Vaejovidae Thorell, 1876

Soleglad, Michael E. & Fet, Victor, 2008, Contributions to scorpion systematics. III. Subfamilies Smeringurinae and Syntropinae (Scorpiones: Vaejovidae), Euscorpius 71 (71), pp. 1-115 : 74-75

Family Vaejovidae Thorell, 1876

Type Genus. Vaejovis C. L. Koch, 1836 .

Composition. The family Vaejovidae , as accepted in this paper, includes three subfamilies: Smeringurinae , Syntropinae , and Vaejovinae .

Distribution. North America: Canada (southwest, only Paruroctonus boreus ), USA (northwest, southwest, southeast), Mexico.

Subfamily Smeringurinae is found in the United States and Baja California peninsula ( Mexico), but is essentially absent from mainland Mexico (except for a few species found on the United States-Mexico border, and the solitary species Paruroctonus gracilior which is found as far south as the Mexican state of Aguascalientes (see map in Fig. 197 )).

Subfamilies Syntropinae and Vaejovinae occur in the United States and throughout mainland Mexico (see maps in Figs. 202 –207). In subfamily Syntropinae , the distribution of tribe Stahnkeini (see map in Fig. 202 ) is similar to that of Smeringurinae , its species primarily occurring in the United States and Baja California peninsula, with isolated representation in the northern Mexican states of Sonora and Coahuila. Tribe Syntropini (see maps in Figs. 203–204 ) is widespread throughout United States and Mexico (including Baja California peninsula). In subtribe Syntropina ( Fig. 203 ), genus Hoffmannius occurs throughout this range, having the largest range of any vaejovid genus, while the small genus Syntropis is endemic to Baja California. Subtribe Thorelliina ( Fig. 204 ) is represented in portions of southern United States and Baja California by genus Kochius , and in southern mainland Mexico by genus Thorellius .

Subfamily Vaejovinae occurs predominantly in mainland Mexico, with major disjunct parts of its range in southeastern United States (the solitary species Vaejovis carolinianus ), southwestern United States, and Baja California peninsula.

Diagnosis. Scorpions in the family Vaejovidae can be distinguished by the following characters: The trichobothrial pattern of the chelal fixed finger est–esb– eb juncture angles towards the fixed finger edge, eb angles towards the dorsal edge; ib–it pair is located on the finger, not on the palm; V 1 –V 4 series extends most of the palm length and V 1 –V 2 –V 3 juncture is straight, not angled towards the internal condyle; patellar trichobothrium v 3 is located on the external surface; femoral trichobothrium d is located next to the dorsoexternal carina and is proximal of trichobothrium i; laterobasal aculear serrations (LAS; Fet et al., 2006b) are present at the base of the telson aculeus; ventromedian (VM) carina of metasomal segment V is continuous and well developed posteriorly, exhibiting no significant irregularities, bifurcations, or the presence of a ventral transverse carina (VTC); chelal finger median (MD) denticle row groups are aligned in a straight line; inner accessory (IAD) and outer accessory (OAD) denticles are not present; genital operculum of the female is not separated its entire length, but instead is connected at least for the anterior half; the pedipalp patellar DPSc carina is well developed; the terminus of the dorsolateral (DL) carina is flared, not coinciding with the articulation condyle; hemispermatophore lamellar hook present; total length / pectinal tooth count ratio mean value of female is under 3.00, ranging from 2.8 to 2.9.

Discussion. The phylogram in Fig. 196 shows the basic topology of family Vaejovidae with all subfamilies, tribes, subtribes, and genera delineated. Table 9 shows the taxonomy down to the species and subspecies level. See below for taxonomic history of all subordinate family-group and genus-group taxa.

Figures

Figure 196: Phylogram showing the three current subfamilies of family Vaejovidae based on the results of this study. * Note, subfamily Vaejovinae (shaded), the default nominotypic subfamily for Vaejovidae, has not yet been revised and therefore only reflects the remaining taxa and their relationships as suggested by Stockwell (1989) and/or Soleglad & Fet (2005).

Figure 197: General distribution of scorpion subfamily Smeringurinae in North America with the ranges of genera Paravaejovis (tribe Paravaejovini) and Smeringurus, Paruroctonus, and Vejovoidus (tribe Smeringurini) delineated.

Figure 202: General distribution of scorpion subfamily Syntropinae (tribe Stahnkeini) in North America with the ranges of genera Stahnkeus, Serradigitus, Gertschius, and Wernerius delineated.

Figure 203: General distribution of scorpion subfamily Syntropinae (tribe Syntropini, subtribe Syntropina) in North America with the ranges of genera Hoffmannius and Syntropis delineated.

Figure 204: General distribution of scorpion subfamily Syntropinae (tribe Syntropini, subtribe Thorelliina) in North America with the ranges of genera Kochius and Thorellius delineated.