Pandinus (Pandinurus) lowei Kovařík, 2012

Kovařík, František, 2012, Review of the subgenus Pandinurus Fet, 1997 with descriptions of three new species (Scorpiones, Scorpionidae, Pandinus), Euscorpius 141, pp. 1-22 : 13-15

Pandinus (Pandinurus) lowei Kovařík , sp. n.

( Figs. 45–57, 64)

TYPE LOCALITY AND TYPE REPOSITORY. Democratic Republic of Congo, Parc National de Upemba, Lusinga; ISNB.

TYPE MATERIAL. Democratic Republic of Congo, Parc National de Upemba , Lusinga (Coline), 1810 m a.s.l, leg. G. F. de Witte, 12.VII.1947, 7♂ (holotype and paratypes), 4♀ (allotype and paratypes), 32 juvs. (paratypes), ISNB , 14.III.1947, 2♂ (paratypes) 5♀ (paratypes), 34 juvs.(paratypes), ISNB , 3♂ (paratypes) 2♀ (paratypes), FKCP , 8.IV.1947, 1♂ (paratype), 3♀ (paratypes), 4 juvs. (paratypes), ISNB ; Kapelwa , 1780 m a.s.l., 11. XII.1948, 4♂ (paratypes), leg. G. F. de Witte, ISNB ; Dipidi , 1700 m a.s.l., II.1949, 4♂ (paratypes), 1♀ (paratype), 2 juvs.(paratypes), leg. G. F. de Witte, ISNB . All specimens det. Roewer in 1951 as Pandinus imperator .

ETYMOLOGY. Named after my colleague and friend Graeme Lowe, who has contributed to my knowledge of scorpions in many ways.

DIAGNOSIS. Total length 80–105 mm. Male with chela, femur and patella of pedipalp narrower and longer than in female. First metasomal segment wider than long in males. Chela of pedipalp length to width ratio in males less than 2.2. Color uniformly reddish black, only legs, telson and chela reddish brown. Chelicerae brown, nonreticulate or weakly reticulate, with black fingers and anterior margins. External trichobothria on patella number 15–16 (5 eb, 3–4 esb, 2 em, 1 est, 3 et); ventral trichobothria on chela number 6 to 8. Carapace lacks carinae and is smooth without granules, with very fine and shallow punctures. Pectinal teeth number 11–15 in males and 9–14 in females. Spination formula of tarsomere II = 3–4/3: 4/3: 4/3: 4/3. Tarsomere II of legs with 2 spines on inclined anteroventral surface. Tarsomere I with seta/bristle distal prosuperior. All body sparsely hirsute. Granules on dorsal surface of chela of pedipasp not conical and pointed, their summits may be confluent. External surface of chela smooth, with several conical granules in anterior part and without carinae.

DESCRIPTION. The adults are 80–105 mm long. The habitus is shown in Figs. 45–49. For position and distribution of trichobothria on pedipalps see Fig. 51. External trichobothria on patella number 15–16 (5 eb, 3– 4 esb, 2 em, 1 est, 3 et); ventral trichobothria on chela number six to eight (most often 7). The male has the chela, femur and patella of pedipalp narrower and longer than the female. Movable fingers of pedipalps, metasoma and telson do not show any noticeable sexual dimorphism.

COLORATION ( Figs. 45–49). The color is uniformly black, only legs, telson and chela are reddish black. The chelicerae are brown, not at all or only weakly reticulate, with black fingers and anterior margins.

CARAPACE. The carapace ( Figs. 47 and 50) lacks carinae but has a deep sagittal furrow with a forked furrow on each side in the posterior part. The surface is smooth, without granules and with very fine and shallow punctures. The anteromedial margin of the carapace is strongly concave. Present are a pair of median eyes and three lateral eyes. The distance ratio of the pair of median eyes from the anterior or the posterior margin of the carapace is, respectively, 0.52 or 0.48.

MESOSOMA. The tergites are tuberculate and granulated and bear an incomplete, smooth sagittal carina and shallow, symmetrical furrows. The sternites are smooth, lack carinae and bear two pronounced furrows. The pectinal teeth number 11–15 (7x11, 10x12, 11x13, 10x14, 3x15) in males and 9–14 (1x9, 5x11, 16x12, 7x13, 1x14) in females. The pectines have three marginal lamellae and one middle lamella, which may be united and moreover linked. The characteristic fulcra are long and bear numerous white setae.

METASOMA AND TELSON ( Figs. 52 and 55). The first throught fourth segments bear eight carinae. The ventral and ventralolateral carinae on the first to third or fourth segments are smooth. The other carinae are composed of three to seven teeth of similar size. The fifth segment bears five to seven carinae of which the lateral carinae may be incomplete. All carinae on the fifth metasomal segment are composed of granules. The surface between the carinae is smooth, with solitary granules. The telson is bulbous, with the aculeus shorter than the vesicle. The surface of the telson is smooth, with several granules which compose incomplete carinae.

LEGS. The legs are smooth, without carinae and granules, and sparsely hirsute. Spination formula of tarsomere II = 3–4/3: 4/3: 4/3: 4/3 ( Fig. 57). Tarsomere II of legs bears two spines on the inclined anteroventral surface. Tarsomere I bears a long bristle/spina distal prosuperior ( Fig. 57).

PEDIPALPS ( Figs. 51 and 54). The pedipalps are sparsely hirsute. The femur and patella are smooth, with several large granules and punctures. The femur bears four carinae composed of several large, round granules, only the externoventral carina is smooth.The patella bears four to five smooth, incomplete carinae without granules. Several granules are only on the external surface of the patella. The chela is lobate and bears only two smooth ventral carinae. The dorsal surface of the chela bears granules that are neither conical nor pointed and whose summits may be confluent. The external surface of the chela is smooth, with several conical granules in anterior part and without carinae. The chela has a lobe. The dentate margins of the movable and fixed fingers are armed with two parallel rows of denticles extending the entire length of the finger, with larger granules which indicate six or seven subrows on the movable finger and five or six subrows on the fixed finger.

MEASUREMENTS IN MM. Male holotype. Total length 98; carapace length 15.5, width 14.7; metasoma and telson length 50; first metasomal segment length 6.2, width 7.2, depth 6.0; second metasomal segment length 7.2, width 6.5, depth 5.9; third metasomal segment length 7.6, width 6.2; fourth metasomal segment length 8.8, width 5.7; fifth metasomal segment length 11.0, width 5.0; telson length 9.1; telson width 4.4; pedipalp femur length 13.3, width 5.3; pedipalp patella length 13.8, width 5.5; chela length 27; manus width 12.7; movable finger length 16.7.

Female allotype. Total length 95; carapace length 14.8, width 14.5; metasoma and telson length 43.1; first metasomal segment length 5.5, width 6.5, depth 4.9; second metasomal segment length 6.0, width 5.8, depth 4.5; third metasomal segment length 6.3, width 5.6; fourth metasomal segment length 7.2, width 5.0; fifth metasomal segment length 9.7, width 4.4; telson length 8.4; telson width 3.6; pedipalp femur length 9.8, width 4.6; pedipalp patella length 10.2, width 5.0; chela length 20; manus width 12.0; movable finger length 13.1.

AFFINITIES. The described features distinguish Pandinus lowei sp. n. from all other species of the subgenus Pandinurus . P. lowei sp. n. has the same sexual dimorphism (male with chela, femur and patella of pedipalp narrower and longer than in female, see Figs. 45–49 and figs. 379–385 in Kovařík, 2009: 125) as P. viatoris , from which it differs by granulation on the dorsal surface of pedipalp chela ( Figs. 51 and 54 versus Figs. 38–39 and figs. 382 and 385 in Kovařík, 2009: 125). The spination formula of the fourth leg‘s tarsomere II is 4/3 for P. lowei sp. n. ( Fig. 57) and 5/3 for P. viatoris ( Fig. 58). Differences are also well apparent in the gross morphology, with males of P. viatoris having longer and narrower segments of pedipalps and metasoma ( Fig. 38). The first metasomal segment is longer than wide in males of P. viatoris and wider than long in P. lowei sp. n. ( Fig. 45). The chela of pedipalp length to width ratio in males of P. viatoris is greater than 2.5, whereas in males of P. lowei sp. n. it is less than 2.2.