Teruelius Lowe & Kovařík, 2019

Lowe, Graeme & KOvAřík, FRANtIšEk, 2022, Reanalysis of Teruelius and Grosphus (Scorpiones Buthidae with descriptions of two new species, Euscorpius 356, pp. 1-105 : 80

Teruelius Lowe & Kovařík, 2019

Teruelius Lowe & Kovařík, 2019: 12 .

Grosphus Lourenço et al., 2020: 15 (in part).

TYPE SPECIES. Buthus limbatus Pocock, 1889 .

DIAGNOSIS. Medium- to large-sized buthids, adult length 35– 120 mm; anterosubmedian carinae of carapace absent; median ocular tubercle located in posterior 2/3 of carapace; fixed finger of chelicera with 2 denticles on ventral surface; pedipalp femur with trichobothria d 1 - d 3 - d 4 non-reflex angle opening externally (retrolaterally) (α-configuration; Vachon, 1975); femur petite ‘trichobothrium’ d 2 position dorsal; pedipalp patella trichobothrium d 3 position external (retrolateral) to dorsomedian carina (DM c) (Fet et al., 2005); pedipalp patella trichobothrium esb 2 distal to esb 1 (mean distance> 0.18 esb 1 - em distance); pedipalp chela manus with trichobothrium Eb 2 distal to Eb 1, trichobothrium V 2 medial, located behind V 1 along proximodistal axis of manus; chela manus with petite ‘trichobothrium’ Eb 3 usually near Eb 2, closer than than half the distance between Eb 1 and Eb 2; pedipalp fixed finger with trichobothrium db in middle 30%–60% of finger, trichobothrium it distal; pedipalp chela movable finger with 11–16 imbricated subrows of median denticles, each flanked proximally by 2 enlarged external accessory denticles; chela movable finger typically with 4 external subdistal granules; pedipalp manus with weak or obsolete carination; pectines with fulcra; internal and accessory internal fulcra present, rounded, sclerotized, fluorescent; female basal middle lamella (bml) not dilated, female basal pectinal tooth ( bpt ) modified with elongate, tapering distal extension, distinctly longer than other teeth; pectinal tooth count (excluding ♀ bpt ): ♂ 25–42, ♀ 23–35; hemispermatophore capsule short, posterior lobe rounded without long, lanceolate extension; legs III–IV with tibial spurs present; leg IV, mean ratio of tibial spur L/ tibia distal D:> 0.69; legs I–IV, telotarsi with ventral setation dense, irregular with broad, brush-like strips of> 25 long filiform macrosetae; tergites III–VI monocarinate; sternites with spiracles narrow, slit-like, sternite IV spiracle L/W> 5; tergite VII, sternite VII and metasomal segments I– III without microsetal fringes on posterior margins; metasoma I ventrosubmedian carinae costate-granulate, smooth or absent; telson with oval or bulbous vesicle, without subaculear tubercle in adults; cuticle with strong UV fluorescence .

REMARKS. The above standard diagnosis is partly hypothetical because some characters have not been confirmed for all 22 species assigned to the genus. For a confirmed differential diagnosis, see below under AFFINITIES.

SUBORDINATE TAXA.

Teruelius ankarafantsika (Lourenço, 2003)

Teruelius ankarana (Lourenço & Goodman, 2003)

Teruelius annulatus (Fage, 1929)

Teruelius bemaraha (Lourenço, Wilmé & Waeber, 2018) Teruelius bicolor ( Lourenço, 2012)

Teruelius bistriatus ( Kraepelin, 1900)

Teruelius eliseanneae (Lourenço & Wilmé, 2016)

Teruelius feti (Lourenço, 1996)

Teruelius flavopiceus ( Kraepelin, 1900)

Teruelius ganzhorni (Lourenço, Wilmé & Waeber, 2016) Teruelius grandidieri ( Kraepelin, 1900)

Teruelius haeckeli sp. n.

Teruelius intertidalis (Lourenço, 1999)

Teruelius limbatus (Pocock, 1889)

Teruelius magalieae ( Lourenço, 2014)

Teruelius mahafaliensis (Lourenço, Goodman & Ramilijaona, 2004)

Teruelius makay (Lourenço & Wilmé, 2015)

Teruelius mavo (Lourenço & Rossi, 2020)

Teruelius olgae ( Lourenço, 2004)

Teruelius rossii ( Lourenço, 2013)

Teruelius sabineae (Lourenço & Wilmé, 2016)

Teruelius waeberi (Lourenço & Wilmé, 2016)

AFFINITIES. The genus Teruelius belongs to the ‘ Charmus / Uroplectes ’ group of buthids (Fet et al., 2005; Štundlová et al. 2022). Teruelius is similar to Grosphus , and differentiated from other buthids, in the following combination of characters: pedipalp femur with trichobothria d 1 - d 3 - d 4 non-reflex angle opening externally (retrolaterally) (α-configuration; Vachon, 1975); pedipalp patella trichobothrium d 3 position external (retrolateral) to dorsomedian carina (DM c) (Fet et al., 2005); pedipalp patella trichobothrium esb 2 distal to esb 1 (mean distance> 0.18 esb 1 - em distance); pedipalp manus with trichobothrium Eb 2 distal to Eb 1, trichobothrium V 2 medial, located behind V 1 along proximo-distal axis of manus; pedipalp manus with weak or obsolete carination; pedipalp fixed finger with trichobothrium db in middle 30%–60% of finger, trichobothrium it distal; pedipalp chela movable finger with 11–16 imbricated subrows of median denticles, each flanked proximally by 2 enlarged external accessory denticles; pectines with fulcra; internal and accessory internal fulcra present, rounded, sclerotized, fluorescent; female bml not dilated, female bpt modified, dilated or elongated; legs III–IV with tibial spurs present; tergites III–VI monocarinate; tergite VII, sternite VII and metasomal segments I–III without microsetal fringes on posterior margins. DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS. Teruelius is differentiated from Grosphus by any combination of two or more of the following characters: leg IV, mean ratio of tibial spur L/ tibia distal D> 0.69; legs I-IV, telotarsi with ventral setation dense, brush-like with> 25 irregular setae; sternite IV spiracles narrow, slitlike, L/W> 5; metasoma I ventrosubmedian costate-granulate, smooth or absent; PTC: ♂> 24, ♀> 22; and pedipalp femur petite ‘trichobothrium’ d 2 position dorsal.