Grosphus Simon, 1880

Lowe, Graeme & KOvAřík, FRANtIšEk, 2022, Reanalysis of Teruelius and Grosphus (Scorpiones Buthidae with descriptions of two new species, Euscorpius 356, pp. 1-105 : 72-74

Grosphus Simon, 1880

Grosphus Lowe & Kovařík, 2019: 7 ; Lourenço et al., 2020: 15 (in part). For earlier synonymies, see Lowe & Kovařík, 2019: 7.

TYPE SPECIES. Scorpio (Androctonus) madagascariensis Gervais, 1843 .

DIAGNOSIS. Small to medium-sized buthids, adult length 25–75 mm; anterosubmedian carinae of carapace absent; median ocular tubercle located in posterior 2/3 of carapace; fixed finger of chelicera with 2 denticles on ventral surface; pedipalp femur with trichobothria d 1 - d 3 - d 4 non-reflex angle opening externally (retrolaterally) (α-configuration; Vachon, 1975); femur petite ‘trichobothrium’ d 2 position internal; pedipalp patella trichobothrium d 3 position external (retrolateral) to dorsomedian carina (DM c) (Fet et al., 2005); pedipalp patella trichobothrium esb 2 distal to esb 1 (mean distance> 0.18 esb 1 - em distance); pedipalp chela manus with trichobothrium Eb 2 distal to Eb 1, trichobothrium V 2 medial, located behind V 1 along proximo-distal axis of manus; chela manus with petite ‘trichobothrium’ Eb 3 usually well separated from Eb 2, by more than half the distance between Eb 1 and Eb 2; pedipalp fixed finger with trichobothrium db in middle 30%–60% of finger, trichobothrium it distal; pedipalp chela movable finger with 11–16 imbricated subrows of median denticles, each flanked proximally by 2 enlarged external accessory denticles; chela movable finger typically with 4 external subdistal granules; pedipalp manus with weak or obsolete carination; pectines with fulcra; internal and accessory internal fulcra present, rounded, sclerotized, fluorescent; female basal middle lamella (bml) not dilated, female basal pectinal tooth ( bpt ) modified but not distinctly longer than other teeth, dilated, oval, subrectangular or subtriangular; pectinal tooth count (excluding ♀ bpt ): ♂ 15–24, ♀ 12–22; hemispermatophore capsule long or short, posterior lobe with long, lanceolate extension; legs III–IV with tibial spurs present; leg IV, mean ratio of tibial spur L/ tibia distal D: <0.69; legs I–IV, telotarsi with ventral setation sparse, discrete with <25 setae in rows; tergites III–VI monocarinate; sternites with spiracles broad, hemi-elliptical or ovoid, sternite IV spiracle L/W <5; tergite VII, sternite VII and metasomal segments I–III without microsetal fringes on posterior margins; metasoma I ventrosubmedian carinae granulate or costate-granulate; telson with oval or bulbous vesicle, with or without subaculear tubercle in adults; cuticle with weak UV fluorescence .

REMARKS. The above standard diagnosis is partly hypothetical because some characters have not been confirmed for all 14 species assigned to the genus. For a confirmed differential diagnosis, see below under AFFINITIES.

SUBORDINATE TAXA.

Grosphus ambre Lourenço, Wilmé & Waeber, 2018 Grosphus angulatus sp. n.

Grosphus darainensis Lourenço, Goodman & Ramilijaona, 2004 Grosphus goudoti Lourenço & Goodman, 2006

Grosphus halleuxi Lourenço, Wilmé, Soarimalala & Waeber, 2017

Grosphus hirtus Kraepelin, 1900

Grosphus madagascariensis (Gervais, 1843)

Grosphus mandena Lourenço, 2005

Grosphus mayottensis Lourenço & Goodman, 2009

Grosphus polskyi Lourenço, Qi & Goodman, 2007

Grosphus rakotoariveloi Lourenço, Wilmé, Soarimalala & Waeber, 2017

Grosphus simoni Lourenço, Goodman & Ramilijaona, 2004 Grosphus tavaratra Lourenço, Soarimalala & Goodman, 2009 Grosphus voahangyae Lourenço & Wilmé, 2015

AFFINITIES. The genus Grosphus belongs to the ‘ Charmus / Uroplectes ’ group of buthids (Fet et al., 2005; Štundlová et al. 2022). Grosphus is similar to Teruelius , and differentiated from other buthids, in the following combination of characters: pedipalp femur with trichobothria d 1 - d 3 - d 4 non-reflex angle opening externally (retrolaterally) (α-configuration; Vachon, 1975); pedipalp patella trichobothrium d 3 position external (retrolateral) to dorsomedian carina (DM c) (Fet et al., 2005); pedipalp patella trichobothrium esb 2 distal to esb 1 (mean distance> 0.18 esb 1 - em distance); pedipalp manus with trichobothrium Eb 2 distal to Eb 1, trichobothrium V 2 medial, located behind V 1 along proximo-distal axis of manus; pedipalp manus with weak or obsolete carination; pedipalp fixed finger with trichobothrium db in middle 30%–60% of finger, trichobothrium it distal; pedipalp chela movable finger with 11–16 imbricated subrows of median denticles, each flanked proximally by 2 enlarged external accessory denticles; pectines with fulcra; internal and accessory internal fulcra present, rounded, sclerotized, fluorescent; female bml not dilated, female bpt modified, dilated or elongated; legs III–IV with tibial spurs present; tergites III–VI monocarinate; tergite VII, sternite VII and metasomal segments I–III without microsetal fringes on posterior margins. DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS. Grosphus is differentiated from Teruelius by any combination of two or more of the following characters: leg IV, mean ratio of tibial spur L/ tibia distal D <0.69; legs I–IV, telotarsi with ventral setation sparse, discrete with <25 setae in rows; sternite IV spiracles broad, hemielliptical or ovoid, L/W <5; metasoma I ventrosubmedian carinae granulate or costate-granulate; PTC: ♂ <24, ♀ <22; and pedipalp femur petite ‘trichobothrium’ d 2 position internal.