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| Paruroctonus tulare Jain, Forbes, Gorneau & Esposito, 2023 |
Abstract
Herein a new species of Paruroctonus Werner, 1934 is described from alkali-sink habitats in the San Joaquin Desert of central California, Paruroctonus tulare sp. nov. It can be differentiated from other Paruroctonus by a combination of morphological features including scalloped pedipalp fingers in males, specific setal counts and morphometric ratios, and specific patterns of fuscous pigmentation. It also inhabits a unique distribution allopatric with all other Paruroctonus species except P. variabilis Hjelle, 1982. Photographs of a large series of live P. tulare sp. nov. from across their range and detailed images of several morphological features are provided, their distribution is modeled, a haplotype network is presented, and details about their habitat, ecology, and conservation are discussed.
Key words: Central Valley, CITES, desert, salt flats, threatened
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| Variation of Paruroctonus tulare sp. nov. across their geographic range. Central localities C1–9 (squares), northern locality N1 (circles), southeastern locality SE1 (triangles), southwestern locality SW1 (diamonds); males (filled), females (empty). Note darker and more orange color in individuals from the southeastern and southwestern locality compared to those from the northern and central localities. |
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| Habitus photos of Paruroctonus tulare sp. nov. from the type locality A, B dorsal and C, D ventral A, C holotype male and B, D paratype female. Scale bars: 10 mm, silhouettes to scale. |
Family Vaejovidae Thorell, 1876
Genus Paruroctonus Werner, 1934
Paruroctonus tulare sp. nov.
Diagnosis: Four additional species of Paruroctonus are known from the San Joaquin Desert and its surrounding ranges (Sierra Nevada, Southern Inner Coast Ranges, Tehachapi Mountains): P. boreus, P. silvestrii, P. variabilis, and P. soda. Comparisons are provided against these four as well as an alkali-sink scorpion species from the northern Mojave Desert, P. conclusus. Paruroctonus tulare sp. nov. is endemic to alkali-sink environments associated with wetlands along the center of the San Joaquin Valley, where it is allopatric with all Paruroctonus except P. variabilis. Paruroctonus tulare sp. nov. differs from the other aforementioned Paruroctonus species by a combination characteristics categorized below.
Etymology: The specific epithet tulare refers to the Tulare Basin, the region to which Paruroctonus tulare sp. nov. is endemic.
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| In-situ images of Paruroctonus tulare sp. nov. of various life stages depicting behavior typical of the species: A juveniles perched on vegetation or B utilizing soil cracks for shelter C adult male wandering D adult female sheltering under vegetation. Images of intraspecific interactions involving P. tulare sp. nov. E predation by Latrodectus hesperus F predation on Triorophus sp. |
Prakrit Jain, Harper Forbes, Jacob A. Gorneau and Lauren A. Esposito. 2023. A New Species of Alkali-sink Paruroctonus Werner, 1934 (Scorpiones, Vaejovidae) from California’s San Joaquin Valley. ZooKeys. 1185: 199-239. DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1185.103574