Teuthraustes giupponii, Ythier, Eric & Lourenco, Wilson R., 2017

Ythier, Eric & Lourenco, Wilson R., 2017, The geographical patterns of distribution of the genus Teuthraustes Simon, 1878 in Ecuador and description of three new species (Scorpiones, Chactidae), ZooKeys 721, pp. 45-63 : 52-56

Teuthraustes giupponii sp. n. Figs 5, 6, Table 1

Type material.

Ecuador, Sucumbíos Province (formerly Napo), Dureno/Cuyabeno, near lake Cuyabeno, Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve (0°07'00"S, 75°50'00"W) VI/1976 (British expedition and local people), rain-forest, under stone. Female holotype. Type material deposited in the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris, France.

Etymology.

The specific name honours Dr. Alessandro Ponce de Leão Giupponi, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, for his contributions to the study of scorpions.

Diagnosis.

Moderate scorpions with 52.1 mm in total length. Colouration reddish to reddish yellow. Body and appendages weakly granulated, with minute punctation. Pectines small with 6-6 teeth in female. Fixed and movable fingers of chela with 5-5 rows of granules. Ventral carinae present on metasomal segments I to IV but inconspicuous on I. Trichobothrial pattern of type C neobothriotaxic ‘majorante’.

Description.

Based on female holotype.

Colouration.

General colouration basically reddish to reddish yellow. Prosoma: carapace reddish; eyes blackish. Mesosoma: tergites reddish yellow, paler than carapace, with confluent yellowish strips; venter and sternites reddish yellow to yellow; pectines, genital operculum, and sternites yellow. Metasoma: segments reddish, with darker zones over carinae; vesicle reddish yellow with the tip of the aculeus dark red. Chelicerae: yellow, with some diffuse variegated reddish spots at the base of fingers; fingers reddish yellow; teeth reddish. Pedipalps: dark reddish; carinae blackish. Legs: reddish yellow with pale spots.

Morphology.

Prosoma: carapace acarinate, with dense minute granulations; lateral edges smooth; furrows shallow; sternum pentagonal, wider than long. Mesosoma: tergites acarinate, with a few granulations and some punctations; sternites, smooth and shiny; spiracles oval to rounded-shaped and conspicuous; VII acarinate with a few granules; pectinal tooth count 6-6, fulcra inconspicuous. Metasoma: segments I and II wider than long; metasomal tegument on segments I to IV with strong granulations; segment V with some spinoid granulations ventrally; carinae on segments I–V strongly developed; ventral present on segments I to IV; telson with a few ventral granulations, other faces almost smooth; aculeus shorter than vesicle. Chelicerae: dentition typical of the family Chactidae ( Vachon 1963), and with dense setation ventrally and internally. Pedipalps: femur with dorsal internal, dorsal external and ventral internal carinae strongly marked; ventral external carina represented by a few granules; dorsal, ventral and internal aspects with thin granulations; patella smooth with weak carinae; chela smooth and almost acarinate; internal aspect with a few small granules; dentate margins on movable and fixed fingers with 5-5 rows of granules; trichobothriotaxy of type C; neobothriotaxic ‘majorante’ ( Vachon 1974). Legs: tarsi with short setae disposed in a single line.

Morphometric values.

Female holotype of T. giupponii sp. n. Total length (in mm) including the telson, 52.1. Carapace: length, 7.5; anterior width, 4.3; posterior width, 8.0. Mesosoma length 15.5. Metasomal segments. I: length, 3.0; width, 4.0; II: length, 3.3; width, 3.6; III: length, 3.6; width, 3.6; IV: length, 4.3; width, 3.4; V: length, 7.3; width, 3.1; depth, 2.7. Telson length, 7.6; vesicle: width, 3.5; depth, 2.8. Pedipalp: femur length, 4.7, width, 2.1; patella length, 5.6, width, 2.5; chela length, 11.2, width, 4.0, depth, 5.3; movable finger length, 6.3.

Relationships.

The new species can be distinguished from other the congeners in particular from Teuthraustes oculatus Pocock, which is also distributed in Ecuador, but in the high central Andes, by the following features: (i) paler general colouration, reddish to reddish yellow, (ii) tergites and pedipalps weakly granulate to smooth, (iii) carapace with some thin granulations (iv) lateral eyes small and apart from each other, (v) anterior edge of carapace not straight, lobate, (vi) ventral carinae on metasomal segment I inconspicuous.