Euscorpiops xui Sun & Zhu, 2010

Di, Zhiyong, He, Yawen, Wu, Yingliang, Cao, Zhijian, Liu, Hui, Jiang, Dahe & Li, Wenxin, 2011, The scorpions of Yunnan (China): updated identification key, new record and redescriptions of Euscorpiops kubani and E. shidian (Arachnida, Scorpiones), ZooKeys 82, pp. 1-33 : 16-19

Euscorpiops xui Sun & Zhu, 2010 Figures 92110

Euscorpiops xui Sun and Zhu 2010: 62-67, Figs 1-14, tab. 1.

Type locality.

China, Yunnan Province, Menglian District.

Type material.

Holotype female, China, Yunnan, Menglian District, Lafu Village, 22°08'N, 99°25'E, 15/VII/2009, Dr. Jishan Xu leg(MHBU); 1 female, 1 male, and 1 juvenile male paratypes, same data as holotype (MHBU).

Material examined.

Menglian County, 15/VII/2009, Lixiang Zhang leg, 1 male and 1 female. (BHDC).

Diagnosis

(Modified from Sun and Zhu 2010). total length about 54.0-66.0 mm (2 males and 2 females); color dark brownish-red; chela, length/width ratio about 3.5 in females (3.4 and 3.6 in 2 records) and about 4.0 in males (4.0 and 4.1 in 2 records); dentate margin with a slight lobe on movable finger and corresponding notch on fixed finger in both males and females; patella with 19 or 18 external trichobothria (5 eb, 2 esb, 2 em, 4 est, 5 or 6 et, fig. 108; 6 eb, 2 esb, 2 em, 4 est, 5 et, Sun and Zhu 2010: fig. 3), and with 10 ventral trichobothria (4 specimens).

Euscorpiops xui appears to be closely related to Euscorpiops kubani , bothcan be distinguished by: male chela length/width ratio, about 4.0 in males and 3.5 in females, whereas it is about 3.1 in males and 2.9 in females in Euscorpiops kubani ; pedipalp fingers nearly straight (Figs 105, 107), while in Euscorpiops kubani there is scalloped in males and nearly straight in females ( Kovařík 2004; Sun and Zhu 2010).

Euscorpiops xui can be distinguished from other related species of the genus Euscorpiops by the following features: patella of pedipalp with 10 ventral trichobothria, whereas in Euscorpiops shidian with 11 (rarely 10 and 12); chela with a clear sexual dimorphism on length/width ratio: about 4.0 in males and 3.5 in females, compared with 2.7-3.2 in Euscorpiops kubani , 2.9-3.2 in Euscorpiops validus , and 2.6-2.8 in Euscorpiops puerensis ; patella of pedipalp with 18-19 (rarely 18) external trichobothria in Euscorpiops xui , whereas 18 external trichobothria in Euscorpiops kubani , Euscorpiops shidian , Euscorpiops validus and Euscorpiops yangi ; the coloration mainly dark brownish-red in Euscorpiops xui , but yellow brown in Euscorpiops vachoni .

Description.

See Sun and Zhu (2010).

Variation.

Measurements in table 1. Feature datasets in table 2.

Ecology.

This species is uncommon, collected from moist mixed forest close the villages.

Distribution.

China (Yunnan).