Compsobuthus werneri (Birula, 1908)

Siyam, Manal, Dunlop, Jason A., Kovarik, Frantisek & Mohammad, Abubakr, 2023, Additions to the distribution of Sudanese scorpions, Zoosystematics and Evolution 99 (1), pp. 45-53 : 45

Compsobuthus werneri (Birula, 1908)

Figure 2c

Material examined.

1♀; ZMB 48709 , The Republic of Sudan, Red Sea State, Erkweet, Jebel El-sitt (18°47'49.0"N, 37°06'44.0"E, 1084 m a.s.l), leg. M. Siyam, 06.10.2011, det. F. Kovařík. 1♀; 2.550, Northern State, El Madeqeen - Kouya (20°20'25.512"N, 30°24'17.748"E, 685 m a.s.l), 10.08.2021, leg. H. Marzoug, det. M. Siyam. 1♂ 1♀; ZMB 49494 , Northern State, Dongola (19°08'38.8"N, 30°28'51.6"E, 228 m a.s.l), leg. M. Siyam, 07.06.2016, det. F. Kovařík. 1♂ 1♀; ZMB 49448, ZMB 49493 , Northern State, Wadi El-Ga’ab (19°27'47.5"N, 30°15'23.3"E, 219 m a.s.l), 15.09.2019, leg. I, Al-Khidir, det. M. Siyam. 1♀; SNHMK 2.306, North Kordofan State, El-Obeid - Tagat (13°04'26.0"N, 30°20'44.2"E, 600 m a.s.l), leg. M. Siyam, 14.9.2018, det. F. Kovařík. 1♂ 1♀; SNHMK 2.311, SNHMK 2.310, White Nile State, Kosti - a farm (13°09'39.4"N, 32°40'59.2"E, 385 m a.s.l), leg. M. Siyam, 17.09.2018, det. F. Kovařík. 4♀; ZMB 49440 -443, Kassala State, Muraba'a village - Berno Wadi (14°16'45.8"N, 35°52'36.1"E, 502 m a.s.l), leg. M. Siyam and O. Khalil, 14- 19.02.2019, det. M. Siyam.

Description.

Male / female total body length (5-6 cm). General coloration pale brown. Prosoma light brown with darker carinae. Mesosoma brown with granulated tergites except VII with lighter coloration. Metasoma yellowish brown, thin and ventral surface granulated with vertical black bands. Telson bulbous, brown, aculeus shorter than vesicle; tip black. Legs yellow. Pedialps medium yellowish brown, manus slightly swollen. Pectines with 17 teeth in females and 20 teeth in males.

Remarks.

Compsobuthus is one of the most widely distributed genera of the family Buthidae with records from the Republic of Sudan, Ethiopia and Somaliland as the south-eastern limits of distribution for this genus ( Kovařík et al. 2016a). Despite its small body size, Compsobuthus werneri is a fairly toxic species, usually found under stones or embedded in sand or underground. It was previously documented from several localities in the Republic of Sudan (see Dunlop et al. 2018) and its range is here expanded to include four new localities representing three new states (North Kordofan, White Nile and Kassala).

Genus Leiurus Ehrenberg, 1828

Figures

Figure 2. Habitus photographs of several Sudanese scorpion species, all in the family Buthidae, for which we can offer new distribution data here. a. Androctonus amoreuxi (Audouin, 1826); b. Buthacus leptochelys (Ehrenberg, 1829); c. Compsobuthus werneri (Birula, 1908); d. Leiurus quinquestriatus (Ehrenberg, 1829); e. Orthochirus olivaceus (Karsch, 1881); f. Parabuthus abyssinicus (Pocock, 1901). Of these, A. amoreuxi, L. quinquestriatus and P. abyssinicus have a potent venom and are regarded as medically significant.