Heteroctenus bonettii Lauren A. Esposito & Humberto Y. Yamaguti & Cláudio A. Souza & Ricardo Pinto-Da-Rocha & Lorenzo Prendini 2017, comb. nov.
Creators: name: Lauren A. Esposito
name: Humberto Y. Yamaguti
name: Cláudio A. Souza
name: Ricardo Pinto-Da-Rocha
name: Lorenzo Prendini
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2017
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Scorpiones
Buthidae
Heteroctenus
Heteroctenus bonettii

description: Heteroctenus bonettii (Armas, 1999), comb. nov.
Figures 4, 11 B, 14 B, 18 B, 23 E–G, 25 B, 26 B, 28 B, 29 B, 30 B, 32
Rhopalurus bonettii Armas, 1999: 126–129, fig. 12A–B, table 1; 2006: 6, 10, fig. 8A–D;
Kamenz and Prendini, 2008: 9, table 2, pl. 40; Perez-Gelabert, 2008: 68; Prendini et al., 2009: 206, 207, 209, 211–213, 215, 218, 220, 222, 223, figs. 1, 3, 5C, D, 6B, 7B, 9, table 2; Teruel and Armas, 2012b: 216, fig. 7; Santos et al., 2016: 9, 16, fig. 2A.
Rhopalurus bonettii Armas, 1999: 126–129, fig. 12A–B, table 1; 2006: 6, 10, fig. 8A–D;
Kamenz and Prendini, 2008: 9, table 2, pl. 40; Perez-Gelabert, 2008: 68; Prendini et al., 2009: 206, 207, 209, 211–213, 215, 218, 220, 222, 223, figs. 1, 3, 5C, D, 6B, 7B, 9, table 2; Teruel and Armas, 2012b: 216, fig. 7; Santos et al., 2016: 9, 16, fig. 2A.
TYPE MATERIAL: Rhopalurus bonettii: Holotype ♂ (IES, IZACC-3.2908), DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Pedernales Prov.: Beata Island (NW), Playa del Coco, 10.iii.1999, L.F. de Armas and K. Polanco.
DIAGNOSIS: Heteroctenus bonettii differs from the other two species of Heteroctenus occurring on Hispaniola, H. abudi and H. princeps, in the lesspronounced sexual dimorphism of the pedipalp chelae. The chelae of the male and female of H. bonettii are similar, the manus of the male only slightly incrassate relative to the female, and the fingers not curved proximally, such that the fingers connect along most of their length and little to no gap is present between them proximally, when closed (figs. 25, 26).
Other characters by which H. bonettii differs from H. abudi and H. princeps are as follows. The carapace of H. bonettii is longer and narrower than that of H. princeps (fig. 14B, E). The carapace and tergites are more finely and sparsely granular in H. bonettii than in H. abudi and H. princeps. The pectines of H. bonettii are very broad basally, with a more pronounced basal plate than in H. princeps and, to a lesser extent, H. abudi. The first 6–7 pectinal teeth are noticeably larger than the rest in H. bonettii, unlike H. abudi and H. princeps in which the teeth are similar in size (fig. 18B). The submedian sulci of sternite III are subparallel in H. bonettii but convergent in H. abudi and H. princeps (fig. 18A, B, E). The pale, raised posteromedial surface of sternite V in the male is more prominent in H. bonettii than in H. abudi and H. princeps. The metasomal segments of H. bonettii are longer and narrower, i.e., the width/length ratio is greater, than in H. princeps and, to a lesser extent, H. abudi (fig. 28A, B, E). The granulation, ventromedian and ventrolateral carinae of metasomal segment V are more developed, compared with those of the preceding segments, such that the segment has a matte, angular appearance in H. bonettii (fig. 19B).
Unlike H. abudi, the coloration of H. bonettii is predominantly pale (fig. 32); the carapace, pedipalp chelae, legs, and tergites immaculate; the metasoma (segments III–V or IV and V only) and telson weakly infuscate. In this respect, H. bonettii resembles H. princeps except for the pedipalp chelae, which are typically infuscate in the latter.
DISTRIBUTION: Heteroctenus bonettii is endemic to Pedernales Province south of the Sierra de Baoruco in the western part of mainland Dominican Republic and Isla Beata, the type locality (fig. 4A). Most of the known locality records fall within the Parque Nacional Jaragua, at altitudes ranging from 14 to 92 m.
ECOLOGY: Heteroctenus bonettii is restricted to deciduous spiny forest and thorn scrub with cacti on karst limestone (Prendini et al., 2009). Scorpions were commonly found sheltering between slabs of rock (though never under bark or wood) by day, and with UV light detection at night. The habitat and habitus are consistent with the lapidicolous ecomorphotype (Prendini, 2001b). Heteroctonus bonettii was sympatric with the buthids Centruroides alayoni, C. jaragua, C. lucidus, Microtityus iviei Armas, 1999, and Microtityus lantiguai Armas and Marcano Fondeur, 1992, and the diplocentrid Heteronebo oviedo (Armas, 1999).
MATERIAL EXAMINED: DOMINICAN REPUB- LIC: Pedernales Prov.: Parque Nacional Jaragua: Cabo Rojo, 17°53′45.2″N 71°39′35.8″W, 15 m, 9.vii.2004, E.S. Volschenk and J. Huff, dry cactus and spiny forest on limestone karst, hand collected from under stones, and with blacklights, 5 ♂, 11 ♀, 5 subad., 2 juv. (AMNH), 1 juv. ♂ (AMCC [LP 3267]); road to Cabo Rojo, 0.6 km S of DR 44, 17°58.201′N 71°39.036′W, 14 m, 7.vii.2010, J. Huff and S. Schoenbrun, karst limestone, 1 ♂, 1 ♀, 1 subad. ♂ (AMNH), 1 subad. ♂ (AMCC [LP 10524]); road to Fondo Paradi, 1.8 km from Highway 44, 17°48.692′N 71°26.600′W, 302 ft, 12.i.2004, J. Huff, found between rocks, 2 ♀ (AMCC [LP 2471, 3265]); unmarked track into park between Manuel Goya and Oviedo, 17°48′41.5″N 71°26′35.9″W, 83.3 m, 9.vii.2004, E.S. Volschenk and J. Huff, deciduous forest and thorny scrub, hand collected from under stones and with blacklights, 15 ♂, 8 ♀, 1 subad., 1 juv. (AMNH), 1 juv. [pedipalps] (AMCC [LP 3266]).
description: Published as part of Lauren A. Esposito, Humberto Y. Yamaguti, Cláudio A. Souza, Ricardo Pinto-Da-Rocha & Lorenzo Prendini, 2017, Systematic Revision of the Neotropical Club-Tailed Scorpions, Physoctonus, Rhopalurus, and Troglorhopalurus, Revalidation of Heteroctenus, and Descriptions of Two New Genera and Three New Species (Buthidae: Rhopalurusinae), pp. 1-134 in Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 415 on pages 31-35, DOI: 10.1206/0003-0090-415.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/851382