A review of the genus Leiurus Ehrenberg, 1828 (Scorpiones: Buthidae) with description of four new species from the Arabian Peninsula

Graeme Lowe,Ersen Aydın Yağmur,František Kovařík

doi:10.18590/euscorpius.2014.vol2014.iss191.1

Abstract

The taxonomy of buthid scorpions belonging to the genus Leiurus Ehrenberg, 1828 is reviewed. Four new species are described from the Arabian Peninsula: L . macroctenus sp. n. from coastal fog deserts in Oman; L . haenggii sp. n. from mountains of the Red Sea coast, Hadramaut and Dhofar, in Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Oman; L . arabicus sp. n. from the central Najd Plateau and eastern plains in Saudi Arabia; and L . heberti sp. n. from Jabal Samhan in Oman. L . brachycentrus Ehrenberg, 1829 stat. n. from the Tihamah plain of the Red Sea coast in Saudi Arabia and Yemen is restored from synonymy and redescribed. Leiurus nasheri Kovařik, 2007 was found to be a junior synonym of L . brachycentrus stat. n. L . quinquestriatus hebraeus (Birula, 1908) is elevated to species level as L . hebraeus (Birula, 1908) stat. n. . Revised diagnoses are given for L . quinquestriatus (Ehrenberg, 1828), L . abdullahbayrami Yagmur, Koc et Kunt, 2009, L . jordanensis Lourenco, Modrý et Amr, 2002, and L . hebraeus (Birula, 1908). Key characters used to diagnose and separate species include morphometrics, granulation, trichobothriotaxy, tarsal setation, dentition of metasomal carinae and color pattern. Detailed illustrations are provided and the biogeography and affinities of the genus are discussed.

Highlights

The genus Leiurus is widely distributed across North Africa, the Middle East and the Arabian Peninsula
We introduce new taxonomic characters, describe four new Arabian species, and elevate to species status L. brachycentrus stat. n., and L. hebraeus stat. n
We generally followed definitions of measurements in Lamoral (1979) and Sissom et al (1990), except as follows: carapace anterior width taken between most medial pair of lateral eyes; pedipalp femur length taken from proximal limit of dorsointernal carina; pedipalp chela length taken as chord length from external proximal limit of manus to fixed finger tip; pedipalp manus width and depth taken with movable finger articular condyles level; telson and vesicle length taken from anterior limit of vesicle (Sissom et al, 1990)

Summary

The taxonomy of buthid scorpions belonging to the genus Leiurus Ehrenberg, 1828 is reviewed. Four new species are described from the Arabian Peninsula: L. macroctenus sp. N. from mountains of the Red Sea coast, Hadramaut and Dhofar, in Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Oman; L. arabicus sp. N. from the central Najd Plateau and eastern plains in Saudi Arabia; and L. heberti sp. N. from the Tihamah plain of the Red Sea coast in Saudi Arabia and Yemen is restored from synonymy and redescribed. Leiurus nasheri Kovařík, 2007 was found to be a junior synonym of L. brachycentrus stat. N. L. quinquestriatus hebraeus (Birula, 1908) is elevated to species level as L. hebraeus (Birula, 1908) stat. N. Revised diagnoses are given for L. quinquestriatus (Ehrenberg, 1828), L. abdullahbayrami Yağmur, Koç et Kunt, 2009, L. jordanensis Lourenço, Modrý et Amr, 2002, and L. hebraeus (Birula, 1908). Gallagher (1921 – 2014), an extraordinary naturalist, friend and mentor, whose generous support and contributions greatly facilitated our studies on Arabian scorpions

Introduction

Findings

Materials & Methods