Heterometrus serratus
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Heterometrus serratus is a scorpion from the family Scorpionidae foundin southern Sri Lanka .
description
Heterometrus serratus is a 100 to 130 millimeter long scorpion with a reddish or greenish shimmering black base color of the adult animals. The carapace is mostly smooth and has only a few granules on the edges. The combs of the comb organ have 12 to 15 teeth in both sexes. The second segment of the metasoma is about the same length as it is wide. The fourth segment is shorter and the fifth about the same length as the femora of the pedipalps. The chelae of the pedipalps are lobed and in the male animals slightly narrower, with a length to width ratio of 1.8 to 1.95 to 1. In the female animals the ratio is about 1.7 to 1. The chelae are hairy and covered with round granules which may be arranged in rows but do not form keels. The telson has a poisonous bladder that is usually longer than the poison sting .
Heterometrus serratus is similar in its morphology to the species Heterometrus indus , which is also endemic to Sri Lanka . While the edges of the segments of the metasoma are serrated in Heterometrus serratus , they are smooth in Heterometrus indus . Heterometrus serratus always has granules on the edge of the carapace; the chelae of the males are more elongated than those of the females. Heterometrus indus , on the other hand, has no granules over the entire surface of the carapace, and the shape of its chelae shows no sexual dimorphism .
distribution and habitat
As Terra typica of Heterometrus serratus , only Ceylon, the old name of Sri Lanka, was given in the first description, which was based on a single specimen . After further specimens were found in 2015, the species previously declared a synonym for Heterometrus indus was confirmed. The distribution area of Heterometrus serratus is given in the south of Sri Lanka, while Heterometrus indus inhabits the center of the island.
Systematics
Initial description
The first description was made by Reginald Innes Pocock in 1900 after a male specimen.
Type material
The holotype of Heterometrus serratus , a 125 millimeter long male scorpion, was the only known specimen for a long time. It is in the collection of the Natural History Museum in London .
etymology
The first description does not contain an explicit explanation of the chosen species name, but Pocock stated that the edges of the segments of the metasoma are strongly serrated. The species name serratus means “toothed like a saw” in Latin.
Synonyms (chronological)
- Palamnaeus serratus Pocock , 1900 : the name was given by Pocock in his first description, but the genus Palamnaeus had already been declared a synonym for Heterometrus by Ferdinand Karsch in 1879 .
- Heterometrus (Srilankametrus) indus indus Couzijn , 1981 (partially): HWC Couzijn synonymized Heterometrus serratus in 1981 with the nominate form of Heterometrus indus and placed it in the subgenus Srilankametrus described by him .
- Heterometrus (Srilankametrus) serratus Tikader & Bastawade , 1983 : the Indian arachnologists BK Tikader and DB Bastawade rejected Couzijn's synonymization in their 1983 monograph on the scorpions of India and returned Heterometrus serratus to the species status without removing the subgenus Couzijn. The arachnologist Victor Fet followed this taxonomic view in his catalog of scorpions published in 2000.
- Heterometrus indus Kovařík , 2004 (partially): The subgenus Chersonesometrus and all other subgenus of Heterometrus described by Couzijn were abolished in 2004 by František Kovařík in his revision of the genus Heterometrus . In addition, after checking the holotype of Heterometrus serratus , he followed Couzijn's view that serratus was a synonym for indus .
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.
- František Kovařík et al .: Scorpions of Sri Lanka (Scorpiones: Buthidae, Chaerilidae, Scorpionidae) with description of four new species of the genera Charmus Karsch, 1879 and Reddyanus Vachon, 1972, stat. n. In: Euscorpius , 2016, No. 220, pp. 1–133, online PDF , 17.5 MB.
- Reginald Innes Pocock: Arachnida. The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Taylor & Francis, London 1900, p. 88, digitized .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b František Kovařík: Scorpions of Sri Lanka, p. 107.
- ↑ a b František Kovařík: Scorpions of Sri Lanka, p. 110.
- ↑ a b c d Reginald Innes Pocock: Arachnida. The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma , p. 97.
- ^ František Kovařík: Scorpions of Sri Lanka, p. 111.
- ↑ Gérard Dupré: Dictionary of scientific scorpion names. In: Arachnides. Bulletin de Terrariophile et de Recherche 2016, Supplement to No. 78, p. 55, Online PDF , 560 kB.
- ^ 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.
- ↑ BK Tikader and DB Bastawade: Scorpions (Scorpionida: Arachnida). The Fauna of India, Vol. 3. Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta 1983, pp. 555-561, Online PDF , 30 MB.
- ↑ Victor Fet: Family Scorpionidae Latreille, 1802. In: Victor Fet et al .: Catalog of the scorpions of the world (1758-1998). The New York Entomological Society, New York 2000, pp. 427-486, here p. 448, download links .
- ^ František Kovařík: A review of the genus Heterometrus, p. 4.
- ↑ František Kovařík: A review of the genus Heterometrus, p. 20.