Mimoscorpius pugnator ( Butler, 1872 )

Huff, Jeremy C., Víquez, Carlos & Prendini, Lorenzo, 2008, Redescription of Mimoscorpius pugnator (Butler, 1872) (Arachnida: Thelyphonida), with first description of the female, American Museum Novitates 3633, pp. 1-12 : 4-8

Mimoscorpius pugnator ( Butler, 1872)

Figures 1 –11, table 1

Thelyphonus pugnator Butler, 1872: 204 , pl. XIII, fig. 5 .

Fig. 3. Mimoscorpius pugnator ( Butler, 1872) , genitalia, ♀ (AMNH). A. Dorsal aspect. B. Ventral aspect. Scale 5 3 mm.

Mimoscorpius pugnator: Pocock, 1894: 132 ; Kraepelin, 1897: 40, 1899: 207; Gravely, 1916: 71; Giltay, 1931: 24, 25; Mello-Leitão, 1931: 24; Werner, 1935: 467, fig. 171; Rowland and Cooke, 1973: 64, 68; Rowland, 1973: 6, 7, 9; Harvey, 2003: 68; Armas and Víquez, 2005: 299–301, 2007: 507–509, figs. 1, 3; Víquez and Armas, 2006a: 302–305, figs. 7, 13, 2006b: 37.

Mastigoproctus liochirus Pocock, 1900: 299 (synonymized by Armas and Víquez, 2007: 507–509, fig. 2 ). Pocock, 1902: 46, 48, pl. X, fig. 5 ; Mello-Leitão, 1931: 26, 27, 29, fig. 13; Rowland and Cooke, 1973: 68; Valerio, 1981: 15–17, fig. 3; Vásquez Rojas, 1996: 69; Lazell, 2000: 306, 309; Armas and Maes, 2000: 14, 15; Rowland, 2002: 192; Harvey, 2003: 67; Víquez, 2003: 84, 85, map 1, fig. 1; Armas, 2004: 53; Víquez and Armas, 2006a: 299, 301–304, figs. 5 , 13.

HOLOTYPE: 1 ♂ ( BMNH), ‘‘Philippine Islands’’ (digital photomicrographs examined). For discussion on the type locality, see Armas and Víquez (2005).

DIAGNOSIS: As for genus.

DESCRIPTION: The following description is based on 2 ♂ and 10 ♀ (figs. 1, 2 ).

Total length: Maximum adult length measured from anterior margin of carapace to posterior edge of pygidium (segment XII), 35.73 mm (♂), 38.03 mm (♀) ( table 1 ).

Color: Carapace, black. Opisthosoma, dorsal surface, black. Tergites II–IV, region of longitudinal suture, reddish-brown. Sternites I–VII, ventral surfaces, reddish-brown to light brown, lateral edges, dark brown; VIII, dark brown to black. Pygidium, dorsal and ventral surfaces, dark brown. Flagellum, dorsal, lateral and ventral surfaces, reddish-brown, covered with reddish setae. Pedipalp trochanter, dorsal and ventral surfaces, dark reddishbrown. Pedipalp femur, dorsal and ventral surfaces, dark brown. Pedipalp patella, tibia and basitarsus, dorsal and ventral surfaces, dark reddish-brown. Internal surface with numerous long, red setae. Leg I, all segments, reddish-brown; II–IV, coxa, ventral surface, light reddish-brown to orange-brown, trochanter and femur, dark reddish-brown, patella and tibia, reddish-brown, basitarsus and tarsus, light reddish-brown to orange-brown.

Carapace: Carapace with pair of welldeveloped anterolateral carinae, extending from lateral ocelli approximately two-thirds towards median ocular tubercle. Anterior surface and median ocular tubercle, smooth; remainder of carapace wrinkled, becoming densely and finely granular posteriorly, with sparse granules on lateral surfaces. Median ocular tubercle situated 0.74 mm from anteri- or margin of carapace ( table 1 ); distance between ocelli 1.4 times ocular diameter. Posterior fovea obsolete; epistoma present, small. Three pairs of lateral ocelli: anterior ocellus nearly twice the diameter of median ocellus; posterior ocellus only slightly smaller than anterior ocellus; distance between posterior and median ocelli twice the distance between anterior and median ocelli.

Pedipalps: Cuticle very smooth, shiny, and sparsely punctate. Coxa, external and ventral surfaces smooth; apophysis with one tooth distally. Trochanter smooth, as wide as (♂) or wider than (♀) long; dorsointernal surface with six teeth, all similar in size, relatively small, proximal three pointed, distal three blunt, rounded (♂) or with teeth larger, increasing in size medially, all sharply pointed (♀); ventrointernal surface with two teeth. Femur (♂) almost cylindrical, twice length of trochanter; ventroexternal surface without teeth; ventrointernal surface with one small, blunt tooth medially. Femur (♀) not cylindrical, only slightly longer then trochanter; ventroexternal surface with one small tooth medially; ventrointernal surface with one larger, more pronounced tooth medially. Patella relatively short, smooth; dorsointernal surface with one short tooth (♀) or with vestigial tooth (♂), situated proximal to apophysis. Patellar apophysis very elongated, smooth and slender (♂) or unmodified (♀); internal edge with serrate row of denticles; external edge smooth. Tibia, external edge flattened (♂) or rounded (♀); internal surface with numerous long, red macrosetae (♂) or with fewer, shorter macrosetae (♀); ventrointernal surface with one tooth distally. Fixed finger, dorsal edge smooth (♂) or with serrate row of denticles (♀); ventral edge with serrate row of denticles; strongly curved downwards, overlapping basitarsus (♂) or straight, not overlapping basitarsus (♀). Basitarsus, dorsal edge with serrate row of denticles; ventral edge smooth (♂) or with serrate row of denticles (♀); apex bifid (♂).

Legs: Leg I, basitarsus and telotarsus, tarsomeres I–VII gradually decreasing in size, with I largest; tarsomere VIII almost as long as I. Legs II–IV, basitarsus with two ventrodistal spurs. Leg IV, tibia with one ventrodistal spur.

Trichobothria: Leg I with two trichobothria; other legs with one trichobothrium; present at distal end of leg tibiae only.

Opisthosoma: Abdominal tergites finely granular; II and III divided by median longitudinal suture; IV and often V, suture reaching approximately to anterior third of segment; X divided laterally by suture (pleuron); XII with pair of large, laterally compressed oval ommatoids. Sternite II (genital) (♂) with pair of inflated surfaces posterolaterally; posterior margin with conspicuous, subrectangular median lobe; III and IV undivided, III three times longer than IV; remaining sternites smooth medially, finely punctate laterally. Sternite II (genital) (♀) unmodified; posterior margin with small median notch, small circular sclerotized structure below surface of cuticle posterior to median notch. Seminal receptacles tubular, kidney-shaped, convex dorsally, concave ventrally; posteriorly directed (fig. 3).

Sexual dimorphism: The adult male exhibits several secondary sexual characters not observed in the adult female. The pedipalps of the male are elongated, with a modified tibia, compared to the female in which the pedipalps are relatively short and robust, with an unmodified tibia. Sternite II presents two inflated surfaces posterolaterally, and its posterior margin is lobate medially, in the male, but is unmodified in the female.

MATERIAL EXAMINED: GUATEMALA: Departamento Escuintla: San Vicente, Pacaya, Los Almendros farm (14 ° 24 9 58 0 N 90 ° 38 9 21 0 W), 3.v.2001, F. Alvarado, 1 ♀ ( UVGC) . Departamento Guatemala: Peña Blanca (14 ° 32 9 0 0 N 90 ° 20 9 0 0 W), 3.vii.1980, T. Okazawa, 1 ♀ ( AMNH) . Departamento Santa Rosa: Taxisco, El Papayo village (14 ° 08 9 03 0 N 90 ° 33 9 52 0 W), 270 m, 13.vi.2002, C. Ávila Ramos, 1 ♂ ( INBio) ; same locality, 3–4.vii.2006, C. Víquez, J. Huff, D. Ortiz, C. Ávila, and R. Estrada, 1 ♂, 3 ♀, 9 juv. ( AMNH) , 2 ♀, 1 juv. ♂, 1 juv. ♀ ( INBio) , 2 ♀, 1 juv. ♂ (MUSHNAT), 1 ♀, 1 juv. ♂, 1 juv. ♀ ( IES) .

DISTRIBUTION: Recorded from the Escuintla, Guatemala and Santa Rosa departments of Guatemala ( fig. 4 ).

NATURAL HISTORY: Mimoscorpius pugnator inhabits humid subtropical forests at an elevation of 270 m, with a temperature of 18– 24 ° C, and mean annual precipitation of 1000– 2000 mm ( fig. 5 ). This species was collected in small mammal (agouti or armadillo) burrows, holes at the base of large trees, and from inside and under rotten logs. Six M. pugnator specimens were taken, together with several schizomids, from an agouti burrow which contained many dead leaves. These whip scorpions appear to tolerate each other when in close proximity and no aggression was observed among individuals of various sizes. The defensive spray of this species smells strongly of acetic acid.

Figures

Fig. 1. Mimoscorpius pugnator (Butler, 1872), habitus, ♂ (AMNH). A. Dorsal aspect. B. Ventral aspect. Scale 5 10 mm.

Fig. 5. Subtropical forest habitat of Mimoscorpius pugnator (Butler, 1872) near El Papayo, Guatemala.

Fig. 2. Mimoscorpius pugnator (Butler, 1872), habitus, ♀ (AMNH). A. Dorsal aspect. B. Ventral aspect. Scale 5 10 mm.

Fig. 4. Map of Guatemala, plotting the known locality records of Mimoscorpius pugnator (Butler, 1872).

Tables

TABLE 1 Mimoscorpius pugnator (Butler, 1872), selected measurements (mm)

	Sex	♂	♂	♀	♀	♀	♀
	Locality	EP	EP	EP	EP	EP	PB
	Collection	AMNH	InBio	AMNH	AMNH	AMNH	AMNH
Carapace	Length	13.53	15.20	12.94	13.29	13.68	12.91
	Width at lateral ocelli	6.66	7.33	5.91	6.16	5.79	6.05
	Width at fovea	7.34	9.01	7.07	7.24	7.12	7.73
	Median ocular tubercle distance1	0.75	0.92	0.68	0.69	0.68	0.69
	Ocular width	0.47	0.50	0.36	0.39	0.39	0.30
	Distance between median ocelli	0.63	0.70	0.54	0.55	0.45	0.49
Leg I	Coxa length	2.59	3.48	2.75	2.62	2.67	2.58
	Trochanter length	2.29	2.84	2.23	2.22	2.24	2.24
	Femur length	9.57	11.46	8.51	8.37	8.40	8.60
	Patella length	14.19	16.67	12.32	11.85	12.07	11.80
	Tibia length	13.13	15.86	11.56	11.50	11.20	11.58
	Basitarsus-tarsus length	9.30	11.52	8.08	8.28	8.01	7.31
Leg IV	Coxa length	4.12	5.12	4.19	3.82	3.93	4.18
	Trochanter length	4.32	5.46	4.87	4.67	4.39	4.81
	Femur length	10.47	11.69	9.10	8.63	9.68	10.20
	Patella length	4.75	5.60	4.58	4.04	4.26	4.50
	Tibia length	9.41	11.45	8.93	8.38	8.38	8.67
	Basitarsus length	3.01	2.60	2.12	1.91	2.00	2.37
	Tarsus length	4.62	5.10	4.61	4.34	4.02	3.95
Total length2		36.69	46.00	36.82	38.53	38.19	34.15

1 Measured from anterior carapace margin.

2 Measured from anterior carapace margin to posterior edge of pygidium.

Abbreviations: AMNH (American Museum of Natural History, New York); EP (El Papayo, Guatemala); PB (Peña

Blanca, Guatemala); InBio (Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad, Santo Domingo, Costa Rica).