Heterometrus latimanus
| Heterometrus latimanus | ||||||||||||
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| Heterometrus latimanus | ||||||||||||
| ( Pocock , 1894) |
Heterometrus latimanus is a scorpion of the family Scorpionidae widespreadin Pakistan and possibly India .
description
Heterometrus latimanus is a 80 to 90 millimeter long scorpion with a reddish-brown basic color of the adult animals. The pedipalps are reddish and the legs are pale yellow. The chelae are lobed and convex, with a length to width ratio of 1.6 to 1.7 to 1 in adult females. The tops of the chelae are covered with rounded granules that do not form keels. The carapace has a smooth and shiny surface in the middle, there are always granules on the rear edge and occasional granules on the other edges. The combs of the comb organ have 16 to 21 teeth in male scorpions and 12 to 16 teeth in female. The telson has a poisonous bladder that is shorter than or equal to the length of the poison sting .
Heterometrus latimanus is similar in its morphology to the species Heterometrus wroughtoni . However, Heterometrus latimanus is smaller and paler in color. Both types differ significantly in the shape of the chelae.
distribution and habitat
In the first description, only India was given as the Terra typica of Heterometrus latimanus . At that time the area of today's Pakistan belonged to British India .
In 1999 it was reported that a juvenile scorpion from Pakistan was found in the collection of the Pakistan Museum of Natural History in Islamabad , which was initially identified as Heterometrus wroughtoni . Since the distribution area of Heterometrus wroughtoni is in southern India, the origin of the scorpion from Pakistan has been questioned. During an investigation of the scorpion fauna of the northern Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2012, scorpions were found in various locations that could be identified as Heterometrus latimanus .
The previously known range of Heterometrus latimanus in Pakistan is separated from that of the other species of the genus Heterometrus by the Thar . It is currently not known whether the distribution area extends to India. Since from the genus Heterometrus only species digging in clay and no desert dwellers are known, the Thar is regarded as a natural obstacle to spread.
Heterometrus latimanus was found under stones in hilly, stony and wooded landscapes at heights of 300 to over 1,000 meters above sea level.
Danger
Heterometrus latimanus is collected, dried and used in traditional medicine in Pakistan . It is not known to what extent this will affect the population of Heterometrus latimanus . However, other species in the genus are known to reproduce slowly, with brood care over twelve months, brood of only 30 to 35 juveniles, and a period of four to seven years to sexual maturity. The presumably narrow range gives further cause for concern that the species could be endangered by encroachments on their habitats through agriculture, deforestation, mining and urbanization.
Systematics
Initial description
The first description was by Reginald Innes Pocock in 1894 after only one female specimen. When additional specimens were discovered in Pakistan in 2012, the arachnologists H. Muhammad Tahir and Lorenzo Prendini published a detailed new description.
Type material
Pocock based his first description on the dry preparation of a single female specimen. The type specimen is in the collection of the Natural History Museum in London . The original dry preparation has now been preserved in alcohol, it has broken down into individual parts and the telson is missing.
etymology
Pocock gave no information about the origin of the species name. It is derived from the Latin words latus (German: broad ) and manus (German: hand ) and refers to the shape of the chelae.
Synonyms (chronological)
- Scorpio latimanus Pocock , 1894 : the name was given by Pocock in his first description.
- Palamnaeus latimanus Pocock , 1900 : a few years after the first description, Pocock placed the species in his arachnid band of the Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma, in the genus Palamnaeus, without explaining it. However, the genus Palamnaeus had already been declared a synonym for Heterometrus by Ferdinand Karsch in 1879 . Later authors correctly named the species Heterometrus latimanus.
- Heterometrus (Srilankametrus) indus Couzijn , 1981 (partially): HWC Couzijn synonymized Heterometrus latimanus with Heterometrus indus in 1981 . In addition, he described the subgenus Srilankametrus, in which he also put Heterometrus indus .
- Heterometrus (Srilankametrus) latimanus Tikader & Bastawade , 1983 : the Indian arachnologists BK Tikader and DB Bastawade did not accept Couzijn's synonym and gave Heterometrus latimanus its species status again in their 1983 monograph on the scorpions of India. They kept the sub-genera described by Couzijn. The subgenus Srilankametrus and all other subgenus of Heterometrus described by Couzijn were repealed in 2004 by František Kovařík in his revision of the genus Heterometrus .
literature
- František Kovařík: A review of the genus Heterometrus Ehrenberg, 1828, with descriptions of seven new species (Scorpiones, Scorpionidae). In: Euscorpius , 2004, No. 15, pp. 1-60, online PDF , 6.3 MB.
- Reginald Innes Pocock: A small contribution to our knowledge of the scorpions of India. In: Annals and Magazine of Natural History 1894, Volume 6, No. 13, pp. 72-84, digitized .
- H. Muhammad Tahir and Lorenzo Prendini: Redescription of Heterometrus latimanus and confirmation of the genus Heterometrus (Scorpiones: Scorpionidae) in Pakistan. In: American Museum Novitates 2014, No. 3805, doi : 10.1206 / 3805.1
Individual evidence
- ↑ František Kovařík: A review of the genus Heterometrus, p. 21.
- ↑ a b c H. Muhammad Tahir and Lorenzo Prendini: Redescription of Heterometrus latimanus, p. 6.
- ^ H. Muhammad Tahir and Lorenzo Prendini: Redescription of Heterometrus latimanus, p. 16.
- ↑ a b c d Reginald Innes Pocock: A small contribution to our knowledge of the scorpions of India, pp. 74-75.
- ↑ a b c H. Muhammad Tahir and Lorenzo Prendini: Redescription of Heterometrus latimanus, p. 2.
- ↑ František Kovařík: A review of the genus Heterometrus, p. 51.
- ↑ S. Khatoon: Scorpions of Pakistan (Arachnida: Scorpionida). In: Proceedings of the Pakistan Congress of Zoology 1999, Volume 19, pp. 207-225, ISSN 1013-3461 , quoted from H. Muhammad Tahir and Lorenzo Prendini: Redescription of Heterometrus latimanus, p. 2.
- ↑ a b H. Muhammad Tahir and Lorenzo Prendini: Redescription of Heterometrus latimanus, p. 20.
- ^ H. Muhammad Tahir and Lorenzo Prendini: Redescription of Heterometrus latimanus, p. 21.
- ^ H. Muhammad Tahir and Lorenzo Prendini: Redescription of Heterometrus latimanus, p. 5.
- ↑ Gérard Dupré: Dictionary of scientific scorpion names. In: Arachnides. Bulletin de Terrariophile et de Recherche 2016, Supplement to No. 78, p. 35, Online PDF , 560 kB.
- ^ Reginald Innes Pocock: Arachnida. The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Taylor & Francis, London 1900, p. 90, digitized .
- ^ Ferdinand Karsch: Scorpionological contributions. I. In: Mitteilungen des Münchener Entomologische Verein 1879, Volume 3, No. 1, pp. 6–22, here p. 20, digitized .
- ^ HWC Couzijn: Revision of the genus Heterometrus. In: Zoologische Verhandelingen 1981, Volume 184, No. 1, pp. 1–196 (also dissertation, University of Leiden 1981), here pp. 121–124, online PDF , 18.6 MB.
- ^ František Kovařík: A review of the genus Heterometrus, p. 4.
- ↑ BK Tikader and DB Bastawade: Scorpions (Scorpionida: Arachnida). The Fauna of India, Vol. 3. Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta 1983, pp. 545-550, Online PDF , 30 MB.