Kochius Soleglad et Fet, 2008

Soleglad, Michael E. & Fet, Victor, 2008, Contributions to scorpion systematics. III. Subfamilies Smeringurinae and Syntropinae (Scorpiones: Vaejovidae), Euscorpius 71 (71), pp. 1-115 : 92-94

Genus Kochius Soleglad et Fet , gen. nov.

Type Species. Buthus punctipalpi Wood, 1863 [= Kochius punctipalpi (Wood, 1863) , comb. nov.] Composition. This genus, established here, includes the following 15 species and subspecies:

K. atenango (Francke et González Santillán, 2006) , comb. nov.

K. bruneus bruneus (Williams, 1970) , comb. nov.

K. bruneus loretoensis (Williams, 1971), comb. nov.

K. bruneus villosus (Williams, 1971), comb. nov.

K. cazieri (Williams, 1968) , comb. nov.

K. crassimanus (Pocock, 1898) , comb. nov.

K. hirsuticauda (Banks, 1910) , comb. nov.

K. insularis (Williams, 1971) , comb. nov.

K. kovariki Soleglad et Fet , sp. nov.

K. magdalensis (Williams, 1971) , comb. nov.

K. punctipalpi punctipalpi (Wood, 1863) , comb. nov.

K. punctipalpi barbatus (Williams, 1971), comb. nov.

K. punctipalpi cerralvensis (Williams, 1971), comb. nov.

K. russelli (Williams, 1971) , comb. nov.

K. sonorae (Williams, 1971) , comb. nov.

Distribution. Mexico (Baja California, Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí, Sonora), USA (Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas).

Genus Kochius range is represented by several disjunct parts (see map in Fig. 204 ). The core group of species is found in southern California, Nevada, and Arizona ( K. hirsuticauda ), and the Baja California peninsula ( K. hirsuticauda , K. bruneus , K. magdalensis , K. insularis , and K. punctipalpi ). The second disjunct part of the range involves species K. russelli found in southeast Arizona, and southern New Mexico and Texas. The third disjunct part, is interesting, involving three species, K. crassimanus , K. cazieri , and K. kovariki (albeit, there is some dispute concerning the type locality of K. crassimanus ), in southern Texas, Durango, Coahuila, and Nuevo León, Mexico. The last isolated locations for Kochius is that of K. sonorae , from southwestern Sonora, and K. atenango from extreme southern Guerrero, Mexico. One would assume that additional collecting in the northern states of Mexico will fill in, or at least narrow, some of these disjunctions.

Etymology. The new generic name (masculine) is a patronym honoring German arachnologist Carl Ludwig Koch (1778–1857), one of the prominent early scorpion researchers of 19 th century, and the author of many scorpion taxa, including genus Vaejovis .

Diagnosis. Carapace anterior edge with conspicuous continuous emargination originating from the lateral eyes, with a small median indentation; metasomal segments IV–V length-to-width ratio 1.7–2.2 (1.91) and 2.4–3.3 (2.75) for males, and, 1.5–2.3 (1.83) and 2.3–3.5 (2.72) for females; metasomal segments I–III ventromedian (VM) carinae usually granular to crenulate; chelal carinae usually granular to crenulate.

Taxonomic history. Scorpions of this genus were previously placed in the informal “punctipalpi ” group of Vaejovis , a group first defined by Williams (1971b); see Sissom (2000: 548–551).

Discussion. Species of Kochius are small to averaged sized scorpions (35–65 mm), mostly pale yellow in color, exhibiting little patterns, except for, in general, reddish pigmented chelal fingers. The largest species is Kochius punctipalpi and the smallest is K. sonorae . In general these scorpions are quite granular, the chelal and metasomal carinae are distinct, at least smooth, and usually granulate to serrate. The carapace anterior edge is very unique with its well defined emargination extending across to the lateral eyes and the narrow median indentation. The metasoma in these species are somewhat thin as compared to their sister genus Thorellius . The histograms in Figs. 194–195 , for both the male and female, clearly show that, in general, metasoma in Kochius is thinner for each segment than in Thorellius . In particular, segments IV and V show significant differences: Histograms in Figs. 194–195 show complete standard error range separation, male and female. The differences in the mean values, based on all known species, are significant ranging 24 to 30 %.

As discussed elsewhere in the section on morphometrics for genus Kochius , species K. hirsuticauda , K. punctipalpi , K. bruneus , K. insularis , and K. magdalensis in general have the heavier chelae across the genus. These species are all primarily found in Baja California, Mexico. The species K. russelli , K. kovariki , and K. atenango have a somewhat thinner chela than is normally exhibited in the genus. It is also interesting to point out that these species are found in western Mexico from Sonora and Durango, to Guerrero. Species K. cazieri , from Coahuila, Mexico, and K. crassimanus from southern Texas, are intermediate with respect to heavy chelae.

Francke & González Santillán (2007) described K. atenango from Guerrero, by far the most southern example of this genus. The authors placed K. atenango in the “punctipalpi ” group of Vaejovis . We attempted to verify this placement of this species in Kochius from their description and illustrations. However, there is no mention of the female genital operculum so we cannot verify this important subfamily level character. The hemispermatophore and mating plug barb are consistent with Syntropinae and tribe Syntropini . The carapace as illustrated is also consistent with the carapace found in a typical Kochius species. The degrees of carination of the chelal palm and the metasomal ventromedian carinae are less developed than normally seen in Kochius , only matched in species K. crassimanus and K. kovariki . Since only two views of the chela were illustrated, verification of key trichobothrial positions became impossible. In addition, we noticed that no less than three bogus trichobothria were shown in their figures 5– 6, while four others were missing altogether; therefore, we consider this partial information completely unreliable.

Figures

Figure 194: Morphometric ratios contrasting metasomal segments (length/width) for species in tribe Syntropini (male). Variance analysis p-values depicted in rectangles, Hoffmannius as compared to Kochius. Statistically significant p-values (i.e., very small) indicated with black arrow. See Fig. 1 for explanation of histogram components.

Figure 195: Morphometric ratios contrasting metasomal segments (length/width) for species in tribe Syntropini (female). Variance analysis p-values depicted in rectangles, Hoffmannius as compared to Kochius. Statistically significant p-values (i.e., very small) indicated with black arrow. See Fig. 1 for explanation of histogram components.

Figure 204: General distribution of scorpion subfamily Syntropinae (tribe Syntropini, subtribe Thorelliina) in North America with the ranges of genera Kochius and Thorellius delineated.