Diplocentrus bicolor, Contreras-Félix, Gerardo A. & Santibáñez-López, Carlos E., 2011

Contreras-Félix, Gerardo A. & Santibáñez-López, Carlos E., 2011, Diplocentrus bicolor sp. n. (Scorpiones: Diplocentridae) from Jalisco, Mexico, Zootaxa 2992, pp. 61-68 : 62-66

Diplocentrus bicolor sp. n.

( Figures 1–10 )

Etymology. The specific epithet refers to the contrasting coloration of the darker body with the legs considerably lighter in color; and it is used as a noun in apposition.

Types. Jalisco: Municipio Huejuquilla el Alto: El Vallecito 15 km from Huejuquilla el Alto along the road to San Juan Capistrano (N 22º 40.27’, W 103º 57.63’, 1233 m) 6.vii.2005. O. Francke, J. Ponce, M. Córdova, A. Jaimes, G. Francke & V. Capovilla. 1 3 (CNAN-T0683).

Paratypes: Jalisco: Municipio Huejuquilla el Alto: El Vallecito 15 km from Huejuquilla el Alto along the road to San Juan Capistrano (N 22º 40.27’, W 103º 57.63’, 1233 m) 6.vii.2005. O. Francke, J. Ponce, M. Córdova, A. Jaimes, G. Francke & V. Capovilla. 1 3, 2 Ƥ (CNAN-T0684). Jalisco: Municipio Mezquitic: Carretera a Mezquitic between Mezquitic and Ojuelos (N 22º 21.601’, W 103º 38.622’, 2089 m) 7.vii.2005. O. Francke, J. Ponce, M. Córdova, A. Jaimes, G. Francke & V. Capovilla. 2 3 (AMNH). Jalisco: Municipio Huejuquilla el Alto: El Vallecito 18 km from Huejuquilla el Alto along road to San Juan Capistrano (N 22º 40.277’, W 103º 57.638’ 1233 m) 6.vii.2005 .. O. Francke, J. Ponce, M. Córdova, A. Jaimes, G. Francke & V. Capovilla. 1 Ƥ (CNAN-T0684).

Other specimens examined: Jalisco: Municipio Huejuquilla el Alto: El Vallecito 15 km from Huejuquilla el alto along the road to San Juan Capistrano (N 22º 40.27’, W 103º 57.63’, 1233 m) 6.vii.2005. O. Francke, J. Ponce, M. Córdova, A. Jaimes, G. Francke & V. Capovilla. 4 3 (CNAN- S03083 ); 3 3 ( AMNH). Jalisco: Municipio Mezquitic: Carretera a Mezquitic betwen Mezquitic and Ojuelos (N 22º 21.601’, W 103º 38.62’ 2089 m) 7.vii.2005. O. Francke, J. Ponce, M. Córdova, A. Jaimes, G. Francke & V. Capovilla. 4 3 (CNAN-S03049). 3 Ƥ (CNAN-S03050) 5 3 and 4 Ƥ ( AMNH). Jalisco: Municipio Mezquitic: 4 km to North from Mezquitic (N 22º 24.732’, W 103º43.222’, 1388 m) 7.vii.2005. O. Francke, J. Ponce, M. Córdova, A. Jaimes, G. Francke & V. Capovilla. 2 3 (CNAN-S03084) 1 3 1 Ƥ ( AMNH). Zacatecas: Municipio Valparaiso: 4.1 km north from San Juan Capistrano (N 22º 40’ 44”, W 104º 06’22”, 1169 m) without date. Unknown colector. 1 3 (CNAN-S03029). Zacatecas: Municipio Valparaiso: Deviation to Los Tanques (N 22º 40’ 14”, W 104º 02’ 32”, 1099 m) 19.ix.2001. E. Gonzalez. 4 3, 1 Ƥ (CNAN-S03030).

Distribution. Known from two localities, 3 km from each other, in northern Jalisco and from another two in southern Zacatecas ( Fig. 11 ).

Diagnosis. Adults 60 to 70 mm long. Brownish to dark red, legs pale yellow to cream, contrasting sharply with the rest of the body. Frontal notch in anterior margin of carapace “U” shaped, notch moderately deep shagreened. Pedipalp femur orthobothriotaxic, wider than deep, dorsal surface flat, weakly to sparsely granulose. Pedipalp patella orthobothriotaxic; dorsal external carina weak to moderate, smooth in males; ventral submedian carina weak to faint, smooth. Chela orthobothriotaxic; digital carina strong, smooth ending at the base of the fixed finger in males; dorsal surface slightly reticulate to smooth; pedipalp carination weaker and smoother in females. Telotarsal formula 5–6/6–7: 6/7: 7/8: 7/8. Pectinal tooth count on males (n=29) 17–19 (mode= 18); on females (n=10) 14– 16 (mode= 15).

Diplocentrus bicolor sp. n. is similar to D. poncei Francke & Quijano-Revel, 2009 in overall size; the frontal notch of the carapace is “U” shaped in both species; the femur is wider than deep in both species and the dorsal surface flat, and both are similar in pectinal tooth counts. It is geographically closest westward to D. gertschi from Nayarit ( Sissom & Walker, 1992), sharing a similar telotarsal formula (on the last leg 7/8), the dorsal surface of pedipalp wider than deep, and the pedipalp patella dorsal external carina weak to moderate and smooth in males; it is also closest geographically to the north and the east to D. zacatecanus Hoffmann,1932 , from Zacatecas, San Luis Potosí, Querétaro, Michoacán, Hidalgo, Guanajuato, Estado de México, Durango y Aguascalientes (Ponce-Saavedra et al., 2009) sharing similar femur dorsal surface shape and similar carination development in the pedipalp patella. D. bicolor sp. n. can be clearly distinguished from D. poncei by the orthobothriotaxic condition on the pedipalp patella and chela ( D. poncei is neobothriotaxic on both); by a higher telotarsal formula (5/7 5/7 on the last two legs in D. poncei whereas on D. bicolor sp.n. they are 7/8:7/8).Digital carina in the pedipalp chela in males of D. poncei is faint to obsolete whereas in males of D. bicolor sp. n. is strong. The legs of D. poncei do not contrast in color with the rest of the body as in D. bicolor . sp. n. It can be distinguished from D. gertschi by its higher pectinal tooth count in males (17 to 19 vs 13 to 15 in D. gertschi ). The frontal notch of the carapace in D. gertschi is “V” shaped whereas in D. bicolor sp. n. is “U” shaped. Surfaces on the pedipalp patella of D. gertschi are finely granular and punctate (this condition is present in the species of the genus Didymocentrus , some species of the genus Bioculus and has been reported only in another three species in the genus Diplocentrus, Sissom & Walker, 1992 ; Armas & Martín-Frías, 2004; Armas et al., 2004; Santibañez-López, pers. obs.) whereas in D. bicolor sp. n. they are shagreened to granular, without punctation; and D. gertschi (adults: 45 to 52 mm) is smaller than D. bicolor sp. n. It can be distinguished from D. zacatecanus by a higher telotarsal formula (7/8 7/8 on the last two legs, whereas on D. zacatecanus they are 6/7 7/7), and a higher pectinal tooth count in males (17 to 19 with a mode of 18, whereas on D. zacatecanus , it is 12 to 16 with a mode of 13), and in females (15 to 16, with a mode of 14 whereas on D. zacatecanus , it is 8–14 with a mode of 11 to 12). The frontal notch of the carapace in D. zacatecanus is “V” shaped whereas in D. bicolor sp. n. is “U” shaped.

Description of the holotype male ( Figs. 1–2 ): Prosoma. Carapace reddish brown to dark red, shagreened to sparsely and minutely granular. Frontal notch of carapace “U” shaped, deep, slightly granular and setose; three pairs of lateral eyes subequal in size ( Fig. 3 ). Carapace smooth to minutely granular.

Mesosoma. Tergites reddish brown with fusco-piceus pattern (Darker in female). Tergites I–VI surface shagreened to weakly granular towards anterior margin. Tergite VII shagreened towards the anterior margin and minutely granular towards the posterior margin. Tergite VII presents weak lateral carinae. Pectinal tooth count 17– 16 (female with 14–15).

Metasoma. Dark red to reddish brown. Ventral submedian carinae: weak, slightly crenulate on segments I–II; weak to vestigial on segments III–IV. Ventral lateral carinae: strong, smooth and pale on segments I–II; strong, granular and darker on segments III–IV. Lateral inframedian carinae: with a few big conical granules on segments I–II; weak to vestigial on segments III–IV. Lateral supramedian carinae: strong, smooth on segment I; moderate, granular on segments II–IV. Dorsolateral carinae: strong, crenulate on segments I–IV. Segment V slightly longer than pedipalp femur or patella (ratio: 0.97); ventral median and ventral lateral carinae strongly granular with large subconical granules; ventral transverse carinae with 5 subconical granules and 5 large dark granules on the posterior end of the segment; dorsolateral carinae weak, smooth to slightly granular (Carinae stronger in female and more granular).

Telson. Reddish brown to dark red (Paler in female), smooth with scattered granules at the base of the vesicle; densely setose ventrally (lenght/width, ratio 0.29).

Pedipalp. Reddish brown to dark red, with carinae darker. Orthobothriotaxic type “C” pattern typical for the genus ( Francke, 1977). Femur wider than deep (ratio 0.93) ( Fig. 4 ). Dorsal internal carina strong, granular, becoming obsolete towards posteriorly. Ventral external carina only present basally, weakly granular. Dorsal surface flat with few, small, sparse granules on median portion. Ventral surface flat, shagreened. Internal surface granular with large dark granules.

Patella ( Fig. 5 ): Dorsal internal carina weak to obsolete, with few large granules, one larger than the others. Dorsal medial carina strong, smooth. Dorsal external carina weak to moderate, smooth. Ventral external carina weak, smooth. Ventral medial carina weak to vestigial, smooth. Ventral internal carina strong, granular. Dorsal, external and ventral faces shagreened; internal surface granular.

Chela ( Fig 6 ): Dorsal marginal carina strong, granular. Dorsal secondary carina weak, smooth. Digital carina strong, smooth. External secondary carina weak to moderate, smooth. Ventral external carina originating at the base of the fixed finger and becoming obsolete basally towards the middle portion. Ventral medial carina strong, smooth. Ventral internal carina originating at the base of the fixed finger, weak, smooth. Fixed finger: dorsal surface basally smooth, densely setose, internal surface moderately concave and external surface slightly convex.

Hemispermatophore: 6.9 mm in total length, lamellate, distal lamella 4.4 mm long. Capsular region 1.2 mm wide. Opercular “hook” narrow, without spines ( Figs. 8–10 ).

Intraspecific variation. Diplocentrus bicolor sp. n. shows sexual dimorphism: females are darker than males, and the pedipalp chela carinae are more strongly developed in males than in females. Pectinal tooth count variation is as follow: in males (n=29): 6 combs with 14, 2 with 15, 13 with 16, 13 with 17, 14 with 18, 8 with 19 and 2 with 20 teeth; in females (n=10): 1 comb with 12, 7 with 14, 7 with 15 and 5 with 16 teeth.

Legs. Pale brown to yellow, smooth.Telotarsal formula: 6/7 6/7: 6/7 7/8: 7/8 7/8: 7/8 8/8.

Telotarsal spiniform setae count variation as is show in table2 (n=39): Leg #\# of Setae 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Missing 1 prolateral 1 42 31 1 1 retrolateral 1 34 40 2 1 2 prolateral 4 58 14 2 2 retrolateral 5 50 21 2 3 prolateral 1 10 63 4

3 retrolateral 1 1 19 55 2 4 prolateral 1 5 59 9 4 4 retrolateral 1 15 50 8 4 Therefore, the modal formula for the species is 5/7:6/7:7/8:7/8.

Figures

FIGURE 11. Known distribution of Diplocentrus species in western México. Legend: Black circle = D. zacatecanus, black cross = D. gertchi, black square = D. poncei, black triangule = D. bicolor sp. n.

FIGURES 1 – 2. Habitus of holotype male. 1. Dorsal view. 2. Ventral view. Scale bar = 10 mm.

FIGURES 3 - 7. Diplocentrus bicolor sp. n. 3. Carapace of holotype male. 4. Pedipalp femur, dorsal view. 5. Pedipalp patella, external view. 6. Pedipalp chela, holotype male, dorsal external view. 7. Pedipalp chela, paratype female, dorsal external view. Scale bars = 3 mm.

FIGURES 8 – 10. Paratype male hemispermatophore. 8. Ental view. 9. Dorsal view. Scale bars = 3 mm. 10. Detail of the capsular region. Scale bar = 1 mm.