Buthus berberensis Pocock, 1900

Kovařík, František, Šťáhlavský, František & Elmi, Hassan Sh Abdirahman, 2020, Scorpions of the Horn of Africa (Arachnida Scorpiones) Part XXIII Buthus (Buthidae), with description of two new species, Euscorpius 307, pp. 1-32 : 11

Buthus berberensis Pocock, 1900

( Figures 5–24 , 178–179, 187 , 198–200 , 210, Tables 1 , 3 )

Buthus occitanus berberensis Pocock, 1900: 56 ; Levy & Amitai, 1980: 16, 21 (in part); Fet & Lowe, 2000: 95 (in part, complete references list until 1998).

Buthus berberensis: Lourenço, 2008: 46 ; Sousa et al., 2017: 38 (in part).

TYPE LOCALITY AND TYPE REPOSITORY. Somaliland; BMNH.

TYPE MATERIAL EXAMINED. Somaliland, coll. Miss Gillett, 1♂ (holotype, Figs. 5–23 ), BMNH No. 1898.2.5.3.

OTHER MATERIAL EXAMINED. Somaliland, Agabar, 09°53'04.8"N 43°57'40.9"E, 982 m a. s. l. (Locality No. 19SO, see fig. 69 in KovařÍk, 2019: 13), 9.VII.2019, 3♂ 1♀ (No. 1684), leg. F. KovařÍk & T. Mazuch, FKCP.

DIAGNOSIS. Total length 37–54 mm. Base color yellow with strong dark pattern, mainly on carina; telson orange to brown; chelicerae pale yellow, reticulated only in anterior part. Pedipalp movable fingers bear 11 rows of granules, with 11 outer and inner denticles and fixed finger with 10 outer and inner denticles. Chela of pedipalp narrower in male, its length to width ratio 3.4–3.6 in females and 4.1–4.3 in males. Telson bulbous, with aculeus shorter than vesicle. Pectinal teeth number 24–27 in females and 27–33 in males.

Figures

Figures 5–6. Buthus berberensis, male holotype in dorsal (5) and ventral (6) views.

Figures 7–15. Buthus berberensis, male holotype, carapace and tergites I–IV (7), coxosternal area and sternites (8), left legs II–IV, retrolateral aspect (9–11 respectively), metasoma and telson lateral (12), and metasoma and telson lateral (13), dorsal (14), and ventral (15) views. Scale bar: 10 mm (13–15).

Figures 16–24: Buthus berberensis. Figures 16–23. Male holotype, pedipalp segments. Chela dorsal (16), external (17) and ventral (18) views. Patella dorsal (19), external (20) and ventral (21) views. Trochanter and femur dorsal (22) and ventral (23) views. Trichobothrial pattern is indicated by white circles (16–20, 22). Figure 24. Male from locality 19SO, in vivo habitus.

Figures 176–190: Comparison of pdipalp chela (176, 178, 180, 182, 184), pedipalp patella (177, 179, 181, 183, 185), and telson (186–190) of males of Buthus. Figures 176–177, 186. B. awashensis, holotype. Figures 178–179, 187. B. berberensis from locality 19SO. Figures 180–181, 188. B. pococki sp. n., holotype. Figures 182–183, 189. B. somalilandus sp. n., holotype. Figures 184–185, 190. B. zeylensis from locality 19SH.

Figures 195–209: Male mitotic metaphases (195, 198, 201, 204, 207), postpachytenes (196, 199, 202, 205, 208) and ideograms (197, 200, 203, 206, 206) (y axis - % of the diploid chromosome length, dark grey marks chromosomes in multivalent association) of Buthus species from the Horn of Africa. Figures 195–197. B. awashensis, topotype from locality 12EX (2n=22, 6II+CX), Figures 198–200. B. berberensis from locality 19SO (2n=21, 9II+CIII), Figures 201–203. B. pococki sp. n., paratopotype (2n=22, 11II), Figures 204–206. B. pococki sp. n., paratype from locality 19SN (2n=22, 11II), Figures 207–209. B. zeylensis from locality 19SH (2n=22, 11II). Arrows show chromosomes in multivalent association during postpachytene. Asterisks show extra-large chromosome from multivalents. Arrowheads indicate large chromosome pair. Scale bar: 10 μm (195–196, 198–199, 201–202, 204–205, 207–208).