Barbaracurus zambonellii Kovařík & Lowe & Šťáhlavský 2018, comb. n.
Creators: name: Kovařík, František
name: Lowe, Graeme
name: Šťáhlavský, František
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Scorpiones
Buthidae
Barbaracurus
Barbaracurus zambonellii

description: Barbaracurus zambonellii (Borelli, 1902) comb. n.
(Figures 7, 28, 36, 58–61, 79–80, 88–89, 219–244, 248– 251, 261–262, 265, Table 1)
Babycurus zambonellii Borelli, 1902: 1–4; Hirst, 1907: 209; Kraepelin, 1913: 181; Caporiacco, 1947: 232; Probst, 1973: 329; Lamoral & Reynders, 1975: 498; Kovařík, 1998: 104 (in part); Fet & Lowe, 2000: 80 (in part); Lowe, 2000: 185–191 (in part); Kovařík, 2000: 260–261 (in part); Kovařík, 2003: 137 (? in part); Chiarle et al., 2012: 21.
TYPE LOCALITY AND HOLOTYPE DEPOSITORY. Eritrea, Chenafena; MZUT.
MATERIAL EXAMINED. Eritrea, Chenafena (14.786N 39.018E), 1♀ (holotype), MZUT; Filfil, Salamuna river, 15°36'34.6"N 38°57'22.8"E, 817 m a.s.l., 3.-4.XI.2015, (Figs. 224–225, Locality No. 15 EH), 3♂ 3♀1♀ im.3juvs. (No. 876, Figs. 28, 36, 219–223, 226–244, 258–251, 258–259), leg. F. Kovařík, FKCP.
DIAGNOSIS. Total length of adult males 32–35 mm, adult females 46–52 mm. Coloration yellowish brown to grey with darker markings, chelicerae yellow without or with traces of reticulation. Pedipalp chela manus much wider in male than female, chela length/width ratio 3.42 in males and 4.29 in female; proximal margins of pedipalp fingers of female straight (Figs. 61, 231), of male undulate so as to leave a gap with fingers closed (Figs. 59, 233); dentate margin of movable finger armed with 7 rows of granules, and a short apical row of 3–4 denticles (Fig. 7); most proximal granule row with one external accessory granule. Pectines with 17–19 teeth in both sexes. Hemispermatophore basal lobe a weak, oblique carina (Figs. 28, 36). Metasoma narrow, metasoma V length/width ratio is 2.40–2.46 in males and 2.56–2.58 in females (Figs. 76–77); metasoma I with 10 carinae, II–IV with 8 carinae. Telson setose, bearing numerous long macrosetae and short, pointed subaculear tubercle; vesicle smooth, elongate, ellipsoidal, slightly bulbous, telson length/depth ratio 2.27–2.37 in both sexes; aculeus slender, curved, shorter than vesicle.
NOTE. In his original description, Borelli (1902: 3) assumed that the holotype was a male, and this was accepted by most subsequent authors. Only Lowe (2000: 190–191) questioned this assumption, observing that the holotype exhibited some characters more consistent with females of other species of Babycurus sensu lato, and noted that “Study of additional material is needed to clarify variation and sexual dimorphism in B. zambonellii ”. Recently, the first author (F.K.) was able to finally settle this question by collecting additional material representing both sexes of B. zambonellii. The new specimens clearly demonstrated that the holotype is indeed female, not male. B. zambonellii is an Eritrean endemic and the female which Sissom (1994) cited from Yemen represents a new species which we describe here as B. yemenensis sp. n.
COMMENTS ON LOCALITY AND LIFE STRATEGY. The first author (F.K.) visited the locality 15EH (Figs. 224–225), a montane, forested habitat along a riverbed of an occasional river, on 3–4 November 2015. At this locality, the author recorded a maximum daytime temperature of 30.3 ºC, and minimum nighttime temperatures of 19.6 ºC. The recorded humidity was between 46% and 92%. In addition to B. zambonellii the first author also recorded Hottentotta minax (L. Koch, 1875) at this locality.
description: Published as part of Kovařík, František, Lowe, Graeme & Šťáhlavský, František, 2018, Review of the genus Babycurus Karsch, 1886 (Arachnida, Scorpiones, Buthidae), with descriptions of Barbaracurus gen. n. and two new species from Oman and Yemen, pp. 1-41 in Euscorpius 267 on pages 33-36, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6544157