Tityus (Atreus) nematochirus Mello-Leitao, 1941, 1945

Kovařík, František, 2007, Description of Tityus mraceki sp. n. from Colombia and synonymization of T. meridanus González-Sponga with T. nematochirus Mello-Leitão (Scorpiones: Buthidae), Euscorpius 54 (54), pp. 1-7 : 3-4

Tityus (Atreus) nematochirus Mello-Leitao, 1941

Tityus nemstachirus (sic) Mello-Leitao, 1941: 54.

Tityus nematochirus: Mello-Leitao, 1945: 425 ; González-Sponga, 1984: 79; González-Sponga, 1994: 350; González-Sponga, 1996: 146; Fet & Lowe, 2000: 252.

Tityus (Atreus) nematochirus: Lourenço, 2006: 61 .

= Tityus meridanus González-Sponga, 1981: 26 (TYPE LOCALITY AND TYPE REPOSITORY. " General José Antonio Páez " dam, 7 km NW of village of Santo Domingo , Sierra de Santo Domingo , Distrito Rangel , Estado Mérida, Venezuela; Museo de Ciencias Naturales de Caracas, Caracas, Venezuela); González-Sponga, 1984: 90; González-Sponga, 1994: 350; González-Sponga, 1996: 149; Fet & Lowe, 2000: 250. Syn. n.

Tityus (Atreus) meridanus: Lourenco, 2006: 61

TYPE LOCALITY AND TYPE REPOSITORY. Colombia, Villavicencio; Instituto de La Salle, Bogota, Colombia .

DIAGNOSIS: Adults 50–90 mm long. Adults uniformly reddish or reddish brown to black, young blotched. First to fourth metasomal segments with paired parallel ventral median carinae. For habitus see Figs. 5–7 . Male pedipalps longer and more slender than those of females, length of metasomal segments similar in both sexes. Subaculear tooth pointed. Pectines with 17–20 teeth. Stigmata elongate. Movable finger of pedipalp with 14– 17 rows of granules, which include external and internal granules. First metasomal segment with 10 carinae, second to fourth metasomal segments with eight carinae, fifth metasomal segment with fifth carinae.

COMMENTS. González-Sponga (1981: 26) distinguished T. meridanus from T. nematochirus primarily on coloration and size. The distributions of these species in Venezuela overlap (see González-Sponga, 1996: 146 and 149) and dead specimens are virtually impossible to separate. I was able to raise 33 individuals born to a female from Venezuela (Agua Dulce near San Cristóbal, 440 m), which allowed me to observe color variation in a single litter ( Figs. 5–7 ). The size differences given by González-Sponga (1996: 144), with T. nematochirus measuring 73 mm (female) and 77 mm (male) whereas T. meridanus measuring 53 mm (female) and 67 mm (male), and the morphological differences linked to those in size (length vs. width of metasomal segments, length of pedipalp chela) correspond to the number of ecdyses needed to reach adulthood, with some males becoming adult after the fourth and others after the fifth ecdysis ( Figs. 5 and 6 ). For this reason I am convinced that T. meridanus González –Sponga, 1981 is a synonym of T. nematochirus Mello-Leitão, 1941 .

Figures

Figure 5: Black male of Tityus nematochirus Mello–Leitão, 1941 that matured after the fifth ecdysis.

Figure 6: Red male of Tityus nematochirus Mello–Leitão, 1941 that matured after the fourth ecdysis, accompanied by a black female that matured after the fifth ecdysis.

Figure 7: Differently colored immatures of Tityus nematochirus Mello–Leitão, 1941 shortly before the fifth ecdysis, all from the same litter.