AnimaliaScorpionesButhidaeYthierEricA synopsis of the scorpion fauna of French Guiana, with description of four new speciesZookeys5620182018764279010.3897/zookeys.764.25108 Tityus (Archaeotityus) silvestrisPocock, 1897Fig. 14References.

Pocock 1897, Lourenço 1983, Lourenço 1984, Lourenço 1988a, Lourenço 1992, Lourenço 1997b, Fet et al. 2000, Lourenço 2002a, Lourenço 2008, Stockmann and Ythier 2010.

Material.

Downstream from Saut Pararé on Arataye River, Approuague tributary, one male, MNHNRS7390.1, J.P. Gasc coll., IV-X/1979. Ilet la Mère, one female, MNHNRS8298, J. Lescure coll., 25/VII/1977. St. Jean du Maroni, one female, MNHNRS3322, R. Benoist coll., 1914. Cacao, one male, deposited in the MHNG, Chippaux coll., X/1983. Mitaraka Massif, 433 m, tropical moist forest, in plateau, one male, deposited in the MNHN, MNHN/PNI Guyane 2015 (APA 973-1), M. Pollet coll., 2–8/III/2015. Mitaraka Massif, pointe Macaria, hand catch, one female, deposited in the MNHN, MNHN/PNI Guyane 2015 (APA 973-1), E. Poirier, P.H. Dalens & J. Touroult coll., 24–27/II/2015. Saül, Popote Kanawa, one immature, deposited in the RNA, J. Chevalier coll., 24/VIII/2017. Cayenne, Mont Bourda, two females and six immatures, deposited in the RNA, J. Chevalier coll., 09/VII/2017. Disputed area between Oyapock and Amapa, one female, MNHNRS0820, D. Villecourt coll., 1899.

Diagnosis.

Small to moderate species when compared with the average size of the other species of the genus, with a very variable size ranging from 25 to 45 mm in total length. General coloration yellowish to pale yellow densely spotted with brownish to blackish pigmentation. Carapace yellowish with brownish yellow pigmentation and brownish spots; a conspicuous bright yellow T-shaped mark on the anterior part. Tergites yellowish with brownish yellow pigmentation and brownish spots. Sternites yellowish with brownish spots. Metasomal segments I-III yellowish with brownish spots, IV and V reddish yellow. Vesicle reddish brown; aculeus reddish brown at the base and blackish at the tip. Pedipalps yellowish with brownish spots; chela fingers reddish yellow. Legs yellowish with brownish spots. This species presents a very complex pattern of polymorphism. Number of pectine teeth ranging from 14 to 16 in male and 12 to 15 in female; basal middle lamellae of female pectines not dilated. Metasomal segments I to IV without any spinoid posterior granule; segments IV and V of males bigger than those of females. Telson with a strong and rhomboid subaculear tooth. Dentate margins of pedipalp fingers composed of 15–16 oblique rows of granules in both males and females; male patella and metasomal segments generally much more bulky than those of females.

Tityus silvestris, male (left) and female with juveniles (right) from Saül (photo A. Thillien).

PocockRI (1897) Report upon the scorpiones and pedipalpi obtained on the Lower Amazons by Messrs E. E. Austen and F. Pickard-Cambridge during the trip of Mr Siemens Steamship ‘Faraday’. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, ser. 6, 19: 357–368. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222939708680549 LourençoWR (1983) La faune des scorpions de Guyane française. Bulletin du Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris, 4e sér. 5 (A3): 771–808. LourençoWR (1984) Analyse taxonomique des scorpions du groupe Tityus clathratus Koch, 1845 (Scorpiones, Buthidae). Bulletin du Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris, 4e ser., 6, section A, 2: 349–360. LourençoWR (1988a) Diversité biologique et modalités de la spéciation chez les scorpions amazoniens; Tityus silvestris Pocock, un cas particulier de polymorphisme. Comptes rendus des séances de l’Académie des sciences, Ser. III Sci. Vie 306(15): 463466. LourençoWR (1992) Biogéographie des espèces du groupe naturel «Tityus clathratus» (Chelicerata, Scorpiones, Buthidae). Bulletin du Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris, 4e sér., 14, section A, 2: 473–481. LourençoWR (1997b) Additions à la faune de scorpions néotropicaux (Arachnida). Revue Suisse de Zoologie 104(3): 687604. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.part.80012 FetVSissomWDLoweGBraunwalderME (2000) Catalog of the Scorpions of the World (1758–1998). New York, New York Ento-mological Society, 690 pp. LourençoWR (2002a) Scorpions of Brazil. Les Editions de l’IF, Paris, 320 pp. LourençoWR (2008) The geographic pattern of distribution of the genus Rhopalurus Thorell, 1876 in the Guayana-Amazon region (Scorpiones: Buthidae), Euscorpius, No. 73: 114. StockmannRYthierE (2010) Scorpions of the World. NAP Editions, Paris, 572 pp.