Leiurus Ehrenberg 1828
Creators: name: Kovařík, František
name: Lowe, Graeme
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Scorpiones
Buthidae
Leiurus

description: Genus Leiurus Ehrenberg, 1828
(Figures 1–91, Table 1)
Androctonus (Leiurus) Ehrenberg in Hemprich & Ehrenberg, 1828, pl. I, fig. 5; Hemprich & Ehrenberg, 1829: 353 (in part).
Leiurus: Vachon, 1949: 83–88 (1952: 203–208); Fet & Lowe, 2000: 155–157; Lowe et al., 2014: 1–129, figs. 1–100 (complete reference list).
TYPE SPECIES. Androctonus (Leiurus) quinquestriatus Ehrenberg, 1828.
DIAGNOSIS. Medium to large sized buthid scorpions, total length 50–115 mm. The carapace is almost flat, weakly or moderately trapezoidal, with anterior margin straight or slightly concave, and 5 lateral eyes in ‘ type 5’ pattern (Loria & Prendini, 2014). Both carapace and tergites bear granulated carinae. The carapace bears distinct anterior, superciliary, central median, central lateral, posterior median and posterior lateral carinae. The central lateral and posterior median carinae are fused into a lyre configuration. Tergites I–II, VII bear 5 carinae, and III– VI bear 3 carinae. Tergites lack macrosetae. The metasoma is elongate, metasoma I–III bear 10 carinae, with median lateral carinae complete on I, and reduced on II–III. Metasoma IV bears 8 carinae, and metasoma V bears 7 carinae of which the dorsolateral carinae are weak, and ventrolateral carinae are strong with serrate or lobate dentition. The telson has a relatively bulbous vesicle lacking a subaculear spine or tubercle. Pectines bear fulcra. Pectinal tooth count ranges are ♂ 28–43, ♀ 25–38. The hemispermatophore is flagelliform, the capsule having 3 sperm hemiduct lobes well separated from the flagellum, and a strong hook-like basal lobe. The chelicerae exhibit characteristic buthid dentition (Vachon, 1963), with two denticles on the ventral aspect of the fixed finger. The pedipalp chela is slender with long fingers, the surface smooth with carinae reduced or obsolete, and the dentate margins of the fingers are armed with linear, non-imbricated subrows of primary denticles, flanked by internal and external accessory denticles. The movable finger bears two enlarged subdistal internal denticles. The pedipalps are orthobothriotaxic, pattern type Ab (Vachon 1974, 1975), the femur with trichobothrium d 2 on its dorsal surface, and the patella with d 3 internal to the dorsomedian carina. The chela manus has Eb 1 - Eb 2 angled proximally, and Eb 1 - Eb 2 - Eb 3 acute angle opening in the distal direction (δ -configuration). Tibial spurs are present on legs III–IV, and basitarsi I–III bear regular series of macrosetae on retrosuperior, retroinferior and inferior margins. On the ventral surfaces of telotarsi are paired rows of macrosetae, and prolateral and retrolateral tarsal spurs are present on all legs. Sexual dimorphism: compared to females, males have a narrower mesosoma, more robust carination on tergites and sternites III–V, more slender pedipalps and metasoma, longer pectines with larger teeth, and weaker dentition or granulation on ventromedian carinae of metasoma II–III. Males are similar to females in lacking undulate dentate margins at the base of the pedipalp fingers.
description: Published as part of Kovařík, František & Lowe, Graeme, 2020, Scorpions of the Horn of Africa (Arachnida: Scorpiones). Part XXIV. Leiurus (Buthidae), with description of Leiurus gubanensis sp. n., pp. 1-19 in Euscorpius 309 on page 1, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4648451