Tityus prancei, Lourenco, 2000

Lourenco, Wilson R., 2000, Synopsis of the Colombian species of Tityus Koch (Chelicerata, Scorpiones, Buthidae), with descriptions of three new species, Journal of Natural History 34 (3), pp. 449-461 : 452-454

Tityus prancei n. sp.

(®gures 5±8)

Holotype female. Colombia, Dept Cesar, La Jagua de Ibirico (9ss35¾ 5 ² N to 73ss9¾ 45 ² W), Quebrada el Indio (520 m), 21 March 1996 (J. Sanchez). Deposited in the` Instituto de Ciencias Naturales , Universidad Nacional de Colombia’ . No other material available.

Etymology. Named in honour of Sir Ghillean T. Prance, Director of the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, UK, for his contributions to the study of botany and biogeography of the Neotropics.

Description based on female holotype (measurements in table 1)

Coloration. Basically yellowish to reddish yellow, symmetricaly marbled with dark brown, producing an overall spotted appearence. Prosoma: carapace yellowish and heavily spotted on anterior margin, with an inverted triangle-shaped spot; eyes included in the apex of the triangle. Mesosoma: yellowish, with conūent brown spots over all tergites and one dark longitudinal spot. Metasoma: segments I± III yellowish, with some brown spots over the keels. Segments IV and V dark reddish, with black spots laterally and ventrally. Vesicle dark brown, base of aculeus yellowish, and extremity reddish. Venter yellow, with several dark spots on the coxapophysis and on all sternites. A smooth, shining, expanded triangle present on the posterior region of sternite III. Chelicerae very heavily spotted, almost blackish; base of ®ngers blackish; ®ngers reddish, with some black zones on the teeth. Pedipalps: yellowish, with light variegated spots on femur and tibia; chela slightly less densely spotted; ®ngers dark brown. Legs yellowish, with light brown variegated spots on all segments.

Morphology. Carapace moderately granular; anterior margin with a feeble median concavity. Anterior median superciliary and posterior median keels moderate to strong. All furrows feeble. Median ocular tubercle distinctly anterior to the centre; median eyes separated by 1.5 ocular diameters. Three pairs of lateral eyes. Sternum subtriangular. Mesosoma: tergites moderately granular. Median keel present on all tergites. Transversal keels also present on all tergites. Tergite VII pentacarinate. Venter: genital operculum divided longitudinally. Pectines: pectinal tooth count 15±15; basal middle lamellae of the pectines not dilated. Sternites almost smooth, with short, linear-shaped stigmata; VII with four vestigial keels, almost smooth. Metasoma: segments I± III with 10 keels, crenulate; lateral inframedian keels on segment III vestigial; segment IV with eight keels. Segment V with ®ve keels. Intercarinal spaces moderately granular. Telson with ®ve vestigial keels ventrally and with a long, curved aculeus; subaculear tooth strong, between rhomboidal and spinoid. Cheliceral dentition characteristic of the family Buthidae ( Vachon, 1963) . Pedipalps: femur pentacarinate; tibia with seven keels; chela with nine moderately crenulate keels; internal face of tibia with 9±11 spinoid granules; all faces moderately to feebly granular. Movable ®ngers with 14±14 oblique rows of granules. Trichobothriotaxy; orthobothriotax y A± a ( Vachon, 1973, 1975). Legs: tarsus with very numerous ®ne median setae ventrally.

Taxonomic position

T ityus prancei can be distinguished from T ityus lancinii Gonzalez-Sponga and T ityus rebierei LourencËo by the absence of dilated basal middle lamellae of the pectines, and by a parallel arrangement of the ventral keels of metasomal segments I± IV; from T ityus ga ni n. sp. by the presence of a more intense and darker pigmentation generally, and by stronger keels on the metasomal segments (see key below).