Parabuthus heterurus Pocock, 1897

Kovařík, František, Lowe, Graeme, Elmi, Hassan Sh Abdirahman & Šťáhlavský, František, 2019, Scorpions of the Horn of Africa (Arachnida Scorpiones) Part XXI Parabuthus (Buthidae) (Part II), with description of five new species from Somaliland and Ethiopia, Euscorpius 290, pp. 1-63 : 19-24

Parabuthus heterurus Pocock, 1897

( Figures. 81–104, 266–267, Tables 2, 4)

Parabuthus heterurus (in part) Pocock, 1897: 402; Fet & Lowe, 2000: 204 (complete reference list until 2000); Prendini, 2003: 19; KovařÍk, 2003: 144; KovařÍk, 2004: 19, fig. 9; KovařÍk & Whitman, 2005: 110; KovařÍk et al., 2016: 34 (in part, types only).

= Parabuthus stefaninii Caporiacco, 1927: 58 ; KovařÍk & Whitman, 2005: 112 (syn. by KovařÍk, 2003: 144, 159).

TYPE LOCALITY AND TYPE REPOSITORY. Ethiopia, Shebeli River , 07°15‘38“N 42°28‘15“E (new designation, see comments below) ; BMNH.

TYPE MATERIAL EXAMINED. Somaliland (now Ethiopia), Shebeli River, 07°15‘38“N 42°28‘15“E, 24.VIII.1894, leg, A. D. Smith, 1♂ (paralectotype) 1♀ (lectotype dsg. by Prendini, 2000) , BMNH.

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL EXAMINED. Somalia, El Ueene , 03°49‘N 47°13‘E, VI .1980, 1juv.♂, leg. Dorsak, FKCP ; Afgooye env., X. 1980, 1♂, FKCP ; 1♀ no exact locality data, NMPC .

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL EXAMINED IN 2003–2004 . Ethiopia, Sagan-Omo , Neghelli (locality not verified), 15.III.1937, 1♂ 1juv., leg. E. Zavattari, MZUF No. 661. Somalia, Mogadischo, 1♀, leg. S. A. Nicotra, MZUF No. 1130; Belet Amin, VII.1934, 1juv., leg. S. Patrizi, MZUF No. 1131; Giumbo, 24.IX.1937, 1 juv., MZUF No. 1142; El Bur, 06.VIII.1959, 1♂, S.B.S., MZUF No. 1136; Afgoi (Afgooye), 1960, 2♀, leg. A. Sammicheli, MZUF Nos. 1161 et 1164, 13.I.1977, 1♂, leg. A. Simonetta, MZUF No. 1139, 1978, 2♂ 2 juvs., leg. A. Simonetta, MZUF No. 1125; 16 km N Mogadischo, Shebeli River, 6.VII.1962, 1♀, S.B.S., MZUF No. 1128; 45 km NE Dusa Mareb, 20.VIII.1964, 1♂, S.B.S., MZUF No. 1123; Jesomma, 11-15.VIII.1968, 1♂, S.B.S., MZUF No. 1126; Bud Bud, 15.-16.VIII.1968, 1♂ 2juvs., S.B.S., MZUF No. 1124. 1129, and 1132; Sar Uanle, circa 1972, 1juv., MZUF No. 1138; Sar Uanle, 14.IV.1975, 1 juv., S.B.S., MZUF No. 1140; Berdale, 13.VI.1978, 1juv., S.B.S., MZUF No. 1105 .

EMENDED DIAGNOSIS. Adults from 75 (male) mm to 98 (female) mm long. Base color uniformly yellow to yellowish brown, tergites brown to black, fourth metasomal segment and telson dark. Pectine teeth number 36–42 in male and 32–39 in female. Stridulatory area on dorsal surface of first to third segments, more pronounced on first and second segments. Metasoma densely hirsute. Metasomal segment V of male length/ width ratio is 1.60–1.82 in male. Movable and fixed fingers of pedipalp bear 12–14 rows of granules, all with external and internal accessory granules. Fingers of pedipalp are not elongated. Fingers of pedipalps of male with inner side of base smooth, no trace of tubercle. Manus of pedipalp of male broad, pedipalp chela length/ width ratio 3.40–3.89 in male. Pedipalp manus smooth, patella granulated. Tarsomere I of legs I–III with bristle-combs.

COMMENTS ABOUT TYPE LOCALITY. Types of P. heterurus were collected by A. Donaldson Smith during “The first expedition from Somaliland to Lake Lamuˮ in 1894. Pocock (1897: 402) cited specimens from “ Hargesa, 5, 000 ft. and Silul, in Somaliland; Shebeli River, TYPES; and from pools of water to the west of Shebeli River, 15.12.94 ˮ and as the types he designated the specimens from “ Shebeli River, Somaliland ˮ from which Prendini designated the lectotype in 2000 (designation was published by Prendini in 2003: 19). The Shebeli River (cited also as Schabegh River, Shebelle River in English, and Webi Shabeelle in Somali) begins in the highlands of Ethiopia, and then flows southeast into Somalia towards Mogadishu. Fortunately the book published by Smith (1897) contained much detailed information which can help us to identify the localities where Smith could have been collecting near the Shebeli River in 1894. There we can find that the locality cited as “ pools of water to the west of Shebeli River, 15.12.94 ˮ has approximate coordinates 07°01‘N 42°25‘E. Pocock (1897: 402) added the date “ 24.8.94 ˮ for “ Shebeli River ˮ in the next paragraph. On that date, Smith was in “Crocodile Campˮ on the bank of the Shebeli River and recorded the exact coordinates of the locality as 07°15‘38“N 42°28‘15“E on the map ( Smith, 1897). We are convinced that we can cite this place as the true type locality of P. heterurus (see Fig. 305).

Another problem is that Pocock located “ Shebeli River ˮ and all other localities of the cited specimens in Somaliland which is accepted by recent authors ( KovařÍk et al, 2016). Fig. 36 in KovařÍk et al. (2017: 15) shows a map of Africa published in 1885, which explains why Pocock cited the localities as these places in Somaliland and titled his 1897 paper “The first expedition from Somaliland to Lake Lamuˮ; and fig. 37 in KovařÍk et al. (2017: 16) shows a map with the Shebeli River (as Webi Shebeli) originally published by Smith (1897). However, nowadays the type locality (Shebeli River, 24.8.94) and the localities “ Silul ˮ and “ pools of water to the west of Shebeli River, 15.12.94 ˮ are located in Ethiopia while “ Hargesa (Hargeysa)ˮ is the capital of Somaliland.

We suspect that P. heterurus occurs only in Ethiopia and Somalia (region around the Shebeli River, see Fig. 305) and that the specimen cited by Pocock from Hargesa may belong to a different species, probably one of those described herein from Somaliland.

AFFINITIES. The complex of species “ P. heterurus groupˮ characterized by the color combination of metasoma IV black and metasoma V yellow ( Figs. 83–88) includes P. heterurus sensu stricto, P. kajibu KovařÍk et al., 2016 from Ethiopia and P. kabateki sp. n., P. robustus sp. n., and P. somalilandus sp. n. from Somaliland. P. heterurus sensu stricto has the fingers of pedipalps more elongate and pedipalp chela trichobothrium eb is located on the fixed finger ( Fig. 92). Other cited species have the trichobothrium eb located on the base of manus ( Figs. 127, 140).

DISTRIBUTION. Ethiopia, Somalia.