Auyantepuia, Gonzalez-Sponga, 1978

Soleglad, Michael E. & Fet, Victor, 2005, The genus Auyantepuia González-Sponga, 1978 is confirmed as a synonym of Broteochactas Pocock, 1893 (Scorpiones: Chactidae), Euscorpius 29 (29), pp. 1-14 : 9

“ Auyantepuia ” diagnostic characters

Lourenço & Araújo (2004: 3), in their resurrection of Auyantepuia , listed eight characters in their “revised and simplified” diagnosis, one of which was considered as diagnostic of the genus (presumably the other characters are more general in nature):

character-1: small species, 24–28 mm.

character-2: generally reddish in color, legs, chelicerae and pedipalps sometimes yellowish character-3: surface smooth overall and chagrined character-4: very short fingers when compared to the chelal length character-5: chelal finger trichobothria db and esb essentially parallel, sometimes more proximal than Et 3

character-6: “majorante” (i.e. additive) neobothriotaxy character-7: ventral surface of metasomal segment V with large spiniform granules which form an arc in the posterior region (considered diagnostic for the genus)

character-8: pectines reduced in size, with 5 to 8 teeth

Characters 1, 4 and 8 deal with the size of the scorpion (or its organs) or attenuation of the chela only and are certainly not valid diagnostic characters of a genus, in any sense. In addition, there are many species in this tribe excluded from their species set that comply to these characters such as Broteochactas gollmeri , Neochactas santanai (González-Sponga, 1978) , N. panarei (González-Sponga, 1980) , N. sarisarinamensis (González-Sponga, 1985) , N. josemanueli (González-Sponga, 1992) , N. yekuanae (González-Sponga, 1984) , etc. The same is true for characters 2 and 3 which deal with color and degrees of granulation on the dorsal surface, these certainly are not relevant diagnostic characters for genus-level considerations. Character 6, a statement of general neobothriotaxy, is not definitive as well, there is no indication of the neobothriotaxy type as defined by Soleglad & Fet (2003), e.g., there is significant differences involving both numbers of accessory trichobothria and their relative positions between neobothriotaxy exhibited in tribe Brotheini (type Ch2) and subfamily Chactinae (type Ch1). Character 5 is quite interesting: if one compares these trichobothria positions between their hypothesized Auyantepuia species Broteochactas scorzai and Neochactas parvulus (or any of the other Neochactas species included in their “genus”), one can immediately see a problem with primary homology in B. scorzai we see that db and eb are adjacent to each other on the finger, and in N. parvulus , we see that db and esb are adjacent on the finger, clearly a conflict with the identities of trichobothria esb and eb (we must assume here that Lourenço & Araújo (2004) have reversed esb and eb designations for B. scorzai ). In either case, these trichobothria are not proximal to trichobothrium Et 3. The last remaining character, character 7, is considered diagnostic of the “genus”, which implies presumably that it is uniquely found in these species and only in these species within the subfamily. In Fig. 6 , we illustrate the ventral and lateral surfaces of metasomal segment V for eight species of chactids spanning two subfamilies and several tribes and subtribes. We can see that in all illustrations the granulation of the posterior aspect of the segment is exaggerated forming, in part, the so-called “arc”. Even in sister tribe Belisariini and genus Chactas (subfamily Chactinae ) we see the “arc” expressed to one degree or another. This “arc” is caused by the smoother concaved distal portion of the posterior end of the segment, contrasting with the adjacent granulation. In Broteochactas gollmeri , which was not included in Lourenço & Araújo (2004) species set, this condition is even more formed than that seen in Neochactas parvulus , which was included in the species set clearly there is no consistency or logic in the application of this character to specific species. We analyzed examples of all genera in family Chactidae and can state here that the posterior aspect of the ventromedian (VM) carina of segment V is irregularly developed to one degree or another, exhibiting configurations from complete obsolescence, distal margin irregular to bifurcated, to a distinct ventral transverse carina (VTC): in subfamily Uroctoninae (genera Uroctonus and Anuroctonus ) the VM carina is bifurcated on its posterior aspect (Soleglad & Fet, 2004: figs. 14–15); in subfamily Chactinae , tribe Nullibrotheini , genus Nullibrotheas ’s VM carina is bifurcated distally; tribe Chactinae , bifurcated distally in Teuthraustes , irregular in Chactas , and obsolete in Vachoniochactas ; in subfamily Brotheinae , tribe Belisariini , genus Belisarius exhibits a subtle irregular VTC; tribe Brotheini , subtribe Brotheina , in genus Brotheas the VM is irregular distally, in genus Broteochactas we see irregular distally to a well formed VTC; genus Hadrurochactas, VM is irregular with slight indication of a VTC; subtribe Neochactina , genus Neochactas, VM is irregular distally to a well formed VTC. It is clear from the examination of this select set of chactid species that the character considered diagnostic of Auyantepuia by Lourenço & Araújo (2004) is found, in part, throughout the family Chactidae and therefore is not specifically diagnostic of the their stated species set (or any specific chactid genus). In addition, other species not included in their “genus” comply with this character as well: Broteochactas gollmeri , Neochactas racenisi (González-Sponga, 1975) , N. efreni (González-Sponga, 1978) , N. leoneli (González-Sponga, 1978) , N. garciai (González-Sponga, 1978) , N. panarei (González-Sponga, 1980) , N. bruzuali (González-Sponga, 1980) , N. sarisarinamensis (González-Sponga, 1985) , N. riopinensis (González-Sponga, 1992) , etc. It is interesting to point out that the overall configuration of the VM carina of metasomal segment V discussed above for family Chactidae is paralleled, in part, in the scorpionid subfamily Diplocentriinae . Francke (1978), in his monograph on diplocentrids from the circum-Caribbean area, clearly illustrates similar configurations from irregular development in some species of Heteronebo (Francke, 1978: figs. 95–97), to bifurcated in some species of Heteronebo (Francke, 1978: figs. 93–94, 98–100), to a distinct VTC in genera Didymocentrus , Tarsoporosus , Cazierius , Oieclus (Francke, 1978: figs. 1–9, 60–61, 68–70) and Bioculus (Soleglad & Fet, 2003: fig. 3).

Figures

Figure 6: Metasomal segment V, lateral and ventral views, of select chactid genera spanning subtribes Neochactina and Brotheina, tribes Brotheini and Belisariini, and subfamilies Brotheinae and Chactinae.