Balsateres, González-Santillán & Prendini, 2013

González-Santillán, Edmundo & Prendini, Lorenzo, 2013, Redefinition And Generic Revision Of The North American Vaejovid Scorpion Subfamily Syntropinae Kraepelin, 1905, With Descriptions Of Six New Genera, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2013 (382), pp. 1-71 : 21-24

Balsateres , gen. nov.

Figures 3 , 7 , 16A , 20A , 28A ; table 1

Vaejovis cisnerosi Ponce-Saavedra and Sissom, 2004 [= Balsateres cisnerosi ( Ponce-Saavedra and Sissom, 2004) , comb. nov.], type species, by monotypy.

Thorellius (part): Soleglad and Fet, 2008: 1, 95, 102; Ayrey and Soleglad, 2011: 1.

Vaejovis intrepidus group (part): Santibáñez-López and Sissom, 2010: 52.

ETYMOLOGY: The name Balsateres , gen. nov., a compound word, masculine in gender, is derived from the Balsas Depression, to which the genus is endemic, and the Latin adjective teres (‘‘smooth’’ or ‘‘polished’’) which refers to the glabrous integument typical of this genus.

DIAGNOSIS: Balsateres , gen. nov., is distinguished from other genera of Syntropinae by the smooth dl carinae on metasomal segments I–IV. The carinae and intercarinal surfaces of the carapace (fig. 16A), pedipalp chela, patella, tergites, metasoma, and telson (fig. 28A) are smooth in this genus. Counts of macrosetae on the carinae of metasomal segments I–IV are also greatly reduced, as follows: dl, 0/0:0/0:0/0:1/1:4/4; lm, 0/0:0/0:0/ 0:0/0:2/2; vl and vsm, 1/1:1/1:1/1:1/1:3/3. Two or more macrosetae are present on these carinae in all other Syntropinae , including Thorellius , which also presents low setal counts, e.g., Thorellius cristimanus (Pocock, 1989) with the following counts on segments I– V: dl, 2/2:3/3:3/3:3/3:7/6; lm, 1/1:3/3:3/3:4/4:4/4; vl, 2/2:3/3:3/3:3/3:7/7; vsm, 3/3:3/3:3/3:3/3:5/5.

Balsateres , gen. nov., is most closely related to Thorellius (fig. 7), with which it shares broad pedipalpal and metasomal carinae and, with Thorellius intrepidus (Thorell, 1867) , double basal prolateral denticles on the movable finger of the pedipalp chela (fig. 20A, B). However, all carinae are smooth in Balsateres , gen. nov., instead of moderately to densely granular, as in Thorellius . The distinct proximal gap, evident when the pedipalp chela fingers are closed, in both sexes of Thorellius , is absent in Balsateres , gen. nov. The two genera also differ in base coloration and infuscation. Balsateres , gen. nov., is yellowish and almost immaculate, except for the ocular tubercle, which is outlined by dark infuscation, whereas Thorellius tend to be darker and reddish in color, with various degrees of infuscation on the carapace and tergites.

Balsateres , gen. nov., resembles Mesomexovis , gen. nov., in possessing obsolete ventral carinae on metasomal segments I– IV, but species of the latter genus differ in being more setose and infuscate.

INCLUDED SPECIES: Balsateres cisnerosi ( Ponce-Saavedra and Sissom, 2004) , comb. nov.

DISTRIBUTION: Balsateres , gen. nov., is endemic to the Balsas Depression of Mexico and recorded only from Estado de México and Michoacán (fig. 3).

NATURAL HISTORY: Balsateres , gen. nov., inhabits tropical deciduous forest at altitudes between 195– 672 m. Specimens were observed at night, doorkeeping at the entrances of their burrows in open, sandy areas, and excavated from the burrows ( Ponce-Saavedra and Sissom, 2004). The glabrous integument and burrowing biology in sandy habitats suggest that this species is psammophilous although the leg setation is atypical for the psammophilous ecomorphotype, because the dorsal and retrolateral dorsal macrosetae are arranged into two separate rows, not forming a setal comb. This monotypic genus was collected at the same locality as another monotypic syntropine genus, Kuarapu . Although sympatric, these genera are allotopic: Balsateres , gen. nov., was collected in open, sandy areas, whereas Kuarapu was collected on road-cuts, suggesting a lithophilous ecomorphotype.

REMARKS: Due to the unique morphology of this species, Ponce-Saavedra and Sissom (2004) refrained from assigning it to one of the five species groups of Vaejovis recognized at the time. Soleglad and Fet (2008) transferred it to Thorellius , a name devised for Hoffmann’s (1931) ‘‘second section’’ of Vaejovis , later termed the intrepidus group by Sissom (1989), without quantitatively testing its monophyly or composition. Santibáñez-López and Sissom (2010) also referred this species to the intrepidus group. The creation of a monotypic genus is merited by the unique diagnostic character combination of this species.

MATERIAL EXAMINED: Balsateres cisnerosi ( Ponce-Saavedra and Sissom, 2004) , comb. nov.: MEXICO: Michoacán: Municipio de La Huacana: El Vado , 18 ° 48.908 ′ N 101 ° 54.976 ′ W, 198 m, 20.v.2007, O.F. Francke, J. Ponce, M. Villaseñor, and A. Quijano, 1♂, 1♀ ( IBUNAM).

Figures

Fig. 3. Map of southwestern North America, plotting known locality records for two genera in the vaejovid scorpion subfamily Syntropinae Kraepelin, 1905, based on data collected in the present study: Balsateres, gen. nov. (circles); Paravaejovis Williams, 1980 (squares).

Fig. 7. Most parsimonious tree (length: 10894.593, CI: 0.190, RI: 0.628, fit: 244.08), obtained by simultaneous phylogenetic analysis of 250 qualitative and quantitative morphological characters and 4221 aligned DNA nucleotides from three mitochondrial and two nuclear gene markers, for 18 genera and 61 species in the North American vaejovid scorpion subfamily Syntropinae Kraepelin, 1905. Analyses were conducted with an implied weighting regime (k 518) that maximized average support (González-Santillán and Prendini, in press). Synapomorphies are optimized with accelerated transformation. Black bars indicate uniquely derived apomorphic states, white bars indicate parallel derivations of apomorphic states, numbers above indicate characters, and numbers below indicate states (appendix 1).

Fig. 16. Syntropinae Kraepelin, 1905, carapace, dorsal aspect, illustrating surface ornamentation. A. Balsateres cisnerosi (Ponce-Saavedra and Sissom, 2004), comb. nov., 8 (IBUNAM). B. Chihuahuanus crassimanus (Pocock, 1898), comb. nov., 8 (AMNH). C. Kochius bruneus (Williams, 1970), 8 (AMNH). D. Konetontli acapulco (Armas and Martín-Frías, 2001), comb. nov., holotype 8 (IBUNAM). Scale bars 5 1 mm (A–C), 0.5 mm (D).

Fig. 20. Syntropinae Kraepelin, 1905, dextral pedipalp chela movable finger, dorsal aspect, illustrating dentition. A. Balsateres cisnerosi (Ponce-Saavedra and Sissom, 2004), comb. nov., 8 (IBUNAM). B. Thorellius intrepidus (Thorell, 1876), 8 (AMNH). C. Vizcaino viscainensis (Williams, 1970), comb. nov., 8 (AMNH). Scale bars 5 0.5 mm.

Fig. 28. Syntropinae Kraepelin, 1905, metasomal segments I–V and telson, lateral aspect, illustrating carinae. A. Balsateres cisnerosi (Ponce-Saavedra and Sissom, 2004), comb. nov., 8 (IBUNAM). B. Konetontli acapulco (Armas and Martín-Frías, 2004), comb. nov., holotype 8 (IBUNAM). C. Paravaejovis pumilis (Williams, 1980), 8 (AMNH). Scale bars 5 2.5 mm (A), 1 mm (B, C).