Tityus melici Lourenco 2003
Creators: name: De, Claudio Augusto R.
name: Candido, Denise M.
name: Lucas, Sylvia Marlene
name: Brescovit, Antonio Domingos
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2009
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Scorpiones
Buthidae
Tityus
Tityus melici

description: Tityus melici Lourenço, 2003
Tityus melici Lourenço, 2003: 109 –115, figs.1–10, 13, table 1. Holotype ♂ and 7Ψ and 4 juvenile paratypes from Serra da Jurema region, Bahia, Brazil (MNRJ). Lourenço, 2006: 61.
Tityus serrulatus: Lourenço & Cloudsley-Thompson, 1999: 154 –158, figs. 1–6 (only the males from close to Jequitinhonha river, Irapé, Minas Gerais, Brazil, not examined, should be in FUNED or MNHN, not localized, misidentification).
Material examined. Brazil, Minas Gerais: Minas Novas, 613m, 17º15’S 42º36’W, (Usina Hidrelétrica Irapé), III/1989, R. U. Feio leg., 3 Ψ and 8 juveniles, (IBSP 5044); Botumirim, 963m, 16º52’S 43º1’W, (Usina Hidrelétrica Irapé), R. U. Feio leg., 1 ɗ, 1 Ψ and 23 juveniles (IBSP 5045).
Comments. This species was described from the Southern region of the State of Bahia in the Southern range of the C aatinga vegetal formation. Tityus melici has almost all the diagnostic characters of the species of the T. stigmurus complex except the presence of posterior spinoid granules on the dorsal carinae of metasomal segments II and IV, though without doubt this species is related with this complex. Lourenço & Cloudsley-Thompson (1999) described a sexual population of T. serrulatus and pointed out as the main characteristic of the males the absence of modified granules as spines on the posterior region of the dorsal lateral carinae of metasomal segments III and IV, also longer and slender pedipalps (Fig. 20 A) and larger pectines. These are the diagnostic characteristics for T. melici Lourenço, 2003 (Fig. 19 C–D). Other previously unidentified specimens were also located in FUNED (Fig. 19 A–B). After examining the material of FUNED, the types of T. melici and original description of Lourenço & Cloudsley-Thompson (1999) it was possible to conclude that all the specimens discussed in this paragraph are T. melici. This was also corroborated by the rediscovery of the male of T. serrulatus by the present authors.
Diagnosis. Male. This species differ from the others of the complex by color pattern on tergites and carapace, uniformly brownish without spots, except from T. kuryi and T. serrulatus. Tityus melici can be distinguished from Tityus kury by absence of blackish spots on palps, legs, lateral faces and Vsm carinae of all metasomal segments (Fig. 19 A–D), lack of transversal blackish spots on posterior margin of sternites, the spinoid granules are absent or reduced on the dorsal lateral carinae of metasomal segments III and IV. It also differs from T. serrulatus by the lack of posterior spinoid granules on the dorsal carinae of metasomal segments III and IV (if present they are smaller; see variation of T. melici), pedipalps (T. melici: length femur=9.8; tibia=10.1; chela=16.5; fig. 20A–B) and metasomal segments (T. melici width I=4.6; II=4.7; III=5.1; IV=4.8) that are slender and color pattern of the carapace and tergites, which are uniformly brownish without spots (Fig. 19 A; C), whereas T. serrulatus has two pairs of posterior spinoid granules on the dorsal carinae of metasomal segment III and three pairs on metasomal segment IV, pedipalps (T. serrulatus: length femur=8.2; tibia=8.3; chela=14.5) and metasomal segments (T. serrulatus width I=6.3; II=6.3; III=6.3; IV=6.0; V=5.1) which are stouter and the color pattern of the carapace and tegites, which has dark brown spots (Fig. 11 A).
Female. See Lourenço (2003).
Variations. The specimens of State Minas Gerais have a more yellowish pattern of coloration on the tergites (Fig. 19 A–B) when compared with the type specimens described by Lourenço (2003), which are brownish (Fig. 19 C–D). Female specimens collected at Minas Novas, State of Minas Gerais presented one/two posterior spinoid granules on metasomal segment III, and two/three on metasomal segment IV. These granules are reduced when compared with other members of the complex.
Total length 77.0 71.8 73.7 64.5 65.8 60.3 55.6 57.1 63.8 68.1
Carapace
length 8.1 7.6 8.1 7.2 7.5 6.6 6.3 6.3 6.6 7.1
anterior width 4.5 4.1 4.0 3.6 3.7 3.1 3.1 3.2 3.6 3.7
posterior width 8.5 8.5 7.8 7.6 7.8 7.0 6.8 6.5 7.0 7.3
Metasoma
segment I
length 6.1 6.0 6.2 4.7 4.5 5.1 3.7 4.3 6.0 5.6
Width 6.3 4.7 5.8 4.3 4.2 4.8 3.3 3.6 5.0 4.2
segment II
Length 8.0 6.8 8.1 5.3 5.6 6.0 4.6 5.1 6.6 6.1
width 6.3 4.7 6.0 4.1 4.2 5.0 3.3 3.6 5.0 4.2
segment III
length 8.7 7.1 8.6 6.0 6.2 6.8 5.2 5.5 7.1 6.5
width 6.3 4.7 6.0 4.1 4.3 5.0 3.3 3.6 4.8 4.1
segment IV
length 9.8 7.5 9.5 7.0 7.0 7.5 5.8 6.2 7.7 6.8
width 6.0 4.7 5.8 4.1 4.3 4.7 3.5 3.6 4.7 4.3
segment V
length 9.6 7.8 9.1 7.8 7.7 7.5 6.6 7.1 7.2 7.6
width 5.1 4.5 4.8 3.7 4.0 4.1 3.2 3.5 4.1 4.0
Vesicle
length 7.0 6.8 7.0 6.7 6.8 6.3 6.2 6.3 6.3 6.3
depth 2.7 2.5 2.6 2.2 2.3 2.2 2.1 2.0 1.6 1.6
Pedipalp
Femur
length 8.2 7.0 7.6 6.6 6.6 6.3 5.7 6.2 6.5 7.0
width 2.0 2.1 2.0 2.0 2.0 1.7 1.6 1.7 1.7 2.0
Tibia
length 8.3 7.3 8.2 7.1 7.3 7.1 6.3 6.6 7.2 7.7
width 2.7 2.8 2.7 2.7 2.7 2.3 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.6 ......to be continued )) Holotype 3394) 3395 Paratype IBSP 4502) (ƅ (IBSP 4502 oe) 5045 5044) 1000) 2166)) 1602) 4724
(
IBSP
aba ƅ
IBSP
aba (oe martinpaechi martinpaechi
IBSP
(melici ƅ. (melici IBSP oe kuryi
MZUFBA
(oe
MZUFBA
(kuryi oe (kuryi
MZUFBA
oe (IBSP kuryi oe
. T T.. T T. T. T. T T.. T T.
......to be continued
Distribution. Brazil, Bahia (Serra da Jurema region); Minas Gerais (Vale do Jequitinhonha area) (Fig. 10).
description: Published as part of De, Claudio Augusto R., Candido, Denise M., Lucas, Sylvia Marlene & Brescovit, Antonio Domingos, 2009, On the Tityus stigmurus complex (Scorpiones, Buthidae), pp. 1-38 in Zootaxa 1987 on pages 29-34, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.185451