Posts Tagged ‘Scorpion’









The scorpion genus Alacran Francke, 1982, endemic to eastern Mexico, was created to accommodate Alacran tartarusFrancke, 1982. This remarkable troglobiotic species is adapted for life in some of the world’s deepest caves, 720–916 m below the surface in the Sistema Huautla of the state of Oaxaca (the deepest records at which a scorpion has been found). A second species, Alacran chamuco Francke, 2009, was later described from Te Cimutaá, also in Oaxaca. In the present contribution, we describe a third species, Alacran triquimera, sp. nov., recently discovered in a cave system in the state of Puebla, and test the monophyly and internal relationships of Alacran, based on a cladistic analysis of 10 terminal taxa (including seven species representing all four genera of Typhlochactidae) and 151 informative morphological characters, building on a previously published matrix. The single most parsimonious tree obtained, supports the monophyly of Alacran and the following relationships among its component species: (A. chamuco (A. tartarus + A. triquimera, sp. nov.)). The phylogenetic relationships among the three species of Alacran are consistent with the biogeographical history of the caves they inhabit. Based on the geological history of the Sierra Madre del Sur and the likely similar speleogenesis of the Tres Quimeras, Sistema Huautla and Te Cimutaá caves, we propose a vicariance hypothesis to account for the disjunct distribution of the three species of Alacran, whereby an initially more widespread, panmictic ancestral population speciated into three geographically isolated taxa following fragmentation of the southern Sierra Madre del Sur.

Source from the Scorpion Files and CSIRO Publishing.  See URL at http://www.publish.csiro.au/?paper=IS14035





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Chad Lee B.Sc. 1995.

Biology and Natural Resource Management.  Texas Certified Applicator


The scorpion genus Diplocentrus Peters, 1861, comprising more than 50 species, most of

The scorpion genus Diplocentrus Peters, 1861, comprising more than 50 species, most of which are endemic to Mexico, is the most diverse in the family Diplocentridae Karsch, 1880 (Santibáñez-López et al., 2011). Hoffmann (1931) divided the Mexican species into two groups, the whitei group and the keyserlingi group, based largely on differences in size and coloration. Francke (1977) redefined these groups. The whitei group, renamed the mexicanus group because it included the type species of the genus, comprised species with short cheliceral fingers and the pedipalp femur wider than high. The keyserlingii group comprised species with long cheliceral fingers and the pedipalp femur higher than wide. Several new species of Diplocentrus were since described, but no attempt was made to synthesize the taxonomy of the species assigned to either group or further clarify the validity of the groups. In the present contribution, the species of Diplocentrus with the pedipalp femur higher than wide are reviewed. An operational diagnosis is provided for the keyserlingii group. Diplocentrus formosus Armas and Martín-Frías, 2003, previously synonymized with Diplocentrus tehuano Francke, 1977, is reinstated. Revised, updated diagnoses are provided for all previously described species and three new species, Diplocentrus kraepelini, n. sp., Diplocentrus sagittipalpus, n. sp., and Diplocentrus sissomi, n. sp., are described. The female of Diplocentrus mitlae Francke, 1977, is described for the first time. A dichotomous key is provided for identification of the 10 species in the keyserlingii group.

Url:  http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/handle/2246/6438




Centruroides franckei, n. sp. and Centruroides rodolfoi, n. sp. are described from Oaxaca, Mexico. These species belong to the(striped) group within the genus. Thirteen species of the genus are reported for the state, six of them belonging to the (striped)group (infamatus-nigrovariatus subgroup). Both new species are compared to their most morphological similar species. A map with the six (striped) (infamatus-nigrovariatus subgroup) species in the state is also provided.

Zootaxa 3734 (2): 130–140

URL:  http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2013/f/z03734p140f.pdf




Geographical isolation can over time accumulate life-history variation which can eventually lead to speciation. We used five species ofVaejovis scorpions that have been isolated from one another since the Pleistocene glaciation to identify if biogeographical patterns have allowed for the accumulation of life-history variation among species. Gravid females were captured and brought back to the lab until giving birth. Once offspring had begun to disperse, measurements of female size, reproductive investment, offspring size, offspring number, and variation in offspring size were recorded. Differences in how each species allocated energy to these variables were analysed utilizing path analysis and structural equation modelling. Female and offspring size, litter size, and total litter mass differed among species, but relative energetic investment did not. Most significant differences among species were not present after removing the effect of female size, indicating that female size is a major source of life-history variation. Path analyses indicated that there was no size–number trade-off within any species and that each species allocates energy toward total litter mass differently. Additionally, as offspring size increased, the variation in offspring mass decreased. These results show that each species allocates the same relative amount of energy in different ways. The variation seen could be a response to environmental variability or uncertainty, a product of maternal effects, or caused by the sufficient accumulation of genetic differences due to geographical isolation. © 2013 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2013, ●●, ●●–●●.









Pseudouroctonus Stahnke.

