Heterometrus xanthopus
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| ( Pocock , 1897) |
Heterometrus xanthopus is an Indian scorpion in the Scorpionidae family .
description
Heterometrus xanthopus is a 60 to 80 millimeter long and therefore small scorpion within the genus Heterometrus with a reddish-brown basic color. Only the legs and the telson are yellow or yellowish to reddish brown and always lighter than the body. The chelae are lobed, with a length to width ratio of 2.1 to 1 in males and 1.6 to 1 in females. Their upper side is covered with small granules that can merge into one another but do not form keels. The femora and patella of the pedipalps are more elongated in males. In juvenile scorpions, the carapace has a smooth and shiny surface in the middle, with granules on the edges. In adult animals, the carapace is sparsely covered with granules over the entire surface. The combs of the comb organ have 13 to 16 teeth in both sexes. The telson has a poisonous bladder that is as long or longer than the poison sting . The genital operculum is always wider than it is long.
distribution and habitat
The first description given as the Terra typica of Heterometrus xanthopus was Kadao Tal, Satara, S. Dekhan . The city of Satara is located in the Satara district , in the southwest of the Indian state of Maharashtra ( 17 ° 41 ′ N , 73 ° 59 ′ E ).
Heterometrus xanthopus is a common scorpion that populates dry and semi-arid landscapes with clay soil in its area of distribution.
behavior
Heterometrus xanthopus digs its living tubes in clay soil in the open field. The structures can easily be identified by the crescent-shaped opening of the entrance, which is characteristic of species of the genus Heterometrus . Newly constructed buildings show traces of ejected earth near the entrance. One study found 31 structures in an area of 0.25 hectares in an area known for the frequent occurrence of scorpions. The entrances to the buildings were about two to three centimeters wide and about 1.5 centimeters high. The tubular structures had a length of 27 to 50 centimeters, with a diameter of two to two and a half centimeters. All tubes ended in a 6.5 to 9 centimeter diameter round chamber. At the time of the investigation a scorpion was found in almost all buildings, abandoned buildings were rare. During the rearing of the offspring, the mother lives in its den with the offspring.
The course of the buildings varied, there were almost straight, zigzag-shaped and spirally wound tubes. It is believed that the hardness of the soil is of great importance for Heterometrus xanthopus as well as for the species of the genus Opistophthalmus . It influences the individual choice of the location for a building and the suitability of a habitat for settlement by Heterometrus xanthopus. The zigzag or spiral course of residential tubes is attributed to the fact that when digging the residential tube an obstacle such as a stone or an area with harder soil caused the burrowing scorpion to change direction.
Leftover food found in the structures of Heterometrus xanthopus consisted of parts of insects, spiders and scorpions.
Systematics
Initial description
It was first described by Reginald Innes Pocock in 1897.
Type material
Pocock based his first description on one adult male and one female scorpion as well as two juvenile specimens from the type location. In his revision of the genus Heterometrus, Couzijn referred to the adult collection specimens as " holotype " and "allotype", but failed to define the rules of zoological nomenclature. Kovařík therefore set the male specimen as lectotypes and the rest as paralectotypes in 2004. The type specimens are in the collection of the Natural History Museum in London .
etymology
The species name is derived from the Greek words xanthos (German: yellow ) and pous (German: foot ) and refers to the yellow legs of Heterometrus xanthopus.
Synonyms and misspellings (chronological)
- Palamnaeus xanthopus 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 (Chersonesometrus) xanthopus Couzijn , 1981 : HWC Couzijn described the subgenus Chersonesometrus in 1981 , in which he also placed Heterometrus xanthopus . The subgenus Chersonesometrus and all other subgenera of Heterometrus described by Couzijn were repealed in 2004 by František Kovařík in his revision of the genus Heterometrus .
literature
- Ramesh S. Khatavkar: Reproductive biology of scorpions: A comparative study. Ph.D. thesis, Shivaji University, Kolhapur 1994.
- 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: Descriptions of some new species of Scorpions from India. In: Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 1897, Volume 11, pp. 102-117, digitized .
Individual evidence
- ^ A b František Kovařík: A review of the genus Heterometrus, p. 49.
- ^ František Kovařík: A review of the genus Heterometrus, p. 52.
- ^ A b c Reginald Innes Pocock: Descriptions of some new species of Scorpions from India, p. 116.
- ↑ a b Ramesh S. Khatavkar: Reproductive biology of scorpions, p. 20.
- ↑ a b c Ramesh S. Khatavkar: Reproductive biology of scorpions, p. 21.
- ↑ Satish Pande et al .: Diversity of scorpion fauna of Saswad-Jejuri, Pune District, Maharashtra, western India. In: Journal of Threatened Taxa 2012, Volume 4, No. 2, pp. 2381-2389, here p. 2382, doi : 10.11609 / JoTT.o2910.2381-9 .
- ↑ Ramesh S. Khatavkar: Reproductive biology of scorpions, p. 23.
- ^ A b H. WC 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. 136–137, online PDF , 18.6 MB.
- ↑ Gérard Dupré: Dictionary of scientific scorpion names. In: Arachnides. Bulletin de Terrariophile et de Recherche 2016, Supplement to No. 78, p. 64, 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 .
- ^ František Kovařík: A review of the genus Heterometrus, p. 4.