Alloscorpiops wongpromi Kovařík, Soleglad et Košulič, 2013

Kovařík, František, Soleglad, Michael E. & Košulič, Ondřej, 2013, Alloscorpiops wongpromi sp. n. from Thailand and Laos (Scorpiones: Euscorpiidae: Scorpiopinae), Euscorpius 160 (160), pp. 1-12 : 4-11

Alloscorpiops wongpromi Kovařík, Soleglad et Košulič , sp. n.

( Figs. 1–12, 14–24) http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:E885F06

E-29F0-439D-BC88-7784A4B987E5

TYPE LOCALITY AND TYPE REPOSITORY. Thailand, Ubon Ratchathani Province, Khong Chiam District , 15° 15'16.65"N 105°27'10.04"E; first author’s collection ( FKCP).

TYPE MATERIAL. Thailand, Ubon Ratchathani Province, Khong Chiam District, 15°17'48.97"N 105°28'20.04"E, dry dipterocarp forest, rock wall around trail, 10.XI.2012, 2 ♂ (holotype and paratype), 4 ♀ (allotype and paratypes) 17 juveniles (see Fig. 22), leg. O. Košulič. Laos, Champasak Province, Pak Sé District, Phou Salao Mountain near Pakse City, dry dipterocarp forest, 15° 05'11.37"N 105°48'28.46"E, 15.XI.2012, 1 ♂ im. (para- type), leg. O. Košulič. Most of adult specimens are in 75% alcohol in the first author‘s collection ( FKCP) , except for two female paratypes and 17 juveniles which are alive. One of them (live female) is in private collection of Jana Plíšková ( JPPC).

ETYMOLOGY. The species name is dedicated to the Thai arachnologist Prasithdi Wongprom, a good friend of the third author. Prasithdi greatly enriched OK’s knowledge of the Thai nature, culture and local Asian habits during his studies at Kasetsart University.

DIAGNOSIS. Total length 55 mm (male) to 66 mm (female). Base color uniformly greenish/reddish black to black, including telson. Pectinal teeth number 10–11 in males, 9–11 in females. Patella of pedipalp with 33–37 external trichobothria (5 eb, 5 esb, 3–4 em, 13–17 est, 7– 9 et) and 21–22 ventral trichobothria. Chela of pedipalp with 11–12 ventral trichobothria, all, except V 2, are contained in a continuous straight row adjacent to the ventroexternal carina, with the most proximal trichobothrium sometimes occurring on the edge between external and ventral surfaces. Sexual dimorphism minor, adult males have relatively larger pectines and narrower chela of pedipalp. Fingers of pedipalps almost straight in both sexes. Chela length to width ratio 3.2–3.37 in females, 3.75–3.83 in males.

DESCRIPTION. Total length 55 mm (male) to 66 mm (female). The base color is uniformly greenish/reddish black to black, including telson. Chelicerae are reddish brown and reticulate. For habitus see Figs. 1–2 and 4–5. Sexual dimorphism is minor, adult males have relatively larger pectines and narrower chela of pedipalp; there is no difference in length and width of the metasomal segments; fingers of pedipalps are almost straight in both sexes, more undulate in larger females ( Fig. 6).

MESOSOMA AND CARAPACE: The mesosoma is granulated, with one median carina; the seventh sternite bears four carinae. The entire carapace is granulated, without carinae. The anterior margin of the carapace is markedly depressed in the middle. The carapace bears three lateral eyes of which two are normal and one is reduced. Pectinal teeth number 10–11 in males (3x10, 3x11) and 9–11 in females (3x9, 4x10, 1x11).

METASOMA AND TELSON ( Figs. 18 and 19): The metasoma is sparsely hirsute and finely granulated, with sparse, relatively large granules. The first segment bears 10 carinae, the second to fourth segments bear eight carinae, and the fifth segment bears seven carinae. The dorsolateral carinae of the third and fourth segments posteriorly terminate in a pronounced denticle. The telson is elongate, without granules.

PEDIPALPS: For position and distribution of trichobothria on the patella of pedipalps see Figs. 7–12 and 14–15. The patella bears 33–37 external trichobothria (5 eb, 5 esb, 3–4 em, 13–17 est, 7–9 et) and 21–22 (9x21, 5x22) ventral trichobothria ( Fig. 12). Chela of pedipalp ( Figs. 7–9, 14–15) with 11–12 ventral trichobothria; all, except V 2, are contained in a continuous straight row adjacent to the ventroexternal carina, with the most proximal trichobothrium sometimes occurring on the edge between external and ventral surfaces. The femur and patella are granulated. The femur has five granulose carinae, and the patella has five carinae with pronounced internal twin tubercles. The manus dorsally bears fine, rounded granules, which in the central part form a longitudinal carina. The external surface of the chela is densely covered by minute granules and bears almost complete median carina. The movable fingers bear straight double rows of denticles with 14–15 external and 5–7 internal denticles.

MEASUREMENTS (in mm): Total length of male holotype 55; carapace length 8.3, width 8.5; metasoma and telson length 24.9; first metasomal segment length 2.4, width 2.9; second metasomal segment length 2.6, width 2.45; third metasomal segment length 2.9, width 2.3; fourth metasomal segment length 3.5, width 2.15; fifth metasomal segment length 6.2, width 2; telson length 7.3; pedipalp femur length 8.2, width 2.9; pedipalp patella length 7.2, width 3.1; chela length 15.75; manus width 4.2; movable finger length 8.1.

Total length of female allotype 65.5; carapace length 11.1, width 11.05; metasoma and telson length 31.5; first metasomal segment length 3.2, width 3.6; second metasomal segment length 3.35, width 3.1; third metasomal segment length 3.65, width 2.8; fourth metasomal segment length 4.35, width 2.55; fifth metasomal segment length 7.8, width 2.4; telson length 9.1; pedipalp femur length 10.6, width 3.95; pedipalp patella length 8.95, width 4.2; chela length 20.9; manus width 6.2; movable finger length 10.7.

VARIABILITY AND COMMENTS. The male holotype has the most proximal accessory trichobothrium located very close to the ventroexternal carinae on the manus, and an immature male from Laos has the same trichobothrium on the edge between the external and ventral surfaces ( Figs. 14–15).

Both adult males are smaller than the females, as they reached adulthood in one less ecdysis than the studied females. However, it is likely that as in other species the number of male ecdyses is variable, in which case males that reach maturity after the same number of ecdyses as the females either would not show any morphometric difference in the shape of pedipalp segments or, conversely, the difference could be greater.

The female allotype was gravid and had 16 newborn and the female paratype delivered 17 newborn ( Fig. 22). We suspected that the other two females could be also gravid, for which reason we have been keeping them alive in order to obtain data on the ontogenesis and more material to study.

AFFINITIES. The described features distinguish Alloscorpiops wongpromi sp. n. from all other species of the genus. They are recounted in the key. The main difference is in the trichobothrial pattern. A. wongpromi sp. n. has the highest number of external trichobothria on the patella (33–37, versus 29–34 in A. citadelle , 30 in A. calmonti and 23–24 in A. anthracinus ) and of ventral trichobothria on the patella (21–22, versus 19–21 in A. citadelle , 18 in A. calmonti and 15–19 in A. anthracinus ). The smallest difference in numbers of these trichobothria is between A. wongpromi sp. n. and A. citadelle . These two species differ in color of the telson (yellow in A. citadelle versus black in A. wongpromi sp. n.), total length (37–54 mm for A. citadelle versus 55–66 for A. wongpromi sp. n.) and the female chela of pedipalp length to width ratio (4.4–4.7 in A. citadelle versus 3.2–3.37 in A. wongpromi sp. n.).