Teuthraustes khodayarii, Ythier, Eric & Lourenco, Wilson R., 2017

Ythier, Eric & Lourenco, Wilson R., 2017, The geographical patterns of distribution of the genus Teuthraustes Simon, 1878 in Ecuador and description of three new species (Scorpiones, Chactidae), ZooKeys 721, pp. 45-63 : 49-52

Teuthraustes khodayarii sp. n. Fig. 3, 4, Table 1

Type material.

Ecuador, Orellana Province (formerly Napo), Santa Maria de Huiririma 0°43'0"S, 75°37'0"W) VI/1976 (British expedition and local people), rainforest, under log. Pre-adult female holotype. Type material deposited in the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris, France.

Etymology.

The specific name honours Dr. Khosro Khodayari, founder, President and CEO of SynTech Research, Davis, California, USA, in recognition of his support for the study of scorpions.

Diagnosis.

Moderate to small scorpion with 35.1 mm in total length. Colouration reddish brown to dark brown. Body and appendages very intensely granulated with a rather thin granulation. Pectines with 6-6 teeth in female. Fixed and movable fingers of chela with 5-5 rows of granules; extremities of fingers with 3 granules. Ventral carinae present on metasomal segments I to IV, but weak on I. Trichobothrial pattern of type C neobothriotaxic ‘majorante’.

Description.

Based on female holotype.

Colouration.

General colouration basically reddish brown to dark brown. Prosoma: carapace reddish brown with a few paler spots; eyes blackish. Mesosoma: tergites reddish brown, with VII slightly paler with some yellow spots; venter and sternites reddish yellow; pectines and genital operculum with the same colour as sternites. Metasoma: segments reddish brown, with darker zones over carinae; vesicle reddish yellow with the tip of the aculeus dark red. Chelicerae: reddish yellow, with some diffuse variegated brown spots; fingers dark red with teeth reddish yellow. Pedipalps: dark brown with blackish carinae; cutting edges of fingers reddish. Legs: reddish yellow to reddish brown without spots.

Morphology.

Prosoma: carapace intensely granulated, with a dense and thin granulation; furrows shallow; sternum pentagonal, wider than long. Mesosoma: tergites almost acarinate, with a thin and dense granulation; sternites smooth and shiny, only VII with a few granulations; spiracles oval to rounded-shaped and conspicuous; pectinal tooth count 6-6, fulcra vestigial. Metasoma: segments I to III wider than long; metasomal tegument on segments I to IV with conspicuous granulations; segment V with spinoid granulations ventrally; carinae on segments I–V strongly developed; ventral present on all segments, less marked on I; telson with strongly marked granulations, only dorsal face smooth; aculeus shorter than vesicle. Chelicerae: dentition typical of the family Chacti dae ( Vachon 1963), and with dense setation ventrally and internally. Pedipalps: femur with dorsal internal, dorsal external and ventral internal carinae strongly marked; ventral external carina absent; dorsal, ventral and internal aspects with granulations; patella granulated with moderate carinae; chela very strongly granulated; internal aspect with conspicuous granules; dentate margins on movable and fixed fingers with 5-5 rows of granules; distal edge of fingers with three granules; trichobothriotaxy of type C; neobothriotaxic ‘majorante’ ( Vachon 1974). Legs: tarsi with short setae disposed in a single line.

Morphometric values.

Female holotype of T. khodayarii sp. n. Total length (in mm) including telson, 35.1. Carapace: length, 5.3; anterior width, 3.1; posterior width, 5.4. Mesosoma length 11.1. Metasomal segments. I: length, 1.9; width, 3.0; II: length, 2.0; width, 2.7; III: length, 2.2; width, 2.5; IV: length, 2.7; width, 2.3; V: length, 4.8; width, 2.2; depth, 2.0. Telson length, 5.1; vesicle: width, 2.0; depth, 1.6. Pedipalp: femur length, 3.8, width, 1.3; patella length, 3.7, width, 1.8; chela length, 8.1, width, 2.9, depth, 2.8; movable finger length, 4.6.

Relationships.

The species can be distinguished from the others congeners in particular from Teuthraustes atramentarius Simon, which is also distributed in Ecuador, but exclusively in the high central Andes, by the following features: (i) a thin but very intense granulation over body and appendages, particularly marked on legs (ii) ocular tubercle much less pronounced, (iii) pectines are wider, (iv) pedipalpal chela are not bulk and elongated, (v) metasomal segments I to III wider than long.