Isometrus (Reddyanus) rigidulus Pocock, 1897

Kovařík, František, 2003, A review of the genus Isometrus Ehrenberg, 1828 (Scorpiones: Buthidae) with descriptions of four new species from Asia and Australia, Euscorpius 10 (10), pp. 1-19 : 12

Isometrus (Reddyanus) rigidulus Pocock, 1897

Isometrus rigidulus Pocock, 1897b: 113 ; Kraepelin, 1899: 66; Pocock, 1900: 52; Takashima, 1945: 85; Pérez, 1974: 30.

Isometrus (Reddyanus) rigidulus: Vachon, 1972: 177 ; Vachon, 1976: 39; Kovařík, 1994: 202; Kovařík, 1997a: 9; Kovařík, 1998a: 36; Kovařík, 1998b: 112; Fet & Lowe, 2000: 153.

Isometrus (Raddyanus [sic]) rigidulus: Tikader & Bastawade, 1983: 262 .

TYPE LOCALITY AND TYPE REPOSITORY. Bhopal , now Madhya Pradesh, India ; BMNH.

TYPE MATERIAL EXAMINED. Burma, leg. H. M. Phipson, 1♀ (holotype), BMNH No. 1893.12.20.4 .

OTHER MATERIAL EXAMINED. India, Maharashtra State, Bhimashankar , 19º4'N, 73º32'E, 1–2.II.1990, 2♀, leg. V. & B. Roth , CASC; Maharashtra State, Dhasai env., II.1998, 2♀ leg. P. Rojek, FKCP ; Rajasthan State, Mt. Abu , II.1998, 1♂, leg. P. Rojek, FKCP .

DISTRIBUTION. India (Madhya Pradesh) ( Pocock, 1897b: 114) (Maharashtra) (first record) (Rajasthan) (first record).

COMMENTS. Pocock (1897b: 114) does not mention the sex of the type and gives the type locality as “Bhopal, Central India (Surgn.-Lieut.-Col. Dane)“. Tikader & Bastawade (1983: 266) say the type is a female No. 1893.12.20.4. Fet & Lowe (2000: 153) give the type locality as “Bhopal, now Madhya Pradesh, India “ and list the holotype as a male No. 1893.12.20.4. I examined the type and found it to be a female with two labels: (1) “1893.12.20.4., Isometrus rigidulus Poc. , TYPE, Burma, H. M. Phipson“, and (2) “ Isometrus (Reddyanus) rigidulus Pocock 1897 Spécimen examiné en 1972 par Max Vachon“. There can be no doubt that it is the holotype, but the difference in label and original description makes its locality doubtful.

Examination of an adult male reveals the sexual dimorphism of this species to be less obvious than in other species of the subgenus Reddyanus . The manus of pedipalps is of the same width in both sexes. The male has slightly narrower and longer metasomal segments, and the terminal tubercle of each dorsal carina is more enlarged on the third than on the second metasomal segment. In the female the terminal tubercle enlargement is to a lesser degree apparent on the third segment and is absent on the second segment.