Blog title update: Expanding into news with general arachnids relevant to North America all in one place. Mexico and the western states in the U.S. presents various transitions zones and micro habitats and is thus unique in arachnid taxa.
Hope you enjoy the site for educational and regional informations !
Sincerely,
Chad Lee B.Sc. 1995.
Biology and Natural Resource Management. Texas Certified Applicator
.
Tags:
Alacran,
Aphonopelma,
Arizona,
Biogeography,
California,
Centruruoides,
Chihuahuan Desert,
Desert scorpions,
Diplocentrus,
distribution,
Ecology,
Mexico,
New Mexico,
North America,
Paruroctonus,
pest control,
Pseudouroctonus,
publications,
references,
Scorpion,
scorpiones,
scorpions,
Serradigitus,
spiders,
systematics,
Texas,
theraphosids
Description of site: Provides a scorpion species list, desert biology, zoogeography, systematics, publications, habitat photos and specimen images.
Tags:
Arizona,
Centruruoides,
deserts,
Diplocentrus,
distribution,
gallery,
identification,
Mexico,
New Mexico,
Paruroctonus,
pest control,
Pseudouroctonus,
references,
scorpiones,
Serradigitus,
systematics,
taxonomy,
Texas,
Vaejovis
Abstract
The suborder Mygalomorphae is generally poorly represented in the cave faunas of the world. The genus Hemirrhagus is endemic to Mexico and has 22 described species. It is the only one with epigean, troglophile and troglobitic species. Lack of urticating setae, loss of eye pigmentation and ocular reduction are interpreted as evolutionary reversals related to their troglobitic habits. From five troglobitic species in the genus, only the male of Hemirrhagus stygius is known. Five new troglobitic species are described with both sexes: Hemirrhagus akheronteus sp. nov., Hemirrhagus billsteelei sp. nov., Hemirrhaugus diablo sp. nov., Hemirrhagus kalebi sp. nov. and Hemirrhagus sprousei sp. nov. The female of Hemirrhagus chilango is described for the first time. Hemirrhagus akheronteus sp. nov. has a group of spinose setae on the opisthosoma; this setal modification was never reported in any other theraphosid spiders. Females of Hemirrhagus kalebi sp. nov. and Hemirrhagus sprousei sp. nov. lay fixed hammock egg sacs, which is an unusual behavior among species in Theraphosinae. Two stridulating setae previously reported only in epigean species are present on some of the new troglobites.
Mendoza, J. I. & Francke, O. F. (2018). Five new cave-dwelling species of Hemirrhagus Simon 1903 (Araneae, Theraphosidae, Theraphosinae), with notes on the generic distribution and novel morphological features.
Zootaxa 4407(4): 451-482. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4407.4.1.
URL : https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29690167
Only book for etymology and the history of references in scorpion taxonomy referenced to date.
Now online:
http://mds.marshall.edu/bio_sciences_faculty/88/
Abstract:
Genus Catalinia, gen. nov. (Scorpiones: Vaejovidae) is described from southern California, USA and Baja California, Mexico. The genus is composed of four species formerly placed inPseudouroctonus: Catalinia minima (Kraepelin, 1911), comb. nov. (type species), C. andreas (Gertsch et Soleglad, 1972), comb. nov., C. castanea (Gertsch et Soleglad, 1972), comb. nov., and C. thompsoni, comb. nov. (Gertsch et Soleglad, 1972). Major diagnostic characters of Catalinia include a carapace with a very weak anterior indentation, a very stout metasoma with little or no tapering from segment I to V, and a mating plug with two partial bases. Evidence is presented suggesting that Catalinia is closely related to the “apacheanus” species group of Pseudouroctonus.
Link: http://www.science.marshall.edu/fet/euscorpius/p2017_251.pdf
We present a mtDNA gene tree of tarantula spiders (Araneae: Mygalomorphae: Theraphosidae) based on the mitochondrial 16S-tRNA (leu)-ND1 gene region as a promising initial molecular hypothesis to clarify the taxonomy of the largest subfamily, Theraphosinae. Many species of this New World subfamily are traded widely as exotic pets, yet few scientific studies on them exist, and the robustness of many supposed taxonomic groupings is debatable. Yet the validity of taxon names and knowledge of their distinctiveness is vital for trade regulation, most notably for the Neotropical genus Brachypelma Simon 1891, which is listed under CITES (Appendix II, see online supplemental material, which is available from the article’s Taylor & Francis Online page at https://doi.org/10.1080/14772000.2017.1346719). The use of molecular markers for tarantula taxonomy has been limited until recently, with most previous studies relying on morphological methods. Our findings, from newly collected molecular data, have several nomenclatural implications, suggesting a need for a rigorous overhaul of Theraphosinae classification at multiple hierarchical levels. Here, we take steps toward a revised classification, favouring division of Theraphosinae into three tribes: the Theraphosini trib. nov., the Hapalopini trib. nov., and the Grammostolini trib. nov. We also make conservation recommendations for two non-monophyletic genera. Firstly, we recover Aphonopelma Pocock 1901 as polyphyletic, finding that the large radiation into the USA and Mexico is taxonomically distinct from at least three other lineages distributed throughout Central America, one of which includes the type species of the genus. Secondly, and importantly for conservation, we find diphyly in the CITES listed genus Brachypelma Simon 1891, where our data strongly favour a division into two distinct smaller genera. We consider only the lineage with endemics in the Pacific coastal zone of Mexico to be of conservation concern. Finally, we also make suggestions on the future direction of revisionary research for the Theraphosidae as a whole.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318911007_Re-evaluating_conservation_priorities_of_New_World_tarantulas_Araneae_Theraphosidae_in_a_molecular_framework_indicates_non-monophyly_of_the_genera_Aphonopelma_and_Brachypelma
Morphology still plays a key role in the systematics and phylogenetics of most of the scorpion families and genera, including the Diplocentridae Karsch, 1880. The monophyly of this family, and the monophyly of its two subfamilies is supported by morphological characters; however, neither hypothesis has been tested using molecular data. The lack of a molecular phylogeny has prevented the study of the evolution of morphology within the family. Here, we examine the morphological evolution of several key character systems in diplocentrid systematics. We tested the monophyly of the Diplocentridae, and subsequently the validity of its two subfamilies using a five-locus phylogeny. We examined the variation and evolution of the shape of the carapace, the external surface of the pedipalp patella and the retrolateral surface of the pedipalp chelae of males and females. We also examined the phylogenetic signal of discrete and continuous characters previously reported. We show that Diplocentridae is monophyletic, but Nebinae is nested within Diplocentrinae. Therefore, Nebinae is synonymised with Diplocentrinae (new synonymy). Finally, we show that a new character system proposed here, tarsal spiniform and macrosetal counts, retains high phylogenetic signal and circumscribes independently evolving substructures within this character system.
See here http://www.publish.csiro.au/is/IS16078
