Opistophthalmus harpei
| Opistophthalmus harpei | ||||||||||||
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| Opistophthalmus harpei | ||||||||||||
| Harington , 2001 |
Opistophthalmus harpei is a scorpion from the family Scorpionidae foundin Namibia .
description
Opistophthalmus harpei is a medium-sized scorpion about 90 millimeters in length. It has a brown basic color with reddish markings on the carapace , the females are generally darker in color. The underside of the mesosoma , metasoma, and telson are yellow. The chelae of the males and their legs are yellow, the chelae of the females are reddish brown and the legs are light brown. The fingers of the chelae are dark brown. The tergites are light gray at the rear edge in male scorpions and otherwise dark gray to black, in female the edges are yellowish brown and the rest are dark brown. As a result, both sexes have a striped appearance.
The chelae are characterized by a pronounced round shape, with a relatively short immobile finger. Only in male scorpions is there a clear indentation in the area of the insertion of the movable finger. The upper surfaces of the chelae are covered with rounded granules that merge into one another and form keels on the edge of the chelae and on the movable fingers. The carapace is highly granulated, the median pair of eyes, which can be shifted forwards or backwards in other species, is located in the middle. The telson is smooth on the upper side, the sides and the underside are densely covered with granules. The underside is divided into three areas by narrow, ungranulated strips. The comb organs have 22 comb teeth in males and 14 or 15 comb teeth in females. The genital perculum of males is oval and almost twice as wide as it is long, that of females is almost pentagonal and significantly longer than it is wide. The females appear overall stronger and are less hairy than the males.
Opistophthalmus harpei differs from the very similar species Opistophthalmus opinatus and Opistophthalmus coetzeei by its strongly rounded chelae, the comparatively short immobile fingers of the chelae and the morphology of the hemispermatophores .
distribution and habitat
The terra typica of Opistophthalmus harpei is the northwest of the Voigtskub farm, eleven kilometers from Kalkrand on the way to Maltahöhe , in the Namibian region of Hardap ( 24 ° 9 ′ 0 ″ S , 17 ° 33 ′ 0 ″ E ). Opistophthalmus harpei seems to have a rather limited distribution area, which connects to that of Opistophthalmus opinatus to the north . The species was found on rocky plains with almost no vegetation and limestone soil.
Way of life
Opistophthalmus harpei belongs to the pelophilic (from ancient Greek pelos: mud, clay) species of the genus Opistophthalmus . They dig their up to 15 centimeters deep living tubes into the ground.
Systematics
Opistophthalmus harpei forms the opinionatus group within the genus Opistophthalmus with Opistophthalmus opinatus and Opistophthalmus coetzeei .
Initial description
The first description was made in 2001 by the South African zoologist Alexis Harington based on museum specimens that were collected at the type location in 1982.
Type material
The male holotype is in the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris with a female paratype . One male and one female paratype are in the collection of the Namibian National Museum in Windhoek .
etymology
The species name harpei was given in honor of the American serial killer Micajah Harpe (approx. 1748–1799).
literature
- Alexis Harington: Description of a new species of Opisthophthalmus CL Koch (Scorpiones, Scorpionidae) from southern Namibia . In: Revue Arachnologique 2001, Volume 14, No. 2, pp. 25-30, ISSN 0398-4346 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Alexis Harington: Description of a new species of Opisthophthalmus , p. 26.
- ↑ a b Alexis Harington: Description of a new species of Opisthophthalmus , p. 28.
- ↑ a b c Alexis Harington: Description of a new species of Opisthophthalmus , p. 30.
- ↑ Alexis Harington: Description of a new species of Opisthophthalmus , pp. 25-26.
- ↑ Alexis Harington: Description of a new species of Opisthophthalmus , p. 25.
- ↑ Gérard Dupré: Dictionary of scientific scorpion names. In: Arachnides. Bulletin de Terrariophilie et de Recherche 2016, Supplément au n ° 78, p. 28, Online PDF , 560 kB.