Uroplectes fischeri (Karsch, 1879)

Kovařík, František, Lowe, Graeme, Hoferek, David, Plíšková, Jana & Šťáhlavský, František, 2016, Scorpions of Ethiopia. Part IV. Genus Uroplectes Peters, 1861 (Scorpiones: Buthidae), Euscorpius 217, pp. 1-14 : 5-12

Uroplectes fischeri (Karsch, 1879)

( Figs. 1–46, Table 1)

Lepreus fischeri Karsch, 1879a: 124–125 .

Uroplectes fischeri: Pocock, 1896: 387–388 ; Kraepelin, 1903: 566; Lamoral & Reynders, 1975: 527 (in part); Fet & Lowe, 2000: 268–269 (in part, complete reference list until 2000); FitzPatrick, 2001: 192–193; Kovařík, 2003: 145–146, fig. 6; Kovařík & Whitman, 2005: 113.

=? Tityus tricolor Simon, 1882: 59 (syn. by Kraepelin, 1899: 57).

= Uroplectes fischeri caporiaccoi Fet, 1997: 247 , replacement name for Uroplectes fischeri intermedius Caporiacco, 1941: 35 (preocc. by Uroplectes intermedius Tullgren, 1907 : Scorpionida) (syn. by Kovařík, 2003: 145–146).

= Uroplectes patrizii Caporiacco, 1936: 137–140 , fig. 2 (syn. by Kovařík, 2003: 145–146).

= Uroplectoides abyssinicus Lourenço, 1998: 313–315 , figs. 1–6 (in part); Fet & Lowe, 2000: 277; Kovařík, 2003: 148. Syn. n.

Uroplectes vittatus (in part): FitzPatrick, 2001: 191–192.

TYPE LOCALITY AND TYPE DEPOSITORY. Somalia ,

Barawa, ZMHB No. 3010.

MATERIAL EXAMINED. Ethiopia, Missione Biologica Sagan-Omo, El Dire (04°59'N 37°07'E), 21.V.1939, 1♀ (holotype of Uroplectes fischeri caporiaccoi Fet, 1997 , replacement name for Uroplectes fischeri intermedius Caporiacco, 1941 ), leg. E. Zavattari, MZUF No. 1153; region of the Omo river Valley, 1♀, III.1976 (holotype of Uroplectoides abyssinicus ) ( Fig. 1), leg. J. Grand, ZMUH No. A 55/98; Somali State, Liben region , between Filtu and Dolo Odo, 04°50'07.5"N 40°55' 13.5"E, 912 m a.s.l. ( Fig. 36, locality No. 14 EI), 1♀ ( Figs. 5–6, 11–19, 24–26, 28, 30–35, 37–39), 1juv. ( Figs. 7–8), 20.XI.2014, leg. F. Kovařík and P. Kučera, 2♂ 1♀ ( Figs. 3–4, 9–10, 20–23, 27, 29, 40, offspring of the female from locality No. 14EI, bred by D. Hoferek), FKCP. Somalia, Barawa (01°11'N 44°02'E), 1♂ 1♀ (lec- totype, Fig. 2, and paralectotype of Uroplectes fischeri ), leg. Fischer, ZMHB No. 3010; Villagio Duga degli Abruzzi , 2♀, V.1928, MZUF No. 833; Bur Dinsor, 3.VI. 1978, 1juv., MZUF No. 831; Edain Caboba, 18.VI.1978, 1♀, MZUF No. 832 .

DIAGNOSIS. Total length 37–50 mm. Chelicerae yellow, strongly reticulate. Pedipalp movable fingers with 11 principal rows of denticles and apical row of four to five denticles; every row (except last one) has one internal and two external granules. Metasomal segments II–V punctate with dorsal carinae indicated, other carinae absent. Carapace with dark triangular marking. Telson setose with distinct subaculear tubercle. Female with basal pectinal tooth wide, oval, but not markedly longer than other pectinal teeth ( Fig. 31). Adult males with segments of pedipalp and metasoma narrower than in female; ratio metasomal segment I length to width 1.45– 1.56 in male, 1.2–1.4 in females; ratio metasomal segment V length to width 2.03–2.35 in male, 1.5–1.8 in females; fingers of pedipalps straight in both sexes. Pectines with 15–20 teeth in both sexes.

HEMISPERMATOPHORE. ( Figs. 42–45) Trunk long, narrow, basally broadened. Flagellum relatively short, with pars recta shorter than pars reflecta. Capsule region with several lobe structures: a median lobe at the base of the flagellum, an ental lobe with incised, tufted or crownlike distal margin, and a prominent, dorsally projecting, hook-like basal lobe. These lobes are weakly sclerotized, indicating that the hemispermatophore may not be fully formed. The overall shape of the hemispermatophore and its lobes are consistent with that reported by Vachon (1950: 18, figs. 19–21) for U. occidentalis Simon, 1876 , and by Lamoral (1979: 526,figs. 32–33) for U. otjimbinguensis (Karsch, 1879) . These authors applied somewhat different terminologies. Vachon distinguished both an inner and median lobe, which seem to be part of the same structure that we collectively termed the median lobe (= inner lobe of Lamoral). The tufted ental lobe corresponds to the external lobe of Vachon (= outer lobe of Lamoral). Our basal lobe corresponds to the same labeled structure of Vachon (= median lobe of Lamoral).

KARYOTYPE ( Fig. 46). We analysed one male from Ethiopia (locality No.14EI) using standard cytogenetic methods (e. g. Kovařík et al., 2009). The chromosome complement of this specimen consists of 28 chromosomes ( Fig. 46A). The chromosomes form two groups according to their size. The first four chromosomes are distinctly larger than all other chromosomes. They form 7.51 % to 5.30 % of the diploid set. The subsequent chromosomes gradually decrease in size from 4.00 % to 2.00 % of the diploid set (see Fig. 46D). Chromosomes exhibit typical holocentric organization without localised centromere region and possess achiasmatic behaviour during meiosis. These particular features are typical for the family Buthidae (e. g. Mattos et al., 2013). We further detected a distinct tetravalent in all observed postpachytene nuclei ( Fig. 46B). Despite the existence of this multivalent association, all analysed metaphases II exhibited the same number of chromosomes (n=14; Fig. 46C). The holocentric nature of chromosomes probably guarantees their equal split into sister metaphases II. In detail, observed multivalent is composed of four chromosomes possessing strikingly different size ( Figs. 46D, 46E).

DISTRIBUTION. Ethiopia,? Kenya, Somalia.

COMMENTS ON LOCALITY. The female and juvenile were collected under bark on the locality 14EI ( Fig. 36) during daytime (temperature 34.6 ºC and 38% humidity). In addition to Uroplectes fischeri , the first author (FK) recorded Babycurus subpunctatus Borelli, 1925 , Hottentotta trilineatus ( Peters, 1861) , Parabuthus cf. liosoma (Ehrenberg, 1828) , and two very common species of Pandinus at this locality.