Orobothriurus paessleri
Creators: name: Ochoa, José A.
name: Ojanguren Affilastro, Andres A.
name: Mattoni, Camilo I.
name: Prendini, Lorenzo
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2011
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Scorpiones
Bothriuridae
Orobothriurus
Orobothriurus paessleri

description: Orobothriurus paessleri (Kraepelin, 1911)   
Figures 13A, B, 15A, 19B, 21B, 22B, 26B, 28C, E, 53  
 Bothriurus paessleri Kraepelin, 1911: 91, 98, 99, figs. 8, 9a, 9b; Mello-Leitão, 1931: 92; 1932: 34; 1934: 63; 1945: 181; Bücherl, 1953: 117; Aguilar and Meneses, 1970: 2; Maury, 1973: 110.   
 Bothriurus (Andibothriurus) paessleri: Bücherl et al., 1963: 216.   
 Orobothriurus paessleri: Maury, 1976: 19, 20, figs. 25–33, table I; 1981: 105; Francke, 1977: 75; Kovařík, 1998: 101; Acosta and Ochoa, 2000: 136, 143; Lowe and Fet, 2000: 36; Acosta and Ochoa, 2001: 205; Ochoa and Acosta, 2002a: 102, fig. 9; Ochoa, 2004a: 52, 55, 73, figs. 1, 2, 21, table 1; Ochoa, 2005: 55, figs. 7, 10, table 2.   
 Orobothriurus curvidigitus: Lourenço and Dastych, 2001: 54 [misidentification: 3 ♀ from Mejía].   
 TYPE MATERIAL: PERU: Arequipa Department: Islay Province: Syntypes: 1 ♂, 3 ♀ (ZMH), ‘‘Kataringo’’ [Catarindo], near Mollendo [17 ° 009580 S 72 ° 029030W, 34 m?], 25.ii.1907, R. Paessler.   
 NEW RECORDS: PERU: Arequipa Department: Camaná Province: S of Camaná, 7.viii.1977, L. Peña, 1 ♀ (MACN-Ar). Islay Province: Lomas de Mejía [17 ° 029S 71 ° 519W, 530 m], 1–3.ii.2000, J.A. Ochoa, 1 ♂, 2 ♀, 3 juv. (MHNC), 1 ♂, 1 ♀ (CDA 168); Lomas de Mejía, Challascapa [17 ° 029S 71 ° 519W, 550 m], 3.iii.2004, R. Gutierrez and J.A. Ochoa, 2 juv. (AMNH [LP 3057]); near Mejía, 17 ° 079S 71 ° 559W, 350–500 m, 15.i.1956, Koepcke, Park loma, Kp 1350, 1 ♂, 1 subad. ♂, 2 juv. ♂, 2 juv. ♀ (ZMH A18 / 101) [misidentified by W.R. Lourenço as ‘‘ O. curvidigitus ’’]; Lomas de Yuta, Matarani, 16 ° 579160S 72 ° 049100W, 570 m, 12.iii.1998, E. Ponce and J.A. Ochoa, 1 ♀ (MHNC).   
 DIAGNOSIS: Orobothriurus paessleri is most closely related to O. curvidigitus, O. quewerukana and O. tamarugal (fig. 5), from which it may be separated as follows. Metasomal segment V is markedly shorter, its length less than twice its width, in the female of O. paessleri (fig. 22B), than in the females of other species, in which its length is greater than or equal to twice its width. Orobothriurus paeslleri possesses three pairs of VSM macrosetae on metasomal segment I (fig. 19B), whereas the other species possess two (fig. 19A). The pedipalp chela movable finger of the male is slightly curved in O. paessleri (fig. 26B), but strongly curved in the other species (figs. 26C, 43C, 51A). Orobothriurus paessleri may be further separated from O. curvidigitus and O. quewerukana by the shape of the lamina of the hemispermatophore (figs. 28B, C, 40E), the frontal crest of which is shorter and less developed in O. paessleri (fig. 28E) than in O. curvidigitus and O. quewerukana (fig. 28D). Additionally, the ventral surfaces of metasomal segments I–III are finely granular in O. paessleri (fig. 19B), whereas only the ventral surfaces of segment I in males are finely granular in O. curvidigitus and O. quewerukana.   
 DISTRIBUTION: Orobothriurus paessleri appears to be endemic to the area near Mejía and Yuta (Matarani) in the Arequipa Department of southern Peru (fig. 53). A single record from Toquepala (17 ° 149S 70 ° 369W, 3000 m) in the Tacna Department (Maury, 1976), probably based on a misidentification, requires confirmation.   
 ECOLOGY: As with O. atiquipa, this species has only been collected in Lomas biotopes, isolated patches of green vegetation on hillsides below 1000 m, sustained by coastal fog, and surrounded by hyperarid desert. The Lomas vegetation near Mejía and Yuta is dominated by herbaceous shrubs, e.g., Nolana L.f., Palaua Cav., Portulaca L., Weberbauerella Ulbr., and the tree Caesalpinia spinosa (Molina) Kuntze (Péfaur, 1981; Dávila Flores, 1982).   
 REMARKS: Specimens of O. paessleri from Mejía deposited in the ZMH collection were examined, and found to be misidentified as O. curvidigitus by Lourenço and Dastych (2001: 54). Currently two Orobothriurus species have been recorded from Lomas formations: O. atiquipa and O. paessleri. In addition, we examined a single female deposited at MHNC from Lomas de Sama, southern Peru. This specimen is poorly preserved and difficult to identify with certainty.
description: Published as part of Ochoa, José A., Ojanguren Affilastro, Andres A., Mattoni, Camilo I. & Prendini, Lorenzo, 2011, Systematic Revision Of The Andean Scorpion Genus Orobothriurus Maury, 1976 (Bothriuridae), With Discussion Of The Altitude Record For Scorpions, pp. 1-90 in Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2011 (359) on pages 68-69, DOI: 10.1206/359.1, http://zenodo.org/record/4611111