Kuarapu Francke and Ponce-Saavedra, 2010

González-Santillán, Edmundo & Prendini, Lorenzo, 2018, Systematic Revision Of The North American Syntropine Vaejovid Scorpion Genera Balsateres, Kuarapu, And Thorellius, With Descriptions Of Three New Species, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2018 (420), pp. 1-1 : 16-20

Kuarapu Francke and Ponce-Saavedra, 2010

Figures 5 , 7–12, 14, 15; table 8

Kuarapu purhepecha Francke and Ponce-Saavedra, 2010 , type species, by monotypy.

Kuarapu Francke and Ponce-Saavedra, 2010: 1–27 , 52, table 1; González-Santillán and Prendini, 2013: 3 , 6, 8, 11, 18, 21, 24, 28, 43, 45, 51, 52, 56, 59, table 1, figs. 4; 2015a: 344, 349, 352, 356, 360, 362, 363, 364, 367, 403, tables 5, 6; Ponce-Saavedra and Francke, 2013: 78, table 2; Quijano-Ravel and Ponce- Saavedra, 2014: 17, 18, 20, figs. 1–3, table 2; 2016: 50; Santibañez-López et al., 2015: 7; González-Santillán and Prendini, 2016: 16, 36, 37, 60; Dupré, 2017: 11.

DIAGNOSIS: Kuarapu may be separated from

other genera of the Kochius clade as follows. The

dorsal surface of the cheliceral manus, the dorsal

median carinae of the tergites, the dorsal and

ventral surfaces of the metasoma, and the ventral

surface of the telson are densely infuscate in

Kuarapu (figs. 20, 21), whereas in Balsateres and

most Kochius and Thorellus species, these sur-

faces and carinae are faintly infuscate or immac-

ulate. The carapace anterior margin is sublinear,

with a vestigial median notch, in Kuarapu (fig.

5B), whereas in the other genera it is emarginate,

with a shallow median notch in Balsateres and

Thorellius , and a deep median notch in Kochius .

The carinae of the pedipalp chela manus are

absent or obsolete in Kuarapu but distinct in the

other three genera, costate in Balsateres and

granular or costate-granular in Kochius and

Thorellius . The median denticle row of the pedi-

palp chela movable finger comprises five primary

subrows of median denticles and five retrolateral

denticles in Kuarapu , but six primary subrows of

median denticles and six retrolateral denticles in

Balsateres and Thorellius . The terminal denticle

of the fixed and movable fingers is considerably larger and sharper than the preceding denticles in Kuarapu (fig. 21D), but only slightly larger than the preceding denticles and blunt in Balsateres , Kochius , and Thorellius .

As in Kochius and Thorellius , trichobothrium Dt is situated medially on the pedipalp chela manus in Kuarapu , which further resembles Kochius in the presence of a raised, whitish boss, restricted to the posteromedian third of mesosomal sternite VII, and finely granular ventral submedian and ventral lateral carinae of metasomal segments I–IV. Kuarapu is gracile with attenuate and largely acarinate pedipalp chelae (fig. 19, 21) whereas Kochius and Thorellius are robust with incrassate and markedly carinate pedipalp chelae.

Kuarapu possesses a secondary hook on the hemispermatophore, created by an extension of the axial carina of the distal lamina that forms a pronounced bifurcation with the primary hook (fig. 21D–F), a structure also observed in Konetontli González-Santillán and Prendini, 2013 , Maaykuyak González-Santillán and Prendini, 2013 , Syntropis Kraepelin, 1900 , Vizcaino , Chihuahuanus bilineatus ( Pocock, 1898) , Chihuahuanus coahuilae (Williams, 1968) , T. cristimanus , and T. yuyuawi , sp. nov. A pronounced bifurcation is absent in Balsateres , Kochius , and most species of Thorellius .

INCLUDED SPECIES: Kuarapu purhepecha Francke and Ponce-Saavedra, 2010 .

DISTRIBUTION: Kuarapu purhepecha is endemic to the Balsas Depression in the Mexican state of Michoacán, Mexico. It is presently known from only two localities in the La Huacana and Parácuaro municipalities (fig. 4).

Figures

FIGURE 5. Balsateres González-Santillán and Prendini, 2013, Kuarapu Francke and Ponce-Saavedra, 2010, and Thorellius Soleglad and Fet, 2008, carapaces. A. Balsateres cisnerosi (Ponce-Saavedra and Sissom, 2004), ♂ (CNAN SC2441). B. Kuarapu purhepecha Francke and Ponce-Saavedra, 2010, paratype ♂ (AMNH). C. Thorellius cristimanus (Pocock, 1898), ♂ (AMNH). Scale bars = 1 mm