Buthacus Birula, 1908

Kovařík, František, 2018, Notes on the genera Buthacus Compsobuthus and Lanzatus with several synonymies and corrections of published characters (Scorpiones Buthidae), Euscorpius 269, pp. 1-12 : 6-9

Buthacus Birula, 1908

( Figs. 19–22)

TYPE SPECIES. Androctonus (Leiurus) leptochelys Ehrenberg, 1829 .

DIAGNOSIS. Total length 40–90 mm (except B. villiersi Vachon, 1949 and B. clevai Lourenço, 2001 ); carapace trapezoidal, in lateral view preocular area not distinctly inclined towards anterior margin, level with or higher than postocular area; surface of carapace conspicuously granular, with only anterior median carinae developed, anterior part of carapace glossy; ventral aspect of cheliceral fixed finger with two denticles; tergites with three carinae of which lateral pair on I and II inconspicuous; pectines with fulcra, hirsute; hemispermatophore flagelliform, capsule with 4 lobes, lobes separated from flagellum, basal lobe small, knob-like; sternum subtriangular; metasomal segments I–III with 8–10 carinae; metasoma II as wide as other metasomal segments; metasoma V with enlarged "lobate" dentition on ven- trolateral carinae; telson without subaculear tubercle, with long curved aculeus, longer than vesicle (except B. buettikeri Hendrixson, 2006 ); all segments of metasoma hirsute, with long setae in both sexes, dentate margin of movable finger of pedipalp with 9–12 rows of granules, each row equipped with one internal accessory granule, and with ( B. leptochelys group) or without ( B. arenicola group) one external accessory granule, 4 terminal and one basal terminal granules present; trichobothrial pattern orthobothriotaxic type A; dorsal trichobothria of femur arranged in β- configuration; pedipalp patella with 7 external trichobothria; pedipalp femur with trichobothrium d 2 on dorsal surface; d 2 of pedipalp patella present; patella trichobothrium d 3 internal to dorsomedian carina; tibial spurs present on legs III–IV but could be reduced or absent on leg III.

COMMENTS. Lourenço described 16 species of genus Buthacus as author or coauthor. The types of five of these species are deposited in ZMUH and were loaned for this study ( Buthacus armasi Lourenço, 2013 , B. clevai Lourenço, 2001 , B. huberi Lourenço, 2001 , B. maliensis Lourenço & Qi, 2007 , and B. nigerianus Lourenço & Qi, 2006 ). The types of 11 other Buthacus species are deposited in MNHN (9), BNHS (1), and SMTD (1). Among these, the two species Buthacus mahraouii Lourenço, 2004 and B. algerianus Lourenço, 2006 are in synonymy with B. ziegleri Lourenço, 2000 (Kovařík, Lowe & Šťáhlavský, 2016b). Lourenço et al. (2017) rejected the synonymy and expressed an unsupported opinion that the genus Buthacus includes "microendemic species" where different species can occur in almost every locality. This hypothesis needs to be critically tested by studies of comparative morphology and/ or DNA analyses. Lourenço never published any such analyses, and on the contrary has difficulty even with simple taxonomic questions like distinguishing Buthacus specimens from other buthid genera. For example, it is evident that B. maliensis is undeniably a member of the genus Androctonus , and also that Buthacus agarwali Zambre & Lourenço, 2010 from India (Rajasthan) does not belong to Buthacus (see Kovařík, Lowe & Šťáhlavský, 2016b: 2).

Taxonomic position of Buthacus armasi Lourenço,