Scorpiops species

Sulakhe, Shauri, Deshpande, Shubhankar, Dandekar, Nikhil, Padhye, Anand & Bastawade, Deshabhushan, 2021, Four new lithophilic species of Scorpiops Peters 1861 (Scorpiones Scorpiopidae) from peninsular India, Euscorpius 337, pp. 1-49 : 41-42

Key to Scorpiops species from Peninsular India

1. Trichobothria on patella ventral 10; Chela length to width ratio in males 2.6 (fide Mirza & Gowande, 2016). ............. .................................... S. pachmarhicus Bastawade, 1992

– Trichobothria on patella ventral 12–19; Chela length to width ratio in males> 2.7. ............................................... 2

2. Trichobothria on patella ventral 15–19. .......................... 3

– Trichobothria on patella ventral 12–16. .......................... 6

3. Trichobothria on patella ventral 17–19; anterio-ventral tubercle on internal surface of patella medium to almost equal compared to posterio-ventral tubercle. ..................... ................................ S. phaltanensis (Sulakhe et al., 2020)

– Trichobothria on patella ventral 15–18; anterio-ventral tubercle on internal surface of patella small compared to posterio-ventral tubercle. ................................................. 4

4. Chela length to width ratio in males 3.1–3.4; color of body blackish brown ................................................................... ...................... S. deccanensis Tikader & Bastawade, 1977

– Chela length to width ratio in males 4.3–4.4; color of body yellowish brown. ............................................................. 5

5. Carapace with moderate U shaped anterior median notch. .......................... S. maharashtraensis (Mirza et al., 2013)

– Carapace with deep U shaped anterior median notch. ....... ................................................................... S. lioneli sp. n.

6. Trichobothria on patella ventral 12–14. .......................... 7

– Trichobothria on patella ventral 13–16. .......................... 8

7. Total pedipalp length to mesosomal tergite length in males 2.2; dorsal lateral carina on metasoma II-IV ending posteriorly into a large tuberculate spine. .......................... ................................................. S. satarensis Pocock, 1900

– Total pedipalp length to mesosomal tergite length in males 1.6–1.9; dorsal lateral carina on metasoma II-IV ending posteriorly into a short spine. .............. S. nagphani sp. n.

8. Chela length to width ratio in males 2.9–3.1; dorsal lateral carina on metasoma II-IV ending posteriorly into a short spine. ............................................................................... 9

– Chela length to width ratio in males 3.2–4.0; dorsal lateral carina on metasoma II-IV ending posteriorly into a large tuberculate spine. ........................................................... 10

9. Chela length to width ratio in males 2.9–3.0; anterior margin of carapace between lateral ocelli and U shaped anterior median notch curved. ............ S. vrushchik sp. n.

– Chela length to width ratio in males 3.1; anterior margin of carapace between lateral ocelli and U shaped anterior median notch straight. ................................ S. neera sp. n.

10.Anterior margin of carapace with strong tuberculate granulation; telson with annular ring at juncture between vesicle and aculeus. ....... S. telbaila (Sulakhe et al., 2020)

– Anterior margin of carapace with moderate granulation; telson with annular ring at juncture between vesicle and aculeus absent. ...................... S. tenuicauda Pocock, 1894