish green to brown; pedipalps and legs usually yellow but femur and patella of pedipalps can be yellowish brown to black. Trichobothrium d 2 on dorsal surface of pedipalp femur usually present but could be absent. Pectinal teeth number 19–22 in males and 16–20 in females. Movable finger of pedipalps with 8–9 rows of denticles, 7–9 ID and 0–1 OD. Dorsal carinae on pedipalp patella developed and smooth. Pedipalp femur dorsal smooth. Metasoma I –II with 10 carinae, metasoma III with 6–8 carinae, metasoma IV – V with 2 dorsolateral carinae and incomplete ventrolateral carinae. Ventral carinae of metasoma I– III consist of large granules in one or two rows. Metasoma III – V ventrally and laterally smooth with fine punctation developed, spaces among punctae smooth; metasoma I–II ventrally and laterally smooth sparsely granulated with punctation reduced. Metasoma V dorsal surface mesially smooth or with several fine granules only; metasoma I dorsal with 11–22 large granules. Tergites roughly to finely granulated. Sternite VII granulated, with four granulated carinae present. Pedipalp, metasoma and telson glabrous. Moderate to strong tibial spurs present on legs III and IV. Tarsomere I of legs I– III with 5–8 long setae in both sexes. Ratio length/width of metasoma V 1.12–1.15 in males and 1.20–1.22 in females .

HISTORY OF STUDY. This species, which for a long time was considered a synonym or a subspecies of O. scrobiculosus (see below), was described by Karl F. Kessler (1815–1881), a great Russian zoologist of German extraction, at that time the Rector (President) of the St. Petersburg University. In the very first paper devoted to the scorpions of the Russian Empire, Kessler (1874: 16) listed syntypes from: “Ustyurt, Kyzylkum Desert, Transcaspia”, i.e. a very broad range across the lowland deserts of Central Asia then within the Russian Empire, now covering three independent countries: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. One of the syntypes of O. melanurus was depicted by Kessler (see our Fig. 350 ).

Kessler’s type specimens were studied by Birula (1898, 1900). Nine of these syntypes were still listed by Fet (1989) who studied the ZISP collection in the mid-1980s, and published following data: “ Kazakhstan, Mangyshlak Region, Novoalexandrovskoe, year? (A. Lehman), 2♀ ZIN-666 [error; should be 656; correct in Fet, 1989: 117]; Chimkent Province [error; see below], Kyzylkum Desert, 1873 (M. Bogdanov), 1♀, ZIN-667; Turkmenia, Krasnovodsk Region, Krasnovodsk, year? (Göbel), 3♂ 3♀, ZIN-690; all these specimens have a label “ Androctonus melanurus n.sp. teste Kessler” and the sample No. 666 [error; should be 656] was designated as ‘typus’ ( Fet, 1989: 113).

Fet & Lowe (2000: 196) listed one of the ZISP- 656 females from Novoalexandrovskoe as a ‘holotype’ and another as a ‘paratype’; they also listed ZISP-667 and 690 as ‘paratypes’. However, the label designation ‘typus’ by Kessler did not apply to the specific one of the two females in the ZIN-656 lot ( Fet, 1989), therefore there was no actual specimen with the holotype status designated by Kessler. Even if one argued that the listing of a ‘holotype’ by Fet & Lowe (2000: 196) could amount to an inadvertent designation of a lectotype, still, Fet & Lowe (2000) also did not physically mark one of the two females as a ‘holotype’. Therefore, all three of Kessler’s original lots (ZISP-656, 667, and 690) still have syntype status.

During our recent, exhaustive study of the ZISP collection (by F.K. and E.A.Y. in 2018–2019), the lots ZISP-656 (as well as ZISP-690 from Krasnovodsk, which likely belongs to O. scrobiculosus , see below) could not be found, and appear to be lost. Therefore, the lectotype of O. melanurus designated here is the only one available of Kessler’s syntypes, an adult female from the Kyzylkum Desert (ZISP-667) ( Fig. 139 ; the original page from Birula’s handwritten catalog).

The type locality of O. melanurus needs a detailed discussion as it is presently undefined. The lectotype was collected by another famous Russian zoologist, Modest N. Bogdanov (1841–1888), a student and a biographer of Kessler, who succeeded the latter as a zoology professor in the St. Petersburg University. Its label ( Fig. 138–139 ) says, in Russian, “Syr-Daryinskaya Obl., Kizyl-Kumy, 1873 [Syr- Darya Province, Kyzylkum Desert], M. Bogdanov”. Fet (1989: 113) assigned it to Chimkent Province in southern Kazakhstan, which is incorrect. Bogdanov was the very first naturalist who traveled in the Kyzylkum Desert, accompanying the formidable (12,000 soldiers) Russian military expedition of General von Kaufmann against the Khiva Khanate, then the last remaining independent state in Central Asia. Bogdanov traveled between lower Syrdarya and lower Amudarya Rivers; his travel report has been published ( Bogdanov, 1882).

O. melanurus was in fact mentioned (without using Kessler’s scientific name) by Bogdanov (1882: 47), and even depicted, along with a solpugid (a figure on p. 48, reproduced in our Fig. 351 ). Bogdanov addressed it as “a small scorpion, yellowish green, with black tail”, and mentioned that locals call it chayan —a ‘Kyrgyz’ (now Kazakh) word, which means ‘scorpion’ in many Turkic languages.

The lectotype of O. melanurus most likely was collected in the central Kyzylkum Desert , which Bodganov crossed in April–May 1873, prior to the military engagement with the Khiva Khanate in the end of May. Bodganov entered the territory of modern Uzbekistan on 12 April 1873 [“Old Style” (Julian), 25 April “New Style” (Gregorian)], at the Kizilkak Well , and continued along the Bukantau Mts. , Tamdy Oasis , and Uchuchak Hills. They reached Amudarya at the Uchuchak Hills , near the Lake Sardоbakul , on 11 May 1873 [“Old Style” (Julian), 24 May “New Style” (Gregorian)] ( Bogdanov, 1882: 50). Therefore , we can bracket the type locality range approximately between 42°35'N 63°30'E (Bukantau Mts) and 41°00'N 62°00'E (Lake Sardobakul) (the ellipse in Fig. 343 ) .

Two other syntype females in a vial labeled by Kessler himself as a “typus” (ZISP-656, now presumed lost) originated from Novoalexandrovskoe (modern western Kazakhstan), a very distant point compared to Bogdanov’s specimen. They were collected byAlexander Lehmann (1814–1842) a Russian- Estonian naturalist of Baltic German extraction who traveled to the eastern Caspian Sea shore in spring 1840. Birula (1904: 32) referred to this locality as “Novo-Alexandrovsk”. Fet (1989: 117) listed it as “Novoalexandrovskoe, now in ruins, environs of Fort-Shevchenko”.

Novoalexandrovskoe (Novo-Alexandrovskoe, Novo- Alexandrovsk) was a military fort established in 1834 by the Russian explorer Grigory Karelin (1801–1872) in 1834 at the northeastern shore of the Caspian Sea, at the Kaydak Bay (now Sor Kaydak, 44°41'N 53°25'E). This was the original site where Lehmann collected in 1840. Due to the drop in the sea level, in 1846 the fort was moved to the Mangyshlak Peninsula (at the Tyub-Karagan Cape) and renamed Novopetrovskoe; later it was again renamed Fort Alexandrovskii. The greatest Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko (1814–1861) was exiled there to served as an army private in 1850–1857. The town now is called Fort-Shevchenko ( Kazakhstan, Mangystau Province, 44°31'N 50°16'E).

This locality represents the northwesternmost known record for the genus Orthochirus . Gromov & Kopdykbaev (1994: 20) quote likely the same species (as ‘ O. scrobiculosus ’) as widespread in Kazakhstan, including northern deserts of Betpak-Dala and Moyunkum (Zhambyl Province) up to 45°27'N, the northernmost record of the genus, and to 73°59'E, the northeasternmost record. On the map ( Fig. 343 ), we included all four localities listed by Gromov & Kopdykbaev (1994) to show the range limits of the genus in Central Asia.

COMMENTS. Kessler’s original description of Androctonus melanurus (in Russian) clearly stated: “The most characteristic trait for this species are rather large pits, which are densely present on the sides and below on fourth and fifth segments of the tail. These pits begin already on the third segment, but there they are interspersed with granules, which are completely absent on fourth and fifth segments.” ( Kessler, 1874: 17). This species was first revised by Birula (1898) who observed a distinct variation among then available specimens. Birula (1898: 281–282) distinguished three “forms” under Orthochirus melanurus : “forma α (typica)”, “forma β (intermedia), and “forma γ (concolor).” Soon, Birula (1900a: 13; 1900b: 373) realized that his “forma α” (or “ Orthochirus melanurus typicus Birula ”; Turkmenistan), corresponded to Butheolus conchini Simon, 1899 , with metasoma IV–V granulated laterally and ventrally, while it was his “forma β ” (or “ Orthochirus melanurus intermedius Birula ” that corresponded to Kessler’s original description (i.e. had metasoma IV–V non-granulated ventrally). Birula (1900a: 13; 1900b: 373) noticed that some of Kessler’s syntypes from Krasnovodsk had granulated metasoma IV–V and corresponded therefore to Butheolus conchini – which, as Birula (1909) realized later, was a junior synonym of Androctonus scrobiculosus Grube, 1873 . Today, we see this morphological difference as the species-level distinction between O. scrobiculosus ( Grube, 1873) (see below) and O. melanurus ( Kessler, 1874) .

Birula (1900b, 1905a) treated his three ‘forms’ as subspecies of Butheolus melanurus (Kessler) . They were eventually considered to be subspecies of Orthochirus scrobiculosus by Birula (1917, 1918), and were not revised for the next 100 years ( Fet, 1989, 1994; Fet & Lowe, 2000).

In the unpublished catalog of the ZISP collection compiled by Birula until late 1920s (before he was demoted from ZISP directorship and arrested in 1931 for political reasons), the distinction between two subspecies (O. s. scrobiculosus and O. s. melanurus ) has been made, and a number of specimens have the subspecies assignment. We can see that, in Birula’s opinion, the two subspecies were allopatric in Turkmenistan (“formed vicariant clusters”; Fet, 1994: 530). Of these, only the western form is now confirmed as Orthochirus scrobiculosus Grube, 1873 ). The populations further east, listed by Birula to O. s. melanurus , are assigned by us to O. formozovi sp. n. (Kopetdagh, Badghyz) and O. gromovi Kovařík, 2004 (East Karakum). Therefore, we have no confirmed records of O. melanurus from Turkmenistan.

Note that Birula (1900b: 373) who compared two syntypes from Novoalexandrovskoe (ZISP-656, now presumed lost) to Bogdanov’s specimen (ZISP-667, now the lectotype) from the Kizylkum Desert, noted that the Novoalexandrovskoe specimens are ‘not typical’ since they possessed weak granulation on metasoma IV) Here, we place this outlier western Kazakhstan population tentatively under O. melanurus , but it requires further study, considering that all other records of O. melanurus confirmed here originate from the territories located much further east.

The identity of “forma γ ”, or O. s. concolor ( Birula, 1898) ( Uzbekistan), is unclear. Its only known type specimen (holotype female ZISP-645, collected in Karshi in May 1885 by G. T. Grumm-Grzhimailo), appears to be lost. Birula (1918: 39–40) clearly characterized this form as lacking OD on movable fingers ( Kovařík, 2004: 20); we place it tentatively under O. melanurus .

DISTRIBUTION. Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan ( Fig. 343 ). The northernmost record for the genus (at least to 45°27'N) .

Figures

Figure 343. Geographic distribution of the Orthochirus spp. found from Turkey to India. An approximate area where the lectotype of O. melanurus was collected is marked by red ellipse.

Figure 350. Orthochirus melanurus (Kessler, 1874), reproduced from Kessler (1874, Tab. I).

Figure 351. Orthochirus melanurus (Kessler, 1874) from the Kizylkum Desert, reproduced from Bogdanov (1882, fig. on p. 48), accompanied by a Galeodes sp. (Solifuga: Galeodidae).

Figures 1–2: Orthochirus spp. in vivo habitus. Figure 1: O. melanurus, male from Uzbekistan. Figure 2: O. nordmanni sp. n., male (right) and female paratypes.

Figures 133–138: Orthochirus melanurus, lectotype female. Figures 133–134. Dorsal (133) and ventral (134) views. Figures 135–137. Metasoma and telson, lateral (135), dorsal (136), and ventral (137) views. Figure 138. Original labels. Scale bars: 10 mm (133–134, 135–137).

Figures 139–140. Original registered cards (ZISP) of Orthochirus melanurus (139) and O. persa stat. n. (140) types.

Figures 141–144: Orthochirus melanurus, Kazakhstan, Kyzylorda Province, Baigakum, 44°20'29" to 37"N 66°27'07" to 09"E, FKCP. Figures 141–142. Male, dorsal (141) and ventral (142) views. Figures 143–144. Female, dorsal (143) and ventral (144) views. Scale bars: 10 mm 141–142, 143–144).

Figures 145–164: Orthochirus melanurus, Kazakhstan, Kyzylorda Province, Baigakum, 44°20'29" to 37"N 66°27'07" to 09"E, FKCP, segments of pedipalps. Figures 145–155. Male. Pedipalp chela, dorsal (145), external (146), and ventral (147) views. Pedipalp patella, dorsal (148), external (149), and ventral (150) views. Pedipalp femur and trochanter, dorsal (151), internal (152) and ventral (153) views. Pedipalp chela, movable (154) and fixed (155) fingers dentate margin. Figures 156–164. Female. Pedipalp chela, dorsal (156), external (157), and ventral (158) views. Pedipalp patella, dorsal (159), external (160), and ventral (161) views. Pedipalp femur and trochanter, dorsal (162), and ventral (163) views. Pedipalp chela, movable finger (164) dentate margin. The trichobothrial pattern is indicated in Figures 146–149, 151–152 (white circles).

Figures 165–170: Orthochirus melanurus, Kazakhstan, Kyzylorda Province, Baigakum, 44°20'29" to 37"N 66°27'07" to 09"E, FKCP, metasoma and telson under white light. Figures 165–167. Female, lateral (165), dorsal (166), and ventral (167) views. Figures 168–170. Male, lateral (168), dorsal (169), and ventral (170) views. Scale bar: 10 mm.

Figures 171–176: Orthochirus melanurus, Kazakhstan, Kyzylorda Province, Baigakum, 44°20'29" to 37"N 66°27'07" to 09"E, FKCP, metasoma and telson under UV light. Figures 171–173. Female, lateral (171), ventral (172), and dorsal (173) views. Figures 174–176. Male, lateral (174), ventral (175), and dorsal (176) views.

Figures 177–178. Orthochirus melanurus, Kazakhstan, Kyzylorda Province, Baigakum, 44°20'29" to 37"N 66°27'07" to 09"E, FKCP, male, carapace and tergites (177) and sternopectinal region and sternites (178) under UV light.

Figures 179–180. Orthochirus melanurus, Kazakhstan, Kyzylorda Province, Baigakum, 44°20'29" to 37"N 66°27'07" to 09"E, FKCP, female, carapace and tergites (179) and sternopectinal region and sternites (180) under UV light.

Figures 181–188: Orthochirus melanurus, Kazakhstan, Kyzylorda Province, Baigakum, 44°20'29" to 37"N 66°27'07" to 09"E, FKCP. Figures 181–182, 185–188. Male, carapace and tergites (181), sternopectinal region and sternites (182), and distal segments of right legs I–IV, retrolateral aspect (185–188 respectively). Figures 183–184. Female, carapace and tergites (183) and sternopectinal region and sternites (184).