Scorpions of the Horn of Africa (Arachnida: Scorpiones). Part V. Two new species of Neobuthus Hirst, 1911 (Buthidae), from Ethiopia and Eritrea

Abstract

New information about the taxonomy and distribution of the genus Neobuthus Hirst, 1911 (Scorpiones: Buthidae) is presented, based on materials recently collected from Ethiopia and Eritrea. Emended diagnoses are provided for the genus Neobuthus, and for the species N. awashensis Kovařík et Lowe, 2012 and N. cloudsleythompsoni Lourenço, 2001.

New records are given for N. awashensis in Ethiopia. We redescribe N. cloudsleythompsoni, and we describe two additional new species: N. eritreaensis sp. n. (the first record of the genus from Eritrea) and N. kutcheri sp. n. (southern Ethiopia, Somali State).

We include a key to six members of the genus and discuss possible speciation mechanisms.

Keywords

• Arachnida
• Scorpions
• Neobuthus