Hottentotta minax (L. Koch, 1875 )

Kovařík, František, 2007, A revision of the genus Hottentotta Birula, 1908, with descriptions of four new species (Scorpiones, Buthidae), Euscorpius 58 (58), pp. 1-107 : 43-48

Hottentotta minax (L. Koch, 1875)

( Figs. 68–74)

Buthus minax L. Koch, 1875: 4 ; Simon, 187 9: 99; Pavesi, 1885: 197; Hirst, 1911b: 217; Kraepelin, 1913: 171 (in part); Borelli, 1915: 46 0; Werner, 1916: 80; Lampe, 1918: 191; King, 1925: 80; Borelli, 1929: 297; Borelli, 1931: 218; Moritz & Fischer, 1980: 319.

Buthus ( Buthus) minax (? in part): Pocock, 1890a: 126.

Buthus hottentotta minax : Kraepelin, 1899: 22; Tullgren, 1909: 2; Gough & Hirst, 1927: 4; Kraepelin, 1929: 87.

Buthus ( Hottentotta) minax : Birula, 1908: 141; Werner, 1911: 185; Birula, 1915a: 123; Birula, 1928: 81; Werner, 1934: 269; Caporiacco, 1947: 231.

Buthus ( Hottentota) minax : Simon, 1910: 72; Moriggi, 1941: 86.

Buthus ( Hottentota) hottentotta minax : Roewer, 1943: 207.

Buthotus minax : Vachon, 1949: 147 (1952: 233); Vachon & Stockmann, 1968: 118; Probst, 1973: 329; Lamoral & Reynders, 1975: 502; Armas, 1986: 16; Cloudsley-Thompson, 1986: 185; El-Hennawy, 1992: 117.

Hottentotta minax :? Loveridge, 1925: 305; Simard & Watt, 1990: 436; Warburg & Polis, 1990: 229; Kovařík, 2002: 7; Soleglad & Fet, 2003a: 5; Soleglad & Fet, 2003b: 7; Kovařík, 2003: 140; Lourenço, 2004: 216; Kovařík & Whitman, 2005: 106.

Hottentotta ( Hottentota) minax : Kovařík, 1998: 110; Fet & Lowe, 2000: 141.

Buthotus minax minax : Vachon & Stockmann, 1968: 119.

Buthotus minax typicus : Probst, 1973: 329.

Hottentotta ( Hottentota) minax minax : Fet & Lowe, 2000: 141.

Buthus hottentotta minaci : Caporiacco, 1937: 357.

Buthus hottentotta (in part): Pavesi, 18 95c: 495; Kraepelin, 1891: 185; Thorell, 1893: 362.

= Buthus isselii Pavesi, 1883: 3 (nomen nudum) (syn. by Pavesi, 1895c: 495).

= Buthus hottentotta tigrinus Caporiacco, 1937: 355 ; Bartolozzi, Vanni & Mascherini, 1987: 29 5; Kovařík & Whitman, 2005: 106 (syn. by Kovařík, 2003: 140).

Buthus ( Hottentotta) tigrinus : Moriggi, 1941: 87; Caporiacco, 1947: 231.

Buthotus hottentotta tigrinus : Vachon & Stockmann, 1968: 124; El-Hennawy, 1992: 117.

Buthotus minax tigrinus : Probst, 1973: 329; Lamoral & Reynders, 1975: 503.

Hottentotta ( Hottentotta) minax tigrinus : Kovařík, 1998: 110; Fet & Lowe, 2000: 142.

Buthotus minax occidentalis Vachon & Stockmann, 1968: 128 ; Vachon, 19 74: 885; Lamoral & Reynders, 1975: 503; Stockmann, 1979: 405; Francke & Sissom, 1984: 12; Dupre & Balliet, 199 7: 5.

Hottentotta minax occidentalis : Polis & Sissom, 1990: 197.

Hottentotta ( Hottentotta) minax occidentalis : Kovařík, 1998: 110; Fet & Lowe, 2000: 142.

Hottentotta occidentalis : Lourenço, 2004: 213.

= Hottentotta acostai Lourenço, 2004: 213 . Syn. n.

TYPE LOCALITY AND TYPE REPOSITORY. Egypt, Cairo ; ZMHB.

TYPE MATERIAL EXAMINED. Chad, South of Tibesti, NE Sherda-Zouar (steppe formation), 1♂ 1♀1♀ (im.) ( paratypes of Hottentotta acostai Lourenço, 2004 , Figs. 7 3–74), 7.IV.1968, leg. P. M. Brignoli, ZMUH No. A 37/04. Egypt, Cairo, 1♂ ( Fig. 68)1im. ( lectotype and paralectotype No. 1), leg. Jickeli, ZMHB No. 2518; Habab, 2♂ 2♀ ( paralectotypes Nos. 2–5), leg. Jickeli, ZMHB No. 2519. Eritrea, Press Adua, terr. Gherungara, V.1936, 1♂ ( lectotype of Buthus hottentotta tigrinus Caporiacco, 1937 ), MZUF No. 780 .

OTHER MATERIAL EXAMINED. Egypt, 1♂, SMFD No. 5246. Ethiopia, presso Adua , torrente Gherungurà, V.1936, 1♀, leg. R. Cimmaruta, MZUF No. 634; 1990, 5♂ 3♀ ( Figs. 69–72) 1juv., FKCP. Eritrea, Adi Ugri, 1900, 1♀, leg. A. Andreini, MZUF No. 634; Ghinda, Val. R. Embatkalla, 29.XII.1900, 8♀ 3 juvs., leg. A. Andreini, MZUF No. 626; Ghinda, Val. R. Embatkalla, sotto sassi, 29.XII.1900, 3♀, leg. A. Andreini, MZUF No. 625; Saganeiti, IV.1901, 3 juvs., leg. A. Andreini, MZUF No. 628; Saganeiti, IV.1901, 1♂ 6♀, leg. A. Andreini, MZUF No. 620; Adi Ugri, V.1901, 1♂ 1♀ 6 juvs., leg. A. Andreini, MZUF No. 633; Adi Ugri, dintorni, sotto sassi, V.1901, 3♀, leg. A. Andreini, MZUF No. 632; Adi Ugri, VI.1901, 4♂ 5♀ 9juvs., leg. A. Andreini, MZUF No. 635; Enda Abba Mali, terr[itorio di] Adi Ugri, 8.VI.1901, 2 ♂ 2♀, leg. A. Andreini, MZUF No. 630; Enda Abba Mali, Adi Ugri, 8.VI.1901, 1♂ 2juvs., leg. A. Andreini, MZUF No. 631; Adi Ugri, VII.1901, 1♂, leg. A. Andreini, MZUF No. 636; Adi Caieh, IV.1902, 3♀, leg. A. Andreini, MZUF No. 624; Adi Caieh, dintorni, IV.1902, 2♀ 2juvs., leg. A. Andreini, MZUF No. 629; Adi Caieh, sotto sassi, V.1902, 1♀, leg. A. Andreini, MZUF No. 627; Adi Caieh, V.1902, 1♀, leg. A. Andreini, MZUF No. 621; Adi Caieh, VI.1902, 1♂, leg. A. Andreini, MZUF No. 623; Adi Caieh, sotto sassi, VII.1902, 1♀, leg. A. Andreini, MZUF No. 622.? Kenya, D. O. Afrika, Tabora, 1913, 5♂ 5♀ 1juv., leg. Schablitzki, SMFD No. 5220 .

DIAGNOSIS. Total length 45–70 mm. For habitus see Figs. 68–74. Trichobothrium db on the fixed finger of pedipalp situated between trichobothria et and est, may be on level with est. Sexual dimorphism not pronounced; manus of pedipalp usually of same width in both sexes, but males have fingers twisted whereas females have them straight. Pectinal teeth number 19–28. Chelicerae yellow, without reticulation, only tips of teeth on cheliceral fingers are black. Pedipalps sparsely hirsute. Metasoma bears only a few hairs. Color usually uniformly yellowish brown, only ventral carinae of metasoma black; mesosoma and carapace may be black in some specimens. Femur of pedipalps with 5 carinae that may be incomplete. Patella with 8 carinae, of which some are smooth, without granules and obsolete. Chela lacks carinae. Movable fingers of pedipalps with 12 or 13 rows of granules and 5 terminal granules. Seventh metasomal segment with 4 well marked ventral carinae. First to third metasomal segments with 10 carinae; fourth segment with 8 or 10 carinae; fifth segment with 5 carinae. Lateral carinae may not be discernible in some males. All carinae granulated, dorsal carinae bear larger terminal granules. Metasoma strongly granulated, accessoric rows of granules present on dorsal surfaces of segments as well as on ventral surface of fifth segment. First metasomal segment of adults always wider than long; second metasomal segment usually also wider than long, but in smaller, less developed specimens of both sexes may be longer than wide. Second to fourth metasomal segment width ratio less than 1.2.

TYPE LOCALITY AND TYPE REPOSITORY. Chad, South of Tibesti, NE Sherda-Zouar ; ZMUH.

COMMENTS. H. acostai Lourenço, 2004 is based on six specimens of which I have seen three paratypes. Lourenço (2004: 216) distinguishes H. acostai from H. minax , actually H. minax occidentalis , by 1) smaller size (45 and 51 mm); 2) much more pale coloration; 3) more marked granulation on carapace and tergites; and 4) pectinal tooth counts, which in H. acostai show a less number of teeth (22 or 23 in males and 19 or 20 in females). As for character 1), I found one female paratype to be 59 mm long ( Fig. 74). Characters 2) and 3) are valueless and, as is apparent from Figs. 68–74, do not show any difference. And neither character 4) shows anything that would separate the paratypes from H. minax (see diagnosis). The only difference, which Lourenço does not mention, may be a somewhat narrower metasoma (see Figs. 71 and 74), however that is common even in the same population (see discussion below) and e.g. in the MZUF collection have specimens with narrower metasoma often been labeled as Hottentotta minax tigrinus . Also the females paralectotypes of H. minax have the metasoma narrower than the specimen in Fig. 71.

The taxonomic position of the subspecies H. minax occidentalis is questionable. Vachon & Stockmann (1968: 128) described this taxon ( type locality and type repository: Chad, Djermaya; MNHN) as a subspecies and distinguished it from other populations only on the positions of trichobothria on the femur of pedipalp, whose difference (figs. 36 and 37 in Vachon & Stockmann, 1968: 117) are due to variability and therefore not taxonomically useful. Another difference is ventral granules on the fifth metasomal segment that, however, are also quite variable. Lourenço (2004: 213) elevated this subspecies to species without giving any reasons for the status change. Due to unavailability of MNHN types (see Kovařík, 2004: 27), I have no choice but to regard this taxon recorded from Chad and Cameroon as a subspecies of H. minax , with the stipulation that only a thorough study of the types can decide whether it is a synonym or a valid species.

DISTRIBUTION. Chad, Cameroon (Vachon & Stockmann 1968: 129), Egypt (L. Koch, 1875: 7), Eritrea, Ethiopia (Borelli, 1915: 460), Kenya, Libya (Fet & Lowe, 2000: 142), Sudan (Birula, 1908: 141). This species has been reported also from Tanzania ( Lampe, 1918: 191; Werner, 1916: 80; Loveridge, 1925: 305; Werner, 1936: 175), however I suspect all such reports to concern misidentified H. trilineatus . Also Uganda records (Birula, 1908: 141) are most likely dubious.