Leiurus jordanensis Lourenço, Modrý et Amr, 2002

Lowe, Graeme, Yağmur, Ersen Aydın & Kovařík, František, 2014, A review of the genus Leiurus Ehrenberg, 1828 (Scorpiones: Buthidae) with description of four new species from the Arabian Peninsula, Euscorpius 191, pp. 1-129 : 99-101

Leiurus jordanensis Lourenço, Modrý et Amr, 2002

( Figs. 85–86 , 92L , 93L , 95B, 95D , 98–99 , Tab. 3B )

Leiurus jordanensis Lourenço, Modrý & Amr, 2002: 637–641 , figs. 2–7, tab. I.

REFERENCES

Leiurus jordanensis: Amr & Abu Baker, 2004: 238 ; Hendrixson, 2006: 82–84, figs. 17, 20a, pl. 12–13; Lourenço et al., 2006: 98, 100; Kovařík, 2007: 140–141; El-Hennawy, 2009: 122; Yağmur et al., 2009: 1, 5, 7–8; El-Hennawy, 2014: 45.

TYPE MATERIAL. Adult holotype ♀, Jordan, NW of Al-Mudawwarah, 29°19'22.3"N, 35°59'24.3"E, ca. 700 m a.s.l., 14. VII.2000, leg. D. Modrý (MHNG) (not examined).

MATERIAL EXAMINED. Jordan: 2 subadult ♀, Wadi Ramm, 29°35'N 35°36'E, 27. V.2008, leg. P. Kabátek ( FKCP). Saudi Arabia: 2 ♀, al- Tawil, 29°58'N 39°34'E, 2.XI.1984, leg. W. Büttiker ( NHMB 179a); 1 subadult ♂, 1♀, al- Tawil, 29°58'N 39°34'E, 2.XI.1984, leg. W. Büttiker ( NHMB 179b).

DIAGNOSIS (adult). Large Leiurus , 74–115 mm in length, carapace L 8.5–11.3 mm; carapace and tergites with variable fuscosity; metasoma I–IV yellow to fuscous; metasoma V dark except for posterior end, telson contrasting yellow; area of carapace between anterior median carinae smooth or with isolated granules; area between posterior median carinae with moderately deep median furrow flanked by arcs of fine or coarse granules; medial intercarinal surfaces of tergites II–III moderately shagreened; posterior margin of coxa III irregularly granulate; metasoma log, slender, metasoma II L/ W 1.75 –1.89 (♀), metasoma III L/ W 1.95 –2.19 (♀), metasoma IV L/ W 2.54 –2.64 (♀); ventromedian carinae of metasoma II and III with 31–36 denticles (4/ 4 ♀ carinae); metasoma V with slightly enlarged subtriangular denticles on ventrolateral carinae; pedipalps slender, patella L/ W 3.48 –4.00 (♀); leg III patella L/D 3.86–4.13 (♀); pectine teeth ♂ 33–37, ♀ 27– 31; pectines medium sized, pectine L/ carapace L 1.08– 1.10 (♀), mid- pectine sensillar margin L/metasoma I W ♂ 0.167 (subadult), ♀ 0.101 –0.126; basal pectine teeth of males do not overlap if anterior pectine margins aligned to posterior margins of coxae IV; pectine basal piece lightly to moderately shagreened in females; leg III basitarsus with 18–20 retrosuperior setae; pedipalp chela fixed finger with trichobothrium db distal to est; sternite VII with area between median carinae finely granulated anteriorly; sternite carination: males and females, sternite III with median carinae strong, granular, sternites IV–V with lateral carinae strong, granular, median cari-nae moderate.

MEASUREMENTS.

Female, al-Tawil, Saudi Arabia (NHMB 179) (mm). Total L 114; metasoma + telson L 67; carapace L 11.23, W 13.04, carapace preocular L 5.15; metasomal segments (L/ D /W) I 8.87/ 5.55/6.58, II 10.54/ 5.10/5.59, III 10.99/ 4.82/5.01, IV 12.09/ 4.26/4.58, V 13.60/ 3.78/4.25; telson L 11.64; vesicle L 6.32, D 4.17, W 4.19; pedipalp chela L 23.90, manus ventral L 7.70, manus W 3.30, manus D 3.78, fixed finger L 13.86, movable finger L 16.52; pedipalp femur L 12.88, W 3.34, patella L 13.55, W 3.81; pectine L 12.24, midpectine sensillar margin L 0.776; leg III femur L 13.23; leg III patella L 10.61, D 2.57; chela db–est distance (left/ right) 1.00/ 0.875; pectine teeth (left/ right) 27–29.

DISTRIBUTION. Jordan, Saudi Arabia.

Figures

Figure 85: Leiurus jordanensis Lourenço, Modrý et Amr, 2002, male. A. Carapace and tergites. B. Coxosternal area and sternites. Al-Tawil, Saudi Arabia

Figure 86: Leiurus jordanensis Lourenço, Modrý et Amr, 2002, female. A. Carapace and tergites. B. Coxosternal area and sternites. Al-Tawil, Saudi Arabia.

Figure 92: Sternite III of Leiurus spp., female. A. L. abdullahbayrami Yağmur, Koç et Kunt, 2009, Caybasi Village, Turkey. B. L. arabicus sp. n., holotype, Kushm Dibi, Saudi Arabia (NHMB 17aq). C. L. arabicus sp. n., paratype, Al Amar, Bahrain (NHMB 17bg). D. L. heberti sp. n., paratype, Jabal Samhan. Oman. E. L. haenggii sp. n., paratype, Wadi Turabah, Saudi Arabia (NHMB 17al). F. L. haenggii sp. n., paratype, Adnan, Saudi Arabia (NHMB 17am). G. L. brachycentrus (Ehrenberg, 1829) stat. n., Al Mansuriah, Yemen. H. L. macroctenus sp. n., paratype, Masirah Island, Oman. I. L. macroctenus sp. n., paratype, Thumrait, Oman. J. L. quinquestriatus (Ehrenberg, 1828), Kharga Oasis, Egypt (NHMB 17i). K. L. hebraeus (Birula, 1908) stat. n., Israel (NHMB 17a). L. L. jordanensis Lourenço, Modry et Amr, 2002, al-Tawil, Saudi Arabia.

Figure 93: Medial intercarinal areas of tergite III of female Leiurus spp. A. L. arabicus sp. n., paratype, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. B. L. arabicus sp. n., paratype, Wadi Khumrah, Saudi Arabia (NHMB 17bj). C. L. haenggii sp. n., paratype, Yemen. D. L. haenggii sp. n., paratype, Wadi Maraba, Saudi Arabia (NHMB 17al). E. L. heberti sp. n., paratype, Jabal Samhan. Oman. F. L. abdullahbayrami Yağmur, Koç et Kunt, 2009, Caybasi Village, Turkey. G. L. brachycentrus (Ehrenberg, 1829) stat. n., Al Mansuriah, Yemen. H. L. macroctenus sp. n., paratype, Masirah Island, Oman. I. L. hebraeus (Birula, 1908) stat. n., Israel (NHMB 17a). J. L. hebraeus Birula, 1908, Kurayyima, Jordan. K. L. quinquestriatus (Ehrenberg, 1828), Kharga Oasis, Egypt (NHMB 17i). L. L. jordanensis Lourenço, Modry et Amr, 2002, al-Tawil, Saudi Arabia.

Figure 95: Variation in key diagnostic biometrics of adult Leiurus spp. A. Cumulative distributions of position of trichobothrium db relative to est on pedipalp fixed finger for: L. abdullahbayrami (53), L. brachycentrus stat. n. (11), L. hebraeus stat. n. (38), L. macroctenus sp. n. (176), L. quinquestriatus (61), L. haenggii sp. n. (158), L. arabicus sp. n. (87) (number of fingers measured in parentheses). Data for males and females were pooled. The db–est distances were normalized to pedipalp movable finger length (chord length from finger tip to external articular condyle), with positive values indicating db distal to est, negative values indicating db proximal to est. Distributions of L. haenggii (µ = 0.06367) and L. arabicus sp. n. (µ = 0.06671) were not significantly different (P = 0.405148, t test), indicating a close relationship between these species. Distribution of L. quinquestriatus (µ = 0.047313) was significantly different from those of L. haenggii and L. arabicus (P = 0.000102 and 0.000030 respectively). B. Scatter plot of morphometric ratios of mid-pectine sensillar margin L (MPSM, indicated in inset) to metasoma I W, and to carapace L, showing differences in relative pectinal tooth size in females of nine species of Leiurus. C. A subset of the female data in Figure 95B, plotted as cumulative distributions of morphometric ratio of mid-pectine sensillar margin L to metasoma I W. Distributions of L. haenggii (µ = 0.102268) and L. arabicus (µ = 0.10432) were not significantly different (P> 0.1, K-S test). D. Scatter plot of morphometric ratios of mid-pectine sensillar margin L to metasoma I W (relative size of pectine teeth), and metasoma II L/W (slenderness of metasoma II) for females of nine species of Leiurus. A, C, D: symbol key as in Figure 95B.

Figure 98: Selected morphometrics of Leiurus, Cicileiurus, Cicileus and Compsobuthus compared to other Buthus group scorpions. A–B. Scatter plots of the fraction of fixed finger length distal to db (A) and est (B) vs. the ratio of movable finger length to carapace length. Each point represents one sex of one species. Larger ordinate values correspond to more basal positions of the trichobothria, and larger abscissa values to longer pedipalp fingers. There was a significant inverse correlation between relative length of the portion of the fixed finger distal to db and est (R = -0.6534, -0.5488, respectively), and the relative length of the movable finger (the latter being a measure of elongation of both fixed and movable fingers). Highlighted symbols show that Leiurus (light magenta circles), Cicileiurus (red triangle), Cicileus (green squares) and Compsobuthus (yellow circles) are located in the lower right halves of the plots, i.e. all have relatively elongated fingers and more distal placement of both db and est. Gray circles are data from other Buthus group species. C. Scatter plot of the fraction of fixed finger length distal to db vs. the fraction distal to est. The strong positive correlation (R = 0.8052) indicates a tendency for db and est to move together towards more distal locations as the fixed finger becomes more elongated. Species above the diagonal (solid blue) have db proximal to est, and those below have db distal to est. Solid gray lines in A–C are fits by least squares regression through all points. D. Scatter plot of pedipalp femur L/W (a measure of pedipalp elongation) vs. carapace L (a measure of body size). These two variables were not significantly correlated (R = 0.094). Data were compiled from the literature and specimens in the authors collections for 38 genera and 203 species representing the majority of taxa in the Buthus group, including both males (N = 124) and females (N = 97). Genera (and number of species) included: Afghanobuthus (1), Androctonus (11), Apistobuthus (2), Baloorthochirus (1), Birulatus (2), Buthacus (13), Butheoloides (11), Butheolus (5), Buthiscus (1), Buthus (26), Cicileiurus (1), Cicileus (2), Compsobuthus (33), Congobuthus (1), Darchenia (1), Gint (1), Hemibuthus (1), Hottentotta (31), Leiurus (10), Liobuthus (1), Lissothus (3), Mesobuthus (7), Neobuthus (2), Odontobuthus (6), Orthochirus (12), Pantobuthus (1), Pectinibuthus (1), Plesiobuthus (1), Polisius (1), Razianus (3), Saharobuthus (1), Somalibuthus (1), Vachoniolus (4), Vachonus (1).

Figure 99: Geographic plot of locality data of material examined for nine species of Leiurus distributed over northeast Africa, the Levant and Arabian Peninsula. Map colored by elevation with shaded relief. Additional locality data for: L. abdullahbayrami from Yağmur et al., 2009; for L. brachycentrus Ehrenberg, 1829 stat. n., from Simon, 1882 (Buthus beccarii).