Babycurus Karsch 1886
Creators: name: Kovařík, František
name: Lowe, Graeme
name: Šťáhlavský, František
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Scorpiones
Buthidae
Babycurus

description: Babycurus Karsch, 1886
(Figures 11–23, 29–31, 37–39, 255–260, 265)
Babycurus Karsch, 1886: 77–79, figs. 1–2; Kraepelin, 1895: 88–89 (in part); Pocock, 1896: 427–431; Pocock, 1899: 835; Kraepelin, 1899: 61–64; Kraepelin, 1913: 179–183 (in part); Sissom, 1990: 101; Fet & Lowe, 2000: 76–80 (in part); Kovařík, 2000: 236–263, figs. 1–9, 11–12, 14–20, 23–25, 27–37, 39–40, tables 1–3 (in part); Prendini, 2004: 238– 250, figs. 1–10; Kovařík, 2009: 30 (in part); Loria & Prendini, 2014: 19, 25; Loria & Prendini, 2018: 184.
Buthus (Rhoptrurus) (in part): Pocock, 1890: 122.
Rhoptrurus: Kraepelin, 1891: 238–241 (in part); Kraepelin, 1898: 3 (in part) (syn. by Kraepelin, 1899: 61).
TYPE SPECIES. Babycurus buettneri Karsch, 1886.
DIAGNOSIS. Medium to large buthids, adults 30–100 mm. Carapace granular, lacking distinct carinae, flat, subrectangular with concave anterior margin. Median eyes on low ocular tubercle in anterior half of carapace; usually with 4, or sometimes 5 pairs of lateral eyes (3 major ocelli, 1–2 minor ocelli). Anterior, central and posterior median furrows distinct, connected by median groove running over ocular tubercle. Sternum type 1, triangular in shape. Tergites I–VI granular, with single median carina which may be obsolete on I–II, tergite VII with 5 carinae. Metasoma elongate, segment I with 10 carinae, II–IV with 8 carinae, lacking lateral median carina. Metasoma V convex, sometimes dilated, carinae present or obsolete. Telson ellipsoidal or pyriform in shape, with distinct subaculear tooth. Pectines with fulcra. Hemispermatophore capsule with 2-lobed sperm hemiduct, basal lobe atrophied to a short, weak carina. Chelicerae with typical buthid dentition: movable finger dorsal margin with large subdistal and medial denticles and two smaller basal denticles, ventral margin with two large denticles, dorsal distal tine slightly shorter than ventral counterpart; fixed finger with subdistal denticle, and median and basal denticles formed as a bicusp, ventral surface armed with two small denticles. Pedipalps orthobothriotaxic, type Aβ, femur trichobothrium d 2 internal, patella d 3 external to dorsomedian carina, chela db in distal half of fixed finger. Chela manus smooth, with carinae reduced or obsolete, dentate margins of chela movable finger armed with 6–9 imbricated rows of denticulate granules, successive rows overlapping by at least 2 granules, each row terminated proximally by an enlarged granule, in most cases flanked by two enlarged external accessory granules at oblique angle (single external accessory granule only in B. gigas), and single internal accessory granule displaced distally. Most proximal granule row with one or (rarely) two isolated external accessory granules midway along its length, no internal accessory granules. Pedipalp chelae sexually dimorphic, males with manus dilated and fingers proximally undulate on dentate margins, denticles of proximal granule rows bicuspid. Tibial spurs absent on leg III, present on leg IV, tibia and tarsus III– IV without bristle combs, ventral surfaces of tarsi equipped with two rows of setae, ungues stout.
SUBORDINATE TAXA. Babycurus ansorgei Hirst, 1911 (Angola, Congo), B. buettneri Karsch, 1886 (West Africa), B. centrurimorphus Karsch, 1886 (Congo, Tanzania,? Mozambique, Rwanda), B. dunlopi Kovařík et al., 2015 (Ethiopia), B. gigas Kraepelin, 1896 (Tanzania), B. jacksoni (Pocock, 1890) (Kenya, Tanzania), B. kirki (Pocock, 1890) (West Africa), B. melanicus Kovařík, 2000 (Congo), B. multisubaculeatus Kovařík, 2000 (Somalia), B. pictus Pocock, 1896 (Kenya, Tanzania), B. solegladi Lourenço, 2005 (Sudan), B. taramassoi Borelli, 1919 (Somalia), and B. wituensis Kraepelin, 1913 (Kenya).
CYTOGENETICS. The karyotype analyses of three species Babycurus jacksoni (2n=16) (Figs. 255, 256), B. buettneri (2n=28) (Figs. 257, 258) and B. gigas (2n=30) (Figs. 259, 260) show considerable interspecific variability of the chromosome diploid numbers within this genus. The chromosomes have holocentric organization which is typical feature of the family Buthidae (Schneider et al., 2009a). Males display achiasmatic meisois.which is characteristic to the whole order Scorpiones (Schneider et al., 2009b).
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 page 2, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6544157