Charmus saradieli Kovarik, Lowe, Ranawana, Hoferek et Jayarathne 2016, sp. n.
Creators: name: Kovařík, František
name: Lowe, Graeme
name: Ranawana, Kithsiri B.
name: Hoferek, David
name: Š, V. A.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2016
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Scorpiones
Buthidae
Charmus
Charmus saradieli

description: Charmus saradieli Kovařík, Lowe, Ranawana, Hoferek
et Jayarathne,sp.n.
(Figs. 12, 44, 84, 87–95, 99–117, 425–426, Tables 1–2)
http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:C CA71154-E551-49C4-B328-E84B86656252
Charmus laneus (misidentification): Vachon, 1982: 79– 83, figs. 1–11, 82–83; Lourenço, 2000: 297, figs. 2– 3; Lourenço, 2002: 24; Fet & Lowe, 2000: 123 (in part in references).
TYPE LOCALITY AND TYPE REPOSITORY. Sri Lanka, Hasalaka; MHNG.
TYPE MATERIAL EXAMINED. Sri Lanka, Hasalaka (Loc. No. 9), 250 m a.s.l., 18.I.1970, 1♀ (holotype, Figs. 44, 80–82, 90–91, 93, 95, 100, 104–114, 426), MHNG, leg. Y. Löbl et C. Besuchet; Haputale (Loc. No. 19), 1350 m a.s.l., 23.I.1970, 1♂ (paratype, Figs. 88–89, 92, 94, 99, 101–103, 115–117, 425), MHNG, leg. Y. Löbl, Kandy (Loc. No. 18), 600 m a.s.l., 22.I.1970, 1juv. (paratype), MHNG, leg. Y. Löbl et C. Besuchet; Eastern Province, Padiyatalawa (ca 7°25'N 81°15'E), IV.1994, 1♂ (paratype), FKCP, leg. P. Senft; Central Province, Kandy District, Gannoruwa village, 07°17'10" 080°35'35", 10. IX.2015, 1♂ (paratype, Fig. 87), UPSL, leg. S. Jayarathne.
ETYMOLOGY. Named after the popular Sri Lankan folk hero Deekirikevage Saradiel whose activities between Colombo and Kandy in the 1850s–1860s were comparable to the world famous legend of Robin Hood. His forest sanctuary was on the summit of Mt. Utuwankanda.
DIAGNOSIS. Total length 12.18 mm (male) – 23.5 mm (female). Sexual dimorphism manifested mainly in total length. Mesosoma and carapace yellow with black ornamentation, to almost entirely black; pedipalp femur and patella almost entirely black with several small yellow spots; telson yellow to reddish black; legs yellow with black spots; chelicerae yellow, with black reticulation. Carapace granular without carinae, anterior edge with epistome present medially. Tergites I–VI granular, with one clearly visible carina. Sternites without carinae. Metasomal segments IV–V punctate without developed carinae. Fifth metasomal segment length/ width ratio 1.8 in female. Pectines with or without fulcra. Movable and fixed finger of pedipalps long, ratio of pedipalp chela length/ fixed finger length in female 1.452. Movable and fixed fingers of pedipalps bear 8 rows of granules, apical rows of 4–6 granules, and 3 terminal granules; each row of granules (except most proximal) with one internal and two external accessory granules. Pectinal teeth number 12–17 in males, 16 in female. Telson vesicle punctate, rather elongate in male.
DESCRIPTION. The adult male paratypes are 12.18–18.42 mm long, the adult female holotype is 23.5 mm long. For habitus see Figs. 88–91. For position and distribution of trichobothria of pedipalps see Figs. 108–114. For measurements and ratios see Tables 1–2. Sexual dimorphism is manifested mainly in total length. Other sexual differences are noted below.
Coloration (Figs. 87–91). Mesosoma and the carapace yellow with black ornamentation, to almost entirely black, metasoma yellow to reddish black with black ornamentation, and pedipalp femur and patella mainly black with yellow spots, pedipalp chela yellow with black spots on manus, pedipalp fingers yellow without spots. Telson yellow to reddish black. Legs yellow with black spots. Chelicerae yellow, with black reticulation.
Carapace (Figs. 92–93). Granular without carinae, anterior edge straight with epistome present medially. Granulation stronger in female. Median furrow present, more distinct in male. Three well developed and two reduced or absent lateral eyes.
Mesosoma (Figs. 92–95). Tergites with one carina, densely granulate in the female. In the males granules are larger and sparse. Pectinal tooth count 16 in female, 12–17 in males. Marginal tips of pectines extending to 3/4 quarters of sternite III in female, to end of sternite III in the males. Pectines with 3 marginal lamellae and 7 middle lamellae, fulcra either present (female) or absent (male). Sternites III–VII smooth, without carinae. Stigmata short, ovoid.
Metasoma and telson (Figs. 101–106, 425–426). Metasoma relatively narrow, segment V length/ width ratio 1.8 in female. Segments I–III strongly granulated, more so in female, with 8–10 granulated carinae. Segments IV–V may have two smooth, poorly developed dorsal carinae; segments IV–V and telson punctate except for dorsal surface. Telson rather elongate, especially in smaller males. Entire metasoma and the telson densely hirsute. Vesicle of telson somewhat elongate with long, strongly curved aculeus.
Legs (Figs. 117). Long tibial spur present on the third and fourth legs. Tarsus hirsute, more densely so on ventral surface. Tarsomeres bearing numerous setae on ventral surface, fewer on other surfaces; bristle combs absent.
Pedipalps (Figs. 107–114, 116). Femur with 4 granulated carinae, surface finely granulated. patella smooth without developed carinae, only internal surface with several larger granules. Chela smooth, lacking carinae. Pedipalps hirsute on all segments. Movable and fixed fingers of pedipalp bear 8 rows of granules, each row (except most proximal) with one internal and two external accessory granules; fingers also with apical rows of 4–6 granules and 3 terminal granules.
AFFINITIES. Charmus saradieli sp. n. and C. laneus Karsch, 1879 are the only two members the genus known from Sri Lanka. Apart from their disjunct distributions (Fig. 12), these two species can be separated from each other by: 1) the color of the patella of pedipalps, which is yellowish with several black spots in C. laneus (Figs. 118–119) and black with several little yellow spots in C. saradieli sp. n. (Figs. 111 and 116); 2) the shape of the metasoma, as the metasomal segment V length/ width ratio is 1.288–1.425 in female of C. laneus (Figs. 80–83, Tables 1–2) and 1.800 in female of C. saradieli sp. n. (Fig. 84, Tables 1–2); and 3) the shape of pedipalp chela, as the chela length/ fixed finger length ratio is 1.692–1.791 in female of C. laneus (Figs. 42–43, Tables 1–2) and 1.452 in female of C. saradieli sp. n. (Fig. 44, Tables 1–2).
description: Published as part of Kovařík, František, Lowe, Graeme, Ranawana, Kithsiri B., Hoferek, David & Š, V. A., 2016, 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, pp. 1-133 in Euscorpius 220 on pages 28-29, DOI: 10.18590/euscorpius.2016.vol2016.iss220.1, http://zenodo.org/record/7124466