Babycurus dunlopi Kovařík, Lowe, Seiter, Plíšková et Šťáhlavský, 2015

Kovařík, František, Lowe, Graeme, Seiter, Michael, Plíšková, Jana & Šťáhlavský, František, 2015, Scorpions of Ethiopia (Arachnida: Scorpiones). Part II. Genus Babycurus Karsch, 1886 (Buthidae), with description of two new species, Euscorpius 196, pp. 1-31 : 3-5

Babycurus dunlopi Kovařík, Lowe, Seiter, Plíšková et Šťáhlavský , sp. n.

( Figures 1–23, 29–37, 41–45, 123, Table 1) http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:890A53

24-434A-49F1-87A5-AAA31DAFE2B2

Babycurus wituensis taramassoi (in part): Kovařík, 2000: 258; Kovařík, 2003: 136.

TYPE LOCALITY AND HOLOTYPE DEPOSITORY. Ethiopia, Oromia State, Gemu Gofa region, Arba Minch , 05°59' 25.4"N 37°32'24"E, 1261 m a.s.l., FKCP.

TYPE MATERIAL. Ethiopia, Oromia State, Gemu Gofa region, Arba Minch , 2-3. V.1997, 2♂ 1♀ im. (paratypes), leg. C. Werner, 05°59'25.4"N 37°32'24"E, 1261 m a.s.l. ( Figs. 44–45, locality No. 13 EY), 8.VII.2013, 3♂ (para- types) 1♀ (holotype, maturity ecdysis 4.V.2014) ( UV detection), leg. and bred by F. Kovařík , FKCP.

ETYMOLOGY. Named after Jason A. Dunlop, the Curator of arachnid, myriapod & stem-group arthropod collection of Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin (ZMHB) and Secretary of the International Society of Arachnology. He has assisted the authors by providing information about old scorpion material cited by old authors as Hemprich & Ehrenberg, Gervais, Peters, Karsch or Kraepelin and he has loaned us important types for more than 15 years. This has helped us to understand the taxonomic positions of many scorpion species and groups.

DIAGNOSIS. Total length 49–55 mm. Coloration yellowish brown to orange with dark spots. Tergites I-VI could be almost black with four symmetrical orange spots of every tergite. Chelicerae yellow strongly reticulate mainly in anterior half. Pedipalp movable fingers with 8 principal rows of denticles and apical row of five denticles. Pectines with 24–28 teeth in both sexes. First metasomal segment has 10 carinae, second through fourth segments have eight carinae. Telson sparsely setose, tuberculate, with a subaculear tooth 0.35–0.42 mm long (ratio aculeus length to subaculear tooth length 6.72–7.80). Vesicle elongate, ellipsoidal. Aculeus curved, approximately as long as vesicle. Males with posterior margin of sternite V with smooth median patch; chela of pedipalps broader than female, ratio chela length to manus width 4.24 in female, 3.3–3.5 in males; and very slightly broader metasomal segments (length to width ratio 1.7 in female and 1.55–1.58 in males).

DESCRIPTION. Total length 49–55 mm. Measurements of the carapace, telson, segments of the metasoma and segments of the pedipalps are given in Table 1. Coloration ( Figs. 1–4, 41–43) base yellowish brown to orange with dark spots mainly on patella and femur of legs and pedipalps, carapace, mesosoma and dorsal surfaces of metasoma. Tergites I-VI almost black with four symmetrical orange spots on each tergite ( Fig. 41). Chelicerae yellow, strongly reticulate mainly on anterior half ( Fig. 19). Sexual dimorphism: males with chela of pedipalps broader (ratio chela length to manus width 4.24 in female, 3.3–3.5 in males); fingers of pedipalps more flexed proximally ( Figs. 30 and 34); slightly broa- der metasomal segments (length to width ratio 1.7 in female and 1.55–1.58 in males); posterior margin of sternite V with smooth median patch present in males and absent in female.

CHELICERAE ( Fig. 19). With dentition typical for the genus, teeth sharp. Tegument basally smooth and shiny without granulation.

PEDIPALPS ( Figs. 11–17, 29–34). Femur granulated, with four granulate carinae developed. Patella almost smooth with seven granulate carinae developed. Chela with carinae vestigial to absent, smooth; fingers long (ratio chela length to movable finger length 1.57–1.70 in both sexes), curved, with 8 principal rows of denticles, 7 of them terminating in two external granules; the last (proximal) row has one external granule in the middle of the row. There are also seven internal granules on movable finger and six on fixed finger. Movable fingers bear apical row of five denticles and three terminal accessory denticles.

CARAPACE ( Figs. 18–19). Slightly trapezoidal (narrower anteriorly) and slightly wider than long; anterior margin concave, with some short microsetae. Carination absent. Median furrows wide and deep, others vestigial to absent. Tegument densely and coarsely granulose. Median eyes large and raised; five pairs of lateral eyes: three same-sized and aligned along each anterolateral corner, plus two vestigial to absent.

MESOSOMA ( Figs. 1–4, 18–19, 22–23). Tergites I–VI bear one conspicuous median carina; tergite VII with five well-defined carinae (median, submedians and laterals), which are long and serrate to crenulate. All tergites are densely and coarsely granulose. Sternum ( Fig. 22) standard for the genus: type 1, triangular in shape; medial depression very large. Pectines standard-sized for the genus ( Figs. 22–23): extending to around half of sternite IV in both sexes, setose. Tooth count 24–28 (1x24, 3x25, 4x26, 1x27, 1x28) in males and 25/ 26 in female. Pectines have 3 marginal lamellae and 8–9 middle lamellae. Sternites lack carinae, surfaces are smooth and sparsely setose, except for sternite III with denser medial setation ( Fig. 22). Posterior margin of sternite V with smooth median patch in males.

LEGS ( Figs. 20–21). The tarsomeres bear two rows of relatively long macrosetae on the ventral surface and numerous macrosetae on the other surfaces; bristle combs absent. Femur bears only solitary macrosetae. Femur coarsely granulose, femur and patella with carinae developed. Tibial spurs present and long on fourth legs.

METASOMA AND TELSON ( Figs. 5–10). All segments with complete granulate carinae developed. The first metasomal segment has a total of 10 carinae, the second through fourth segments have eight carinae, and the fifth segment has five carinae. All metasomal segments are densely granulated laterally and ventrally; dorsal surface more granulated on the fifth segment; the second and the third segments only sparsely granulated and the fifth is dorsally smooth. Metasoma is sparsely hirsute mainly along carinae bearing dark setae. There are 2–4 (segment I) to 10–14 (segment V) setae around every dorsal carina and 6–8 (segment I) to 12–18 (segment V) setae on ventral surface. Telson sparsely setose, tuberculate, with a subaculear tooth 0.35–0.42 mm long (ratio aculeus length to subaculear tooth length 6.72–7.80) ( Figs. 36– 37). Vesicle elongate, ellipsoidal. Aculeus curved, approximately as long as vesicle.

ANOMALY. Telson with subaculear tooth is a diagnositic character for the genus Babycurus ( Figs. 36–37). Six of seven types have a 0.35–0.42 mm long subaculear tooth present, but one male paratype lacks a subaculear tooth ( Fig. 35). This male was collected together with the female holotype and two other adult male paratypes. We believe that this first known case of the absence of a subaculear tooth in Babycurus is only a morphological anomaly which can be ignored in diagnosis of the genus and species.

AFFINITIES. The described features distinguish B. dunlopi sp. n. from all other species of the genus. B. dunlopi sp. n. seems to be closest to B. wituensis Kraepelin, 1913 and B. taramassoi Borelli, 1919 , which was designated as subspecies B. wituensis taramassoi by Kovařík (2000: 258–260). After studying other specimens we believed that both of these taxa are valid species. B. taramassoi could represent a complex with more species from Somalia and B. wituensis is known from southeast Kenya and Tanzania (Kovařík et al., in preparation). B.taramassoi is usually larger with total length 60–74 mm and B. wituensis and B. dunlopi sp. n. are 45–57 mm long. B. dunlopi sp. n. and B. wituensis can be unequivocally separated by: 1) metasomal segments very slightly broader in males of B. dunlopi sp. n. (ratio length to width the fifth metasomal segment 1.7 in female and 1.55–1.58 in males) and more broader in males of B. wituensis (ratio length to width the fifth metasomal segment 1.85–1.96 in females and 1.35–1.48 in males); 2) subaculear tooth ( Figs. 36–37) only 0.35– 0.42 mm long in B. dunlopi sp. n. (ratio aculeus length to subaculear tooth length 6.72–7.80) and 0.67–0.73 mm long in B. wituensis ( Figs. 26–28, ratio aculeus length to subaculear tooth length 3.79–4.29).