Neobuthus solegladi, Kovařík, 2019

Kovařík, František, 2019, Scorpions of the Horn of Africa (Arachnida, Scorpiones). Part XXII. Two new species of Neobuthus from Somaliland (Buthidae), Euscorpius 294, pp. 1-16 : 7-15

Neobuthus solegladi sp. n.

( Figures 27–70, Table 1) http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:846B77B6-

C223-4C99-AECB-5A23A8EDF8D9

TYPE LOCALITY AND TYPE REPOSITORY. Somaliland, Agabar, 09°53'04.8"N 43°57'40.9"E, 982 m a. s. l. ; FKCP.

TYPE MATERIAL. Somaliland, Agabar, 09°53'04.8"N 43°57'40.9"E, 982 m a. s. l. (Locality No. 19SO), 9.VII.2019, 1♂ (holotype, 1717) 2♀ (paratypes), leg. F. Kovařík & T. Mazuch , FKCP.

ETYMOLOGY. The specific epithet honors Michael E. Soleglad ( USA) for his friendship and lifelong dedication to scorpions. DIAGNOSIS. Total length 17.7 mm (male), 22–25.7 mm (females); carapace with area between anterior median carinae yellow to orange brown; tergites with 3 dark stripes, median stripe flanked on either side by broad longitudinal yellow bands; pedipalp relatively slender, male with femur L/ W 2.36, patella L/ W 2.28, chela L/ W 4.27; chela movable finger with 5 subrows of primary denticles, 3–4 external accessory denticles flanking proximal end of each subrow; trichobothria d 2 present on dorsal surface of femur and patella; dorsoexternal and ventroexternal carinae on pedipalp patella in female reduced; posterior margins of tergites usually with 3 pairs of macrosetae; pedipalps, legs, metasoma and telson with moderately short, not spiniform macrosetae in males, and long, fine setae in females; males with sternites III–VI with fine granulation, sternite VII finely granulated with 4, granulated carinae; females with sternites III–VI almost smooth, sternite VII finely granulated with 4 weak granulated carinae; metasoma I–III with median lateral and dorsal carinae present in both sexes; lateral surface of metasoma V granulated in both sexes, with granules separated; soles of telotarsi with relatively sparse setation, leg III of adults with 9–13 ventral macrosetae on telotarsus; pectine teeth: 18– 20 (male), 15–16 (females).

DESCRIPTION. Total length of adult male 17.7 mm, of adult females 22–25.7 mm; measurements of carapace, telson, segments of metasoma and pedipalps given in Table 1; positions and distribution of trichobothria of pedipalps shown in Figs. 42–48; trichobothrium d 2 present on pedipalp femur and patella; base color pale yellow to light orange with variable fuscous pigmentation and extensive patterns of dark maculation on mesosoma, metasoma, partially on pedipalps and legs; chelicerae yellow with dark reticulation on anterior manus, dentition reddish. Sexual dimorphism: strong, adult male substantially smaller, but without differences in shapes of pedipalps, metasoma and telson; pedipalp patella and femur granulate and matte in males, smooth and glossy in females; sternites smooth in females and granulated in male; macrosetae on pedipalps, legs, metasoma and telson much longer and finer in females than males; other sex differences cited below.

Pedipalp ( Figs. 41–59). Pedipalp mostly sparsely hirsute; finely granulated in males and smooth in females; femur with five conspicuously granulose carinae, more strongly developed in male; patella with seven granulose carinae, well developed in male and reduced in females; dorsoexternal carinae on pedipalp patella in female reduced to absent; chela with carinae present but smooth in females;

chela movable finger with 5 and fixed finger with 4–5 subrows of primary denticles, 3–4 external accessory denticles flanking proximal end of each subrow.

Carapace ( Figs. 60–61). Strongly trapezoidal (narrower anteriorly), wider than long (L/ W 0.85 –0.89); posterior median postocular area flat, anterior median preocular area gently sloped downwards towards anterior margin; lateral flanks steeply sloped; ocular tubercle broad, prominent, located slightly anterior to middle of carapace; anterior margin straight, finely microdenticulate, with coarser granules overlapping edge, bearing 8–10 macrosetae; anterior median carinae present, coarsely granular, other carinae indistinct; dense granulation covering most of carapace.

Chelicera. Fingers with typical buthid dentition ( Vachon, 1963; Lowe & Kovařík, 2016; Kovařík et al., 2018); fixed finger with large distal denticle, 1 subdistal denticle and 2 basal denticles fused into bicusp, single denticle on ventral surface at level of bicusp; dorsal margin of movable finger with 5 denticles: 1 large distal denticle, medium-sized subdistal and medial, and 2 small, partially fused basal denticles; ventral margin with 2 denticles.

Mesosoma ( Figs. 60–63). Tergites I–VI bear three carinae of which the lateral pair may be less conspicuous mainly on tergites I–IV; tergite VII bears five well-defined carinae (median, submedians and laterals); tergites I–VI densely granular, with coarser granules on posterior lateral areas; tergite VII densely granular; sternites III–VI almost smooth in females, and finely granulated in male; sternite VII granulated in both sexes, more so in males, with four well-defined carinae; sternum type 1, triangular in shape, smooth, with deep posteromedian invagination; genital opercula smooth; genital papillae present; pectines extending to around a half of sternite V in male and around a half of sternite IV in female; pectine teeth 18–20 in male, 15–16 (1x 15, 3 x16) in females; combs with 3 marginal lamellae and 7–8 middle lamellae; marginal lamellae, middle lamellae and fulcra with dense cover of short dark reddish macrosetae; fulcra with 2–4 setae. Legs ( Figs. 64–68). Coxa, femora, patella and tibia of all legs bearing variable numbers of short to medium length, straight, dark-reddish macrosetae; tarsi with mix of short and longer, dark-reddish macrosetae; basitarsi I–III slightly compressed with flat retrolateral surfaces, with bristle combs consisting of retrosuperior series of longer macrosetae, plus retroinferior and proinferior series of shorter macrosetae; telotarsi with two rows of short macrosetae on ventral aspect, 9–13 macrosetae on telotarsus III; moderate tibial spurs present on leg IV and reduced on leg. III.

Metasoma and telson ( Figs. 33–40). Metasoma and telson sparsely hirsute, macrosetae moderately short in male and longer in female, straight and reddish to black; metasomal segments I–III with 10 carinae, IV with 8 carinae, V with 2 carinae; all carinae relatively well developed; segment IV with weakly indicated dorsolateral carinae; segment V with strong, granulate to dentate-lobate ventrolateral carinae; segments I– IV with dense granulation on all intercarinal surfaces except dorsal surfaces which are sparsely granulated, mainly in females; segment V densely granular on lateral and ventral surfaces, more coarsely so on ventral surface, granules not arranged along any traces of carinae; telson smooth, ventral surface sparsely, weakly granular; vesicle slightly elongated; aculeus stout, shorter than vesicle, tip of aculeus almost vertically directed.

AFFINITIES. The described features distinguish N. solegladi sp. n. from all other species of the genus. According to the characters used in the key published in Kovařík et al. (2018), the new species is most similar to N. gubanensis Kovařík et al., 2018 , which is also confirmed by DNA phylogeny (paper in preparation). Morphologically, it is difficult to distinguish these two species based on single specimens but we can see that female of N. solegladi sp. n. has smooth carinae on pedipalp chela ( Fig. 50), which are absent in the females of N. gubanensis (fig. 246 in Kovařík et al., 2018: 50).

COMMENTS ON LOCALITIES AND LIFE STRATEGY. N. solegladi sp. n. inhabits rocky mountain area in central Somaliland. The types were collected at night in open terrain by UV detection together with Parabuthus somalilandus Kovařík et al., 2019 , Hottentotta polystictus (Pocock, 1896) , Pandinurus sp. , and Hemiscorpius sp.