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Type: Articles
Published: 2012-10-04
Page range: 63–76
Abstract views: 32
PDF downloaded: 2

A new species in the scorpion genus Troglotayosicus from forest leaf litter in Southwestern Colombia (Scorpiones, Troglotayosicidae)

Laboratorio de Entomología, Unidad de Ecología y Sistemática–UNESIS, Departamento de Biología, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá, Colombia
Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad Nacional de San Antonio Abad del Cusco, Local Central, Paraninfo Universitario, Plaza de Armas s/n, Cusco, Peru
Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Nariño, San Juan de Pasto, Colombia
Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Nariño, San Juan de Pasto, Colombia
Scorpiones Scorpion troglomorphism Troglotayosicus hirsutus sp. nov. taxonomy Nariño Colombia

Abstract

Troglotayosicus hirsutus, a new species of troglomorphic scorpion, is described based on three adult males, three adultfemales and eight juveniles captured by ultraviolet light detection in forest leaf litter of the municipality of Buesaco, south-western Colombia. Though similar to the other Colombian species in the genus, Troglotayosicus humiculum Botero-Tru-jillo & Francke, 2009, T. hirsutus sp. nov. exhibits a combination of distinctive morphological features, including adensely hairy appearance which gives the name to the new species. With this description, the number of known species inthe genus Troglotayosicus is raised to three, two of which inhabit leaf litter in forests of Nariño department (Colombia),whereas the type species, Troglotayosicus vachoni Lourenço, 1981, remains known only from Los Tayos Cave in Ecuador.With this new finding, it is plausible that the genus Troglotayosicus is not much rare after all, but that its apparent raritymight be a sampling artifact instead. However, this possibility does not imply that the genus is necessarily common, and only additional studies may tell about the vulnerability of the genus.

References

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