Apistobuthus susanae Lourenço, 1998

Alshammari, Maram M., Afifeh, Bassam Abu, Al-Quraan, Nisreen, Abuharfil, Nizar M. & Amr, Zuhair S., 2024, Scorpions of the State of Kuwait, Ecologica Montenegrina 75, pp. 52-66 : 58-60

Apistobuthus susanae Lourenço, 1998

Material examined: Total number 11 (10 ♀, 1 ♂): 2 ♀♀, 1 ♂, Al- Huwaymiliyah (Al-Jahra Province), 21.09.2022, leg. M. Al-Shammari. 2 ♀♀ juveniles, Subiya (Al-Jahra Province), 4.10.2022, leg. M. Al-Shammari. 4 ♀♀, Al- Huwaymiliyah (Al-Jahra Province), 27.10.2022, leg. M. Al-Shammari. 1 ♀ juvenile, Al- Abdali (Al-Jahra Province), 27.09.2023, leg. M. Al-Shammari. 1 ♀ juvenile, Kabd (Al Farwaniyah Province), 29.09.2023, leg. M. Al-Shammari.

Comparative material examined: Apistobuthus pterygocercus : 1♀, Nofoud Al Thumamah (Riyadh Province), Saudi Arabia, 25° 21' 14.00"N, 46° 29' 37.90"E, 2.12.2021, leg. A. Aloufi.

Diagnosis of examined material (♂ and ♀) ( Figures 7-10 ): Large scorpions, adults reaching 98 mm in length. Coloration usually yellowish; interocular triangle and carinae dark; telson aculeus and denticles of chelicerae and pedipalp fingers black. Caparace moderate to strongly granular; intercarinal areas studded with varying coarse to fine granulation. Central lateral carinae of carapace strongly developed, granulose, fused with posterior median carinae to form a single continuous carina with gently curved lyre configuration. Anterior half of carapace including median ocular tubercle elevated relative to posterior half. Median eyes separated by more than one ocular diameter; surrounded with black pigment. Five pairs of lateral eyes; (3 large, 2 small) on each side. Cheliceral dentition as defined by Vachon (1953).

Remarks: Table (3) shows measurements for different body parts for both A. pterygocercus and A. susanae . Comparing between two females approximately having the same total length and they share the same carapace length (10.44 mm) of A. susanae (87.61 mm in total length) from Kuwait and A. pterygocercus (87.93 mm in total length) from Saudi Arabia, showed the difference between the two species: (a). A. susanae has less slender pedipalps ( Fig. 9A ): Femur L/W= 3.90; patella L/W = 3.12; chela L/W = 6.65; pedipalp fingers shorter: movable finger L/carapace L = 1.55; movable finger L/Chela L = 0.73, whereas in A. pterygocercus femur L/W= 4.39; patella L/W = 3.86; chela L/W = 7.96; movable finger L/carapace L = 1.82; movable finger L/Chela L = 0.76; (b) A. susanae has less slender legs: Patella leg III L/D = 3.60, whereas in A. pterygocercus patella leg III L/D = 4.00; (c) A. susanae with metasoma II not as strongly flared as in A. pterygocercus ; metasoma II L/W 0.91 in A. susanae , 0.87 in A. pterygocercus ; (d) A. susanae with central lateral carinae of carapace strongly developed, fused with posterior median carinae to form a single continuous keel with gently curved lyre shaped row of granules ( Fig. 10B ), whereas in A. pterygocercus the central lateral carinae of carapace weaker, may be partially broken, and often not fully fused and continuous with posterior median carinae ( Figure 10A ); (e) A. susanae with pectines shorter than in A. pterygocercus , distal tips of pectines not extending past distal ends of coxa IV in females; pectine tooth counts 29-33, whereas in A. pterygocercus pectines extending up to or beyond distal ends of coxa IV; pectine tooth counts 37-37;(f) ventromedian carinae of metasoma II in A. susanae with posterior granules enlarged, tuberculiform, not projecting over anterior ventral margin of metasoma III, while produced into angular protrusions overlapping anterior ventral margin of metasoma III in A. pterygocercus .

Lourenço (1998) added a map (Fig. 14, p. 243) to show the distribution of Apistobuthus pterygocerus in Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Kuwait without a proper justification depending on examined material from Kuwait. Navidpour & Lowe (2009) examined an adult female from Kuwait, loaned from MNHN and assigned it to A. susanae based on morphometric diagnostic characters.

Figures

Figure 7. Apistobuthus susanae, male (A-B) and female (C-D) from Al-Huwaymiliyah in Kuwait, under UV light source. (A, C) Carapace and tergites. (B, D) Coxosternal area and sternites. (Scale bar = 10 mm).

Figure 8. Apistobuthus susanae, male and female from Al-Huwaymiliyah in Kuwait under UV light source. Metasoma and telson, male (A-C), and female (D-F). Dorsal (A & D), ventral (B & E), and lateral (C & F) aspects. (Scale bar = 10 mm).

Figure 9. Dextral pedipalp of female under UV light, ventral aspect. A. Apistobuthus susanae from Al- Huwaymiliyah in Kuwait. B. Apistobuthus pterygocercus from Nofoud Al Thumamah in Saudi Arabia. Scale bar = 10 mm.

Figure 10. Carapace and tergites I-II under UV light. A. Female Apistobuthus pterygocercus from Nofoud Al Thumamah in Saudi Arabia. B. Female Apistobuthus susanae from Al-Huwaymiliyah in Kuwait. Scale bar = 5 mm.