Buthoscorpio sarasinorum ( Karsch, 1892 )

Kovařík, František, Lowe, Graeme, Ranawana, Kithsiri B., Hoferek, David & Š, V. A., 2016, Scorpions of Sri Lanka (Scorpiones Buthidae, Chaerilidae, Scorpionidae) with description of four new species of the genera Charmus Karsch, 1879 and Reddyanus Vachon, 1972, stat n, Euscorpius 220, pp. 1-133 : 12-16

Buthoscorpio sarasinorum ( Karsch, 1892)

( Figs. 12 , 16–40 , 47 , 193 , 421–422 , 547)

Stenochirus sarasinorum Karsch, 1892: 305–306 , fig. 30, Pl. XXII; Kraepelin, 1899: 39–40; Pocock, 1900: 33–34; Moritz & Fischer, 1980: 323; Vachon, 1982: 83–84, figs. 12–18, 84–85.

Buthoscorpio sarasinorum: Fet, 1997: 246 ; Fet & Lowe, 2000: 90 (? in part); Lourenço, 2012: 188–189, figs. 6–12.

TYPE LOCALITY AND TYPE REPOSITORY. Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), Peradeniya , ZMHB No. 6806 .

MATERIAL EXAMINED. Sri Lanka, North Central Province, Polonnaruwa District, near Kaudulla National Park , 08°08'40.6"N 080°51'04"E, 101 m a.s.l. (Locality 15CF, Fig. 581 ), 23. IV.2015, 1♂ ( Figs. 16–17 , 20, 22 , 24–26 , 30–34 , 193 , 421 , 547 ), FKCP, 1♀ ( Figs. 36–38 ) UPSL, leg. Kovařík et al.; Central Province, Matale District, Habarana, Wananiwahana Resort , 07°59'25.8"N 080°43'24.6"E, 280 m a.s.l. (Locality 15CG, Fig. 584 ), 23. –24. IV.2015, 1♀ ( Figs. 18–19 , 21, 23 , 27–29 , 422 ), FKCP, leg. Kovařík et al.; Eastern Province, Ampara District, Ampara env., 07°20'01.3"N 081°41'57.1"E, 56 m a.s.l. (Locality 15CS, Fig. 597 ), 4.V.2015, 1♂, UPSL, 1♀ ( Fig. 35 ), FKCP, leg. Kovařík et al.; Central Province, Kandy District, Tree Centre Wildlife Trust Sri Lanka “Rantambe”, 07°12'22.1"N 080°57'20.7"E, 171 m a.s.l. (Locality 15CT, Fig. 598 ), 5.V.2015, 1♂, FKCP, 1♂, UPSL leg. Kovařík et al .

DIAGNOSIS. Total length 25–52 mm. Dentate margin of pedipalp chela movable finger with distinct granules divided into 10 linear rows, apical rows of 3 granules, and 3 terminal granules. Tergites and carapace smooth to finely granular (more so in males). Median eyes located anteriorly in the ratio ca 1:2.5. Metasomal segments III– IV with well developed dorsolateral carinae. Dorsal surface of metasomal segments mesially granulated. Metasomal segments I–V granulated. Pectinal teeth number 14–17 in both sexes. Telson without subaculear tooth.

HEMISPERMATOPHORE ( Figs. 30–33 , 47 ). Trunk and capsule region very narrow, elongate ( Fig. 47 ). Flagellum cylindriform, short, pars recta with broad base; pars reflecta thickened, about the same length as capsule region. Median lobe narrow with prominent, curved dorsal carina. Basal lobe strongly developed as a prominent, blunt, rounded scoop arising dorsally from base of median lobe carina. External surface of capsule region roughly sculptured with series of transverse corrugations.

COMMENTS. Buthoscorpio sarasinorum is probably endemic to Sri Lanka. Tikader & Bastawade (1983: 158– 163, figs. 430–452) and Thulsi Rao et al. (2005: 7) cited B. sarasinorum from India but according to the characters they cited, their records probably represent a different species. Aswathi et al. (2015: 218) cited B. sarasinorum only from Sri Lanka ( Aswathi et al., 2015: 217, fig. 1) but in their table ( Aswathi et al., 2015: 218, tab. 2) they listed variable or incorrect diagnostic characters for B. sarasinorum .

Figures

Figures 12–15: Maps showing the known geographical distribution of the Sri Lankan species.

Figures 16–19: Buthoscorpio sarasinorum. Figures 16–17. Male from locality 15CF in dorsal (16) and ventral (17) views. Figures 18–19. Female from locality 15CG in dorsal (18) and ventral (19) views.

Figures 20–23: Buthoscorpio sarasinorum. Figures 20, 22. Male from locality 15CF, chelicerae, carapace and tergites I–III (20) and sternopectinal region and sternite III (22). Figures 21, 23. Female from locality 15CG, chelicerae, carapace and tergites I–III (21) and sternopectinal region and sternite III (23).

Figures 24–29: Buthoscorpio sarasinorum. Figures 24–26. Male from locality 15CF, metasoma and telson, lateral (24), ventral (25), and dorsal (26) views. Figures 27–29. Female from locality 15CG, metasoma and telson, lateral (27), ventral (28), and dorsal (29) views.

Figures 30–33: Capsule region and flagellum of left hemispermatophore of Buthoscorpio sarasinorum from locality 15CF. External (30), dorsal (31), internal (32) and ventral (33) views. Note: damaged section of pars reflecta of flagellum is interpolated as a dotted outline. Scale bar: 500 µm. Abbreviations: bl, basal lobe; f, flagellum; ml, median lobe; mlc, median lobe carina; pr, pars recta of flagellum; prf, pars reflecta of flagellum; t, trunk.

Figures 34–38: Buthoscorpio sarasinorum. Figures 34. Male at locality 15CF. Figures 35. Female at locality 15CS under UV. Figures 36–38. Female from locality 15CF (36) with newborns (37), and with juveniles after first ecdysis (38).

Figures 39–46: Chela of pedipalps (39–45) and movable finger of chela (46). Figures 39–40. Buthoscorpio sarasinorum, male from locality 15CF (39) and female from locality 15CG (40). Figures 41–43. Charmus laneus, male (41) and female (42) from locality 15CO, and female holotype (43). Figure 44. Charmus saradieli, sp. n., female holotype. Figures 45–46. Hottentotta tamulus, male from locality 15CK.

Figures 47–53: Figure 47. Left hemispermatophore of Buthoscorpio sarasinorum from locality 15CF. Figures 48–53. Charmus laneus from locality 15CO. Figure 48. Left hemispermatophore. Figures 49–53. Capsule region and flagellum. External (49), dorsal (50), internal (51) and ventral (52) views of left hemispermatophore, and externo-dorsal (53) view of right hemispermatophore presented as mirror image for comparison. Scale bars: 1 mm for 47, 500 µm for 48, 250 µm for 49–52, and 200 µm for 53. Abbreviations: bl, basal lobe; f, flagellum; ml, median lobe; mlc, median lobe carina; pr, pars recta of flagellum; prf, pars reflecta of flagellum; t, trunk.

Figures 193–200: Distal segments of leg IV, retroventral view of Sri Lankan Buthidae and Chaerilidae genera. Buthoscorpio sarasinorum, male from locality 15CF (193), Charmus laneus, male from locality 15CO (194), Hottentotta tamulus, male from locality 15CK (195), Isometrus maculatus, female from locality 15CI (196), Isometrus thwaitesi, female from locality 15CO (197), Lychas srilankensis, male from locality 15CJ (198), Reddyanus basilicus, male from locality 15CS (199), and Chaerilus ceylonensis, male from locality 15CD (200).

Figures 403–429: Telson, lateral view of Sri Lankan Buthidae and Chaerilidae species. Figures 403–404. Isometrus maculatus, male from locality 15CP (403) and female from locality 15CI (404). Figures 405–406. I. thwaitesi, male from locality 15CH (405) and female from locality 15CO (406). Figures 407–408. Lychas srilankensis, male (407) and female (408) from locality 15CJ. Figures 409–410. Reddyanus basilicus, male (409) and female (410) from locality 15CR. Figures 411–412. R. besucheti, male holotype (411) and female from locality 15CG (412). Figures 413–414. R. ceylonensis sp. n., male holotype (413) and female paratype (414) from locality 15CI. Figures 415–416. R. jayarathnei sp. n., male (415) and female (416) paratypes. Figures 417–418. R. loebli, male (417) and female (418) from locality 15CG. Figures 419–420. R. ranawanai sp. n., male holotype (419) and female paratype (420). Figures 421–422: Buthoscorpio sarasinorum, male from locality 15CF (421) and female from locality 15CG (422). Figures 423–424. Charmus laneus, male (423) and female (424) from locality 15CO. Figures 425–426. Charmus saradieli sp. n. male paratype (425) (MHNG) and female holotype (426). Figurs 427. Hottentotta tamulus, male from locality 15CK (427). Figures 428–429. Chaerilus ceylonensis, male (428) and female (429) from locality 15CD.

Figures 579–581: Figures 579–580. Locality 15CE, Sri Lanka, North Central Province, Polonnaruwa District, Giritale, 08°01'26.0"N 080°54'37.2"E, 233 m a.s.l. During night collecting on 22.–23.IV.2015 in the hotel garden (UV detection) we recorded Heterometrus swammerdami (inside the termite constructions, Fig. 580) and Heterometrus gravimanus inside burrows in open terrain. The mothers had 30 to 60 cm long oblique burrows usually once curved from which several narrow burrows created by their juveniles separated under surface. Every burrow of juveniles has a proper exit 15 to 90 cm from the main exit of the motherś burrow. On the locality we recorded night temperature 32.8 ºC– 26.5 ºC (minimum temperature) and night humidity varied between 51% and 79%. Figure 581. Locality 15CF, Sri Lanka, North Central Province, Polonnaruwa District, near Kaudulla National Park, 08°08'40.6"N 080°51'04"E, 101 m a.s.l. During a day 23.IV.2015 we recorded Buthoscorpio sarasinorum (under stones or woods), Isometrus thwaitesi (under dry bark of standing trees), Reddyanus besucheti (under stones), and Chaerilus ceylonensis (under stones).

Figures 547–554: The mitotic metaphases of buthid males from Sri Lanka. Buthoscorpio sarasinorum from locality 15CF (2n=14) (547), Charmus laneus from locality 15CO (2n=9) (548), Isometrus thwaitesi from locality 15CF (2n=8) (549), Lychas srilankensis from locality 15CN (2n=16) (550), Reddyanus basilicus from locality 15CS (2n=16) (551), Reddyanus basilicus from locality 15CR (2n=15) (552), Reddyanus ceylonensis from locality 15CI (2n=16) (553), Reddyanus loebli from locality 15CH (2n=17) (554). Arrowheads indicate extra large odd chromosomes. Scale bar = 5 µm for 547–554.

Figures 582–584: Figures 582–583. Locality 15CG, Sri Lanka, Central Province, Matale District, Habarana, Wananiwahana Resort, 07°59'25.8"N 080°43'24.6"E, 280 m a.s.l. During night collecting on 23.–24.IV.2015 in Wananiwahana resort garden (UV detection) we recorded Buthoscorpio sarasinorum (running on the land among leaves), Reddyanus besucheti (on the land among leaves) and Reddyanus loebli (hidden under scales of barks of standing tree trunks, see the blue arrows on the Fig. 583). On the locality we recorded night temperature 28.4 ºC– 24 ºC (minimum temperature) and night humidity varied between 55% and 87%. Figure 584. Locality 15CH, Sri Lanka, Northern Province, Mannar District, Madhu Road, 08°48'26.3"N 080°10'26"E, 90 m a.s.l. During night collecting on 24.–25.IV.2015 (UV detection) we recorded Isometrus maculatus and Isometrus thwaitesii sympatrically (running on branches and trunks of trees, also siting on leaves one to four metres high), Reddyanus ceylonensis sp. n. (on the land among leaves), Reddyanus loebli (hidden under scales of barks of standing tree trunks).

Figures 597–598: Figure 597. Locality 15CS, Sri Lanka, Eastern Province, Ampara District, Ampara env., 07°20'01.3"N 081°41'57.1"E, 56 m a.s.l. During night collecting on 4.V.2015 (between 10.00 and 11.30 p.m.) we recorded Buthoscorpio sarasinorum (running on the ground among leaves and escaping to borrows), Reddyanus basilicus (on the ground among leaves), and Reddyanus loebli (hidden under scales of bark of standing tree trunks). Near to the locality we recorded maximum day temperature 39 ºC and 27 ºC night temperature at 10.00 p.m.; humidity 68%. Figure 598. Locality 15CT, Sri Lanka, Central Province, Kandy District, Tree centre Wildlif Trust Sri Lanka “Rantambe”, 07°12'22.1"N 080°57'20.7"E, 171 m a.s.l. During night collecting on 5.V.2015 (between 11.00 and 12.00 p.m.) during rain we recorded Buthoscorpio sarasinorum (running during rain on the ground among leaves) and Reddyanus loebli (hidden under scales of bark of standing tree trunks). On the locality we recorded night temperature 28.4 ºC– 24.8 ºC (minimum temperature) and night humidity varied between 61% and 83%.