Euscorpius sp. 1 (“ carpathicus complex ” (Linnaeus, 1767)

Teruel, Rolando, Fet, Victor & de Armas, Luis F., 2004, A note on the scorpions from the Pirin Mountains, south- western Bulgaria (Scorpiones: Buthidae, Euscorpiidae), Euscorpius 14 (14), pp. 1-11 : 5-6

Euscorpius sp. 1 (“ carpathicus complex ” )

Figs. 16–17 , Table 1

Material examined. BULGARIA: Pirin Mountains ; under stones in open areas, 1,200–1,300 m asl, July 1972 (coll. Gallia), 1 ♂, 3 ♀♀, 1 juvenile ♂ ( IES) . Pirin Mountains , southern part, 900 m asl, 14 April 1996 (coll. B. Petrov), 1 ♀ (VF) . Pirin Mountains , northern part, Pirin National Park, ca. 9 km south of Bansko; under stones, 1,200 m asl, 9 May 1990 (coll. P. Ganev), 1 ♂, 1 ♀ ( RTO) .

Morphology. A medium-sized scorpion (adults 30– 35 mm long). Body orange brown, with subtle infuscation on the anterior half of prosoma; pedipalps reddish with all carinae blackish and fingertips yellowish; legs, venter and telson yellowish brown. Metasoma moderately slender and with strongly reduced carination, particularly in females; segments I–IV with dorsolateral carinae very weak, finely but irregularly granulose, all other carinae smooth and obsolete to absent; segment V with ventromedian and ventrolateral carinae very weak and irregularly granulose; telson vesicle conspicuously enlarged in adult males, oval slender in females. Cutting edges of pedipalp fingers with a very strong basal scallop in adult males, contiguous in females; movable finger with a well developed median lobe in adults of both sexes, but much stronger in males. Modal trichobothrial pattern of patella: eb = 4, eba = 4, esb = 2, em = 4, est = 4, et = 5, v = 7. Pectinal tooth count 8– 8 in males, 7– 7 in females.

Comments. The trichobothrial counts of pedipalp patella among the nine examined specimens were as follows (in parenthesis, number of scored pedipalps): external: eb = 3 (1), 4 (17), eba = 4 (18), esb = 2 (18), em = 4 (18), est = 4 (18), et = 5 (17) and 6 (1), v = 6 (5), 7 (13). Patellar trichobothrial series eba, esb, em, and est showed fixed counts. The value for et series was predominantly 5, which is the lowest recorded number for the “ carpathicus complex”. The ventral series, as is usual in the “ carpathicus complex”, showed the highest variation with individual counts as follows: v = 7–7 (5 specimens), v = 7–6 (2), v = 6–7 (1) and v = 6–6 (1). There are some minor differences in configurations of some trichobothrial external series ( Fig. 4 ), but this is a common trend among species of Euscorpius (see Scherabon, 1987; Fet & Soleglad, 2002; Gantenbein et al., 2003; Kovařík & Fet, 2003).

Traditionally treated as one species widespread in Europe (from Baleares to Crimea; Caporiacco, 1950; Ćurčič, 1972; Valle, 1975; see Fet & Sissom, 2000 for the detailed if convoluted taxonomic history), “ E. carpathicus complex” is a complicated group of species currently under revision using both morphological and molecular techniques (Fet & Soleglad, 2002; Fet et al., 2003b; Gantenbein et al., 2001, 2002). Currently, seven species are recognized in this complex, with E. carpathicus (L., 1767) sensu stricto restricted to southwestern Romania (Fet & Soleglad, 2002). Within Bulgaria, populations of this complex are widespread both in the northern and southern parts of the country, with a considerable morphological variation (Fet, 2000) For the large portion of the complex range in the Balkans, however, the taxonomy is not defined or is defined only partially. Further investigation of “ carpathicus complex” from Bulgaria (Fet & Soleglad, in press) as well as Greece and other Balkan areas (Fet & Soleglad, in progress) will shed more light at the species structure of this complex. The Pirin specimens fall into the area of the Balkans for which taxonomic identity and geographic patterns of taxa and their populations are not yet determined. It is likely that a number of new species will be described in future to accommodate a considerable diversity of this complex in the Balkans.

Figures

Figure 16: Adult male (left) and female Euscorpius sp. 1 (“carpathicus complex”) from Pirin Mountains.

Figure 17: Trichobothrial pattern of the external aspect of right pedipalp patella, same specimens as in Fig. 16 (male left), showing minor differences in configuration.

Figures 3-10: Same specimen as in Fig. 2. 3. Right pedipalp femur, dorsal view. 4. Internal view. 5. Right pedipalp patella, dorsal view. 6. External view. 7. Right pedipalp chela, ventral view. 8. External view. 9. Right movable finger, dorsal view. 10. Close-up of tip of movable finger.