Isometrus maculatus (DeGeer, 1778)

Teruel, Rolando & Madden, Hannah, 2012, The scorpions (Arachnida: Scorpiones) of Sint Eustatius, Lesser Antilles, Euscorpius 145 (145), pp. 1-9 : 3-5

Isometrus maculatus (DeGeer, 1778)

Figures 4–5

Records: Zeelandia (17°30.222N, 62°59.014W), 7 April 2010, N. Esteban, 1♂ (specimen photographed alive and released). Cherry Tree (17°29.291N, 62°58.531W), 18 November 2010, C. Gibbs, 1♀ ( RTO: Sco-0523) .

Ecological Notes: both specimens were found inside inhabited houses, as it is the rule for most populations in the West Indies (Armas, 1976a; Teruel, 2009).

Comments: this scorpion is native from the Indian subcontinent, but due to a markedly synanthropic habit, it has been widely dispersed through the world and became cosmopolitan (Fet & Lowe, 2000).

Its occurrence in Sint Eustatius was first recorded by Armas (1976a) on the basis of an adult male and female collected near Oranjestad, in early 1942, and deposited in the collection of the Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie at Leiden, The Netherlands. No additional records have been published since, only reproductions of this reference (e.g., Fet & Lowe, 2000). Thus, the specimens herein studied represent the first confirmation that I. maculatus still keeps a viable population in this island.

Family Scorpionidae Latreille, 1802

Subfamily Diplocentrinae Karsch, 1880

Figures

Figure 4: Adult male Isometrus maculatus from Cuba, dorsal and ventral views.

Figure 5: Adult female Isometrus maculatus from Sint Eustatius, dorsal and ventral views.